Perspective+and+Satire-Annotated+Book+List

Dante Gonzales Annotated Book List Reading and Adolescent Literature Maiorino

Satire, as a tool of enlightenment and communication, can be very powerful when used in correct manner. Satire has the capabilities of diminishing a great power, or making light out of something that is meant to be serious or austere and creating a better means of understanding for the audience. It can be used primarily for humor, incorporating hyperbole to show the extremes of a certain topic, or reveal the absurdity hidden with a well-worded argument. By using Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels as a model of the power of satire, readers can better understand how, through a combination of tools such as hyperbole, personification and simile, they too can change the world around them simply through the use of wit and humor in their own writing. I feel that through a study of satire and perspective in writing, students can learn a new tool to add to their skills in writing. The target class is an 11th grade AP class. Because Gulliver’s Travels is a difficult text to read, interpret and analyze within a 2-3 week span, the class would have to have a higher level of understanding to truly grasp the use of satire and perspective writing. Because Gulliver’s Travels was composed in the 1700’s the language is starkly different to what students today are used to reading. Due to this difficulty, I am really pushing students to challenge themselves for each reading by having them conduct a retelling of the piece that they read in class for homework within a journal. By having them participate in an ongoing retelling, they can translate what they had read into their own understanding. This also allows me to see where the students are throughout the unit, ensuring that I can provide the necessary support required. Student learning objectives include: > > > > Book List:
 * Ability to identify satire
 * Ability to write a satire
 * Understanding the importance of perspective within writing
 * Utilizing humor or farce as a means of expressing opinion or identifying injustice

1.) __Colbert, Stephen, and Michael C. Brumm. I Am America (and so Can You!). [New York]: Grand Central Pub., 2007. Print.__ If you are a fan of the Comedy Central show The Colbert Report you should be right at home with this selection. In this novel Stephen Colbert gives his personal opinion on Politics, family and faith, while utilizing satire to make light of some serious issues. A great example of satire in our own times!

2.) __Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.__ Set in a dystopian future, children (ages 12-18) from different districts are forced to fight to the death in a manufactured arena to appease the oppressive Capital. Main character Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister’s place in the games, not knowing that her selfless sacrifice would set off a chain of events that would change her world forever. An observation of war and its effects on an individual are one of the many themes present within this examination of a violent future

3.) __Goldman, William. The Princess Bride. London: Bloomsbury Children's, 2008. Print.__ Fencing. Fighting. Love. Revenge. Giants. This book has it all. When a young boy bed-ridden with pneumonia is bored, his father reads him a story, filled with themes ranging from the fantastical to realistic. A satire of the traditional princess/hero/ evildoer dynamic, The Princess Bride is full of twists and turns, stories of revenge and an overall sense of wonder that will satisfy the imagination of any reader

4.) __Heller, Joseph, and Brice Matthieussent. Catch 22. Paris: B. Grasset, 1985. Print.__ Imagine that you are a fighter pilot, whose next mission is certain to be deadlier than the last. Your higher ups continually push you to complete these missions--they have made it a requirement that you need to fly 20 to go home, then increased it to 40, 60, finally 80. If you do survive these deadly missions, the memories of your friends’ deaths are sure to last with you through the rest of your life. What do you do? Whis is the life of soldier Yossarion, who wants nothing more than to escape his dangerous role and live his life in peace. A satire or observation of war and its effects on the human psyche, Catch-22 is a novel that brought about the stated phrase--as once you are in, you are stuck in a continuous, repetitive cycle of loss, fear and death.

5.) __Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World,. New York: Harper & Bros., 1946. Print__ In a world where humans are cloned, grown, manufactured and separated into 5 different castes, individuality, emotion and desire has been removed from society completely. The higher cgroups, or Alphas, are bred to be the world leaders; in contrast the Epsilons, or the lowest group, are developmentally stifled, bred only to be workers and toilers rather than thinkers and creators. An observation of modern society, class warfare and abundant inequality, this satire takes a more sociological approach to expand on the fact that the world is often an unequal and unfair place, and that many times throughout history we find groups of people who are oppressed by those in power.

6.) __Orwell, George. Animal Farm;. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print.__ Old Mr. Jones had farm. Ee-eye-ee -eye-oh. The animals revolted and created their own society. Ee-eye-ee-eye--wait, what? In George Orwell’s classic, farm animals possess human characteristics and logic--enough to understand that their life, or philosophy called Animalism, means that all animals live together with no threat of humankind to oppress them. Orwell’s satire of power and its influence on living, thinking creatures is a stark satire of human history, moreover the retelling of the events within the Russian Revolution. Within this novel there are clashing beliefs, differing ruling styles, and the use of fear as a means to control a populace.

7.) __Orwell, George. 1984: A Novel. New York, NY: Published by Signet Classic, 1977. Print.__ In another world that Orwell creates, the government is everywhere, and increasingly oppressive. They are able to monitor your every action and thought, with any anti-government action or thought being considered treason, which is punishable by imprisonment and/or death. In essence, it is a satire/ social commentary on the Red Scare in America, the subsequent war on communism, and the effect that fear can have on the masses.

8.) __Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1996. Print__ The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club. The second rule about Fight Club is, you DO NOT, TALK, ABOUT FIGHT CLUB. It’s a means to blow off steam, to vent frustrations from dealing with daily annoyances throughout the day and of having to fulfill the status quo for society. Moreover, it is the revolution that society “needs”. Palahniuk’s novel spawned the even more infamous movie that satires the consumerism of modern society, smashing it again and again with the bare knuckled fist of an extreme philosophy and ultimately challenging the thought of what it means to be a human living in society today.

9.) __Swift, Jonathan, and Leonard Baskin. A Modest Proposal. New York: Grossman, 1969. Print.__ Returning to a familiar author, Jonathan Swift again showcases his masterful skill of satire in his observations and suggestions on British influence within Ireland during the 1700’s. In this short commentary, Swift attempts to “solve” the worsening conditions in Ireland during this period due to food shortages and oppression of the Irish people by British rule. His satire brings up the issues of class difference, poverty and hunger within 16th century Ireland, and includes a humourous yet shocking Modest Proposal.

10.) __Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.__ In this classic, title character Huckleberry Finn longs for action after his adventures with Tom Sawyer. To remedy this wanderlust, he escapes on a raft with runaway slave Jim as they attempt to flee North and find the salvation that each longs for. Twain’s famous novel has everything from raiding bandits to violent family feuds, coming of age lessons and social injustices associated within the south during the 1800’s, a time when slavery was still in full effect. A commentary on slavery in America, Twain’s milestone work studies the term freedom, and what it means to us as individuals, and human beings.