Fairy Tales and Satire: Shrek
Examples:
• Exaggeration
– Princess Fiona fights and successfully defeats Robin Hood and all of his Merry
Men without any help and without any weapons.
• Incongruity
– Princess Fiona uses her ponytail to deliver a knockout punch to one of the
Merry Men. While frozen in a mid-air martial arts kick, Princess Fiona pauses
to fix her disheveled hair before knocking out two of the Merry Men.
• Reversal
– The roles of the hero and the damsel in distress have been reversed. In this
clip, it is Princess Fiona, the rescuee, who fights and defeats the foe.
• Parody
– The fight scene is an exaggerated imitation of the martial arts style and special
effects used in movies such as The Matrixand Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
–
Robin Hood and his Merry Men also parody the musicals of West Side Story and Riverdance/ Lord of the
Dance in their song.
Fairy Tales and Satire: Shrek
• Underneath your examples, please answer the
following:
• 1. Identify the primary comment or criticism about
society that is being made by the satirical techniques in
this clip from Shrek.
• 2. What, then, is this satire asking us to change?
• If you’re having a brain fart, consider this question to
help you out: what is the underlying lesson or
unwritten moral in the story?
Modest Proposal: a few questions
As a group, please answer the following questions
about what you read. Please write your responses on
1 sheet of paper (make sure everyone’s name is on
it).
• 1. What is ironic about the title?
• 2. What is the problem?
• 3. What is the solution?
• 4. Why is his solution better than others?
• 5. In the last paragraph of Modest Proposal, how
does Swift sell his ethos?
• 6. Would Modest Proposal be considered Horation or
Juvenalian satire? Using examples from the essay to
explain your answer.