Syllabus: ENGLISH 3490: Satire
A. Textbooks
Dorothy Parker. The Portable Dorothy Parker. Penguin Classics (2006).
Robert Benchley. Benchley Roundup: A Selection by Nathaniel Benchley (1983).
Woody Allen. Getting Even. (1978).
David Sedaris. Me Talk Pretty One Day. (2001).
Jon Stewart. Naked Pictures of Famous People. (1999).
Dance, Daryl Cumber, ed. Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American
Women's Humor. (1998).
Andrei Codrescu. New Orleans, Mon Amour (2006).
B. Course Objectives
1.) Students will be able to identify the genres of humor.
2.) Students will recognize major writers associate with humor writing.
3.) Students will be able to describe processes through which humor is
constructed.
4.) Students will recognize important works of humor throughout history.
5.) Students will be able to describe the relationship between satire and the
social-political climate of an age.
C. Course Content Outline
Weeks One and Two: Humor: A Historical Introduction
Weeks Three-Five: The Genres of Humor
Weeks Six-Seven: Humor and Culture
Weeks Eight-Nine: Humor and the Political Climate
Weeks Ten-Eleven: Processes of creating humor writing
Weeks Twelve-Thirteen: Humor and Literary Criticism
Weeks Fourteen-Fifteen: Writing Humor
D. Course Requirements
1.) Write five short seminar response papers (10 % each)
2.) Compose one longer critical essay (20%)
3) Compose one work of original humor in any genre (20 %)
4) Final exam (10%)
90%-100% = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D