Animal Farm
Chapter 4:
The Battle of the Cowshed
Satirical Comic Strip
Group Project
Satire
• What is a satire?
• Give some examples of:
– Exaggeration
– Reversal
– Parody
– Incongruity
Answer
• Satire uses various comedic
techniques in order to make a
comment or criticism about the
subject or issue.
Think Back to…
#Hashtag or iPhone 5 Videos
• What about pop culture was discussed?
• How did each video poke fun at pop
culture?
NOW, Think About War
• What are traditional elements of war?
Battle? Tactics and strategy?
• Orwell has painted his readers a picture of
the animals in battle against the humans.
• How can you take it a step further to
truly satirize the situation?
The Battle of the Cowshed
• Rumors circulated that the
animals________________________.
• Mr. Jones & ________________ decided to
_____________________________.
• However, the animals had _________
this and ___________________________.
• 1st
– The pigeons flew overhead, then the geese
pecked at the men.
• 2nd
– Muriel, Benjamin, and the sheep butted the
men.
– Men were able to overpower and animals
retreated.
• 3rd
– 3 horses, 3 cows, the rest of the pigs were
waiting in ambush (Cowshed)
• 4th
– Boxer took a blow at the farmer
– The men began to run in fear.
-All the animals began to attack
• The men left.
-Boxer kills one of the boys (he didn’t mean
to)
-Snowball says, “No sentimentality, comrade!”
• 5th
– The animals celebrate their victory with
Beasts of England song and a flag raising
ceremony.
Directions:
• You will work in your reading groups
(Remember, this is a group grade!)
• You will have until the end of the hour
on Friday to complete a FULL SCALE
COMIC STRIP satirizing the “Battle of
the Cowshed.”
Requirements:
• Minimum of 8 boxes/ stills.
• Fully colored illustrations.
• Dialogue or captions for each box.
You Should…
• Find some ways to take the sequence of
events and use a technique with them…
exaggeration for example.
• You may use all techniques or some.
SAMPLE
A drawing and a caption
Multiple boxes in a sequence.
DROP OFF
BEFORE YOU LEAVE….
• A sheet with your group NAMES on it and
HOUR. You may NOT take your work
home!
GRADING
• 8 boxes/ 3pts.
• Color
• Creativity
• Elements of Satire
• Total:
/24pts.
/4pts.
/4pts.
/10pts.
/42 summative points
Presentation of the Comic
• In front of the class, “front and center.”
• 1 or 2 group members should read the
comic still by still.
• As the audience or “reader,” you are
responsible for assessing the work.
Each of you are expected to complete the
following during presentations…
-On loose leaf paper, MLA format.
-Due AS you leave.
This is your EXIT TICKET!
Group Presentation #1
-Explain, in a few sentences, how the comic
has used 1 technique of satire. (Be sure to identify
the technique.)
Group Presentation #2
-Create a Bridge Map that identifies the
relationship between “The Battle of the
Cowshed” in Animal Farm and the battle
satirized by this group’s comic strip.
( _________ shows __________ as
__________ shows ________.)
Group Presentation #3
- Using the 6 + 1 rubric for Presentation,
assess the group’s work from 1-6.
Provide a 1-2 sentence explanation of
why this grade was fair.
Group Presentation #4
- Explain what you found to be
problematic or what could be done more
effectively in this comic strip. Why?
Group Presentation #5
What was particularly good in this
comic strip? How did it help you to
understand satire?
Group Presentation #6
Create a Double Bubble comparing your
own comic with that of this group.