Prejudice? Religious intolerance? Political sedition? Class distinction? Plight of women? Voltaire satire, anyone? A literary newspaper offers an opportunity for readers of Candide to make text-to-self and text-to-world connections as...

Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They...

Expand your pupils' understanding of the short story genre with a study of John Updike and his story "A&P." This instructional activity, the fourth in a series of fourteen, invites learners to examine literary terms and read and...

Foster critical thinking skills by using the DR-TA Strategy with Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Class members read portions of the essay, stop and discuss what is happening, make predictions based on evidence from the text, and...

High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...

Encourage your young learners to analyze and think critically about how media portrays people or events. Upper graders analyze a political cartoon depicting President Obama as a Muslim and the First Lady as a revolutionary. Guided by...

Satire, sarcasm, or irony? Editorial cartoons have long been the tool artists use to express their opinions about politics and politicians. Kevin "Kai" Kallaugher's four-panel cartoon offers readers an opportunity to examine how he uses...

Readers of Voltaire’s satire create a word square for vocabulary drawn from Candide. The first box contains the word, the second a picture or illustration of the word. The definition is written in the third box, and learners write a...

The history of Greek drama is the focus of this multiple-choice quiz. Ten questions ask about historical figures and the roots of tragedy and comedy in Greek religious festivals. While studying Greek drama, use this quiz to test your...

Twelfth graders identify satire in various fictional texts.  For this language arts lesson, 12th graders will learn to define satire, parody, and caricature. Students will identify different forms of satire in historical and...

Students view the Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Oliver Twist. the lesson includes plot summaries of the three episodes as well as before and after viewing activities. In addition, there are discussion and activity suggestions to...

Young scholars examine Nathaniel Hawthorne's style of humor and compare it to other humorists. They discuss the purpose of literary humor and determine how it develops characters and plots in stories. They analyze the use of different...

Students discuss how much they understand of satire and parody. They read an article about an Iraq news parody show. They create and act out their own parody skit. They write an essay about using humor in grave situations.

Students establish background regarding a controversial article regarding rape. Students determine whether this article achieved the label of "satire". Internet sites are used for reference.

Read a biography of Pulitzer Prize winner, Joel Pett, and see many of his editorial cartoons in either Shockwave or HTML.

A brief biography of the English poet, John Gay.

A general biography of Qintus Horatius Flaccus, better known as Horace, an outstanding lyric poet and satirist.

Explore the world of Alexander Pope through the links found in this informative resource. This site provides links to biographical information and lesson plans for "The Rape of Lock."

Paterson Joseph describes how his research into Black British history led him to write his first play, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. In this one-man show, Paterson Joseph inhabits the life of Ignatius Sancho, the 18th-century composer,...

This article introduces Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his famous play "The School for Scandal".