ENGL 1805
Freshman Seminar: Satire and Humor
Dr. Carolyn Sigler
University of Minnesota Duluth | Fall 2008 | MW 9:00-10:50 am
Class handouts and supplemental readings
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LINKS TO SATIRE AND HUMOR RESOURCES ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
WRITING AND DOCUMENTATION
- Guide to integrating and citing quotations
- Using literary quotations from the UW Madison Writer's Handbook
- Writing a bibliography using MLA Style
- Using MLA format from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
- Two Sites on College Writing: Dartmouth Writing Program and University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Handbook . The Dartmouth College Writing Program contains a number of helpful materials, such as some well-written essays that answer the question "What is an academic paper?" and also provide information on researching topics for papers. The site also includes information on such topics as writing about film, writing for sociology courses, and helpful suggestions on writing from fellow students. The second site is offered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writing Center and contains material on how best to cite references, avoiding common grammar and punctuation mistakes, a guide to MLA style, as well as information on academic writing and research issues from thesis statements to quoting, paraphrasing and documentation.. Taken together, these sites provide a host of materials that will allow students to become better writers in their various courses during their time in the world of higher education and beyond (Copyright 1994-2005 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
- KU Writing Center [pdf]: The University of Kansas has a number of fine academic programs, and they also provide writing support for students who might be having trouble getting started with their own assignments or term papers. While visitors may not be able to make the trek on over to Lawrence, they can certainly hop online here to take advantage of some of their writing tutorials and guide sheets. Most visitors will probably want to start at the 'Students' section, where they can then click on sections specifically designed for undergraduates or graduate students. Some of these materials have been created specifically by the professionals at KU’s Writing Center, including some very helpful guides to crafting an effective thesis statement and working on pre-writing strategies. Also, the 'Writing Guides' section includes a sample writing gallery and an assignment planner" (Copyright 1994-2008 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
- The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing: This site is the online version of a new writing primer, developed by Michael Harvey (a professor at Washington College in Maryland), that will be of great help to many students who find themselves grappling with writing college-level assignments and papers. The homepage for the guide contains hypertext links to various sections, including those dealing with style, structure, evidence, and paper mechanics. From the main page, students can access any of the primer's many sections quickly, such as those dealing with the use of the historical present, finding a voice, and nominalizations. All of these sections are complemented by a profuse number of examples that illustrate the different writing tools and potential pitfalls that students may encounter (Copyright 1994-2005 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
LITERARY BACKGROUND AND CRITICISMThe Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection: This literary metasite contains over 1,000 annotated metasites and articles devoted to literary criticism, biographical, and other information about 123 authors from Dante Alighieri to Arthur Miller to William Butler Yeats. The links to criticism information can be to sites or articles (some of which have access restrictions). Visitors can browse the site by author, title, or literary period (for British and American literature). In addition, both a literary criticism guide and a pathfinder are provided for those who wish to further explore web and print resources on the topic (from The Internet Scout Project).
- Biographical and critical resources about many of the authors in this class can be found at the Literature Resource Center, a site that allows you to search through hundreds of Gale reference volumes, including the Dictionary of Literary Biography series as well as many other biographical and critical sources.
- The Voice of the Shuttle literary resources
- Key Literary Terms
- A Glossary of Poetic terms
ELECTRONIC TEXTSPERIODICALSThe Punch Cartoon Page
Internet Library of Early Journals: A Digital Library of 18th and 19th Century Journals
The Onion: satirical newspaper originally from Madison, WI
SATIRE ON THE WEB
Laughlab: a UK site dedicated to finding the world's funniest joke.
Angryalien.com presents a collection of parodies of popular films such as Borat, Alien, Resevoir Dogs, The Shining and A Christmas Story, reinacted in 30 seconds by cartoon bunnies.
The Uncyclopedia is a parody of the collaborative online resourceWikipedia, describing itself as "the content-free encyclopedia that anyone can edit."
INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS AND PERFORMERSRegina Barreca
Unashamed and Unabashed: Books by Regina Barreca
An I Love Lucy page from the Fifties Web
Lucille Ball
A complete I Love Lucy episode guide from TVLand
Another episode guide from the Fifties Web that includes a number of Quicktime movie clipsGeorge Carlin Homepage
George Carlin
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin Homepage
The Charlie Chaplin page from the "Clown Ministry" Web site includes biographical information on Chaplin, as well as background on many of his films, including Monsieur Verdoux.
Website of the Chaplin Society
An unofficial Chaplin site (mostly links)
David Gerstein's Charlie Chaplin page includes criticism and a bibliography of sources
Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho's official Website: includes biographical and performance information.
A detailed entry on Margaret Cho from Wikipedia, includes biographical and career highlights.
John Cleese
The Fawlty Towers Multimedia Page
The Unofficial Guide to Fawlty Towers
Biographical and Background InformationRolling Stone interview with Cohen: "The Man Behind the Moustache"Sacha Baron Cohen
A collection of National Public Radio interviews with Cohen
Biographical and background information from WikipediAStephen Colbert
The Colbert Report official site: searchable site that contains (among many things) video clips, daily headlines and information about the show.
Colbert University describes itself as "an ongoing collaborative project: a viewer's companion for The Colbert Report. We explore aspects of the show's comedy and catalog its major recurring characters, terms, segments, and in-jokes. And of course we celebrate the Report's star, Stephen Colbert—particularly in our archives, where you can see clips from his earlier work, read his speeches, and peruse interviews with him."
Colbert Nation is another fan site that offers information and background about Stephen Colbert, as well as archives of the Colbert Report.
A Colbert Report video archive
An Interview with Larry David from Laugh FactoryMagazine.The Marietta Holley Page
Marietta Holley (biography)
E-Text of Holley's wonderful My opinion and Betsy Bobbet's: designed as a beacon light to guide women to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but which may be read by members of the sterner sect without injury to themselves or the book (1877).David Letterman An online copy of the "G.E. Handshake" episode from LateNight with David Letterman (1986)
The Michael Moore Homepage
A transcript of Roger & Me
A detailed collection of George Orwell Resources from the University of Oklahoma.The Dorothy Parker Page
An online collection of her poetry
Dot City: Dorothy Parker's New York [RealPlayer] Dedicated to that bon vivant of the New York 1920s literary set,Dorothy Parker's New York is sponsored by the Dorothy Parker Society of New York. The site is essentially a visual history of Ms. Parkers life in New York during the period and her time as a member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table. Visitors are taken to her different homes, literary hangouts (where she hobnobbed with fellow writers like Robert Benchley), and their favorite speakeasies. As Ms. Parker eventually moved west to write for Hollywood, visitors can also take yet another visual tour to some of the places she lived and frequented. The highlight of this section is an audio archive featuring Ms. Parker reading some of her favorite poems, including "Men" and "One Perfect Rose." Rounding out the site is information on the Society's activities, including a newsletter and details on the annual Parkerfest, held to celebrate the memory of Dorothy Parker [from the Internet Scout Project]..
A fan's tribute site: contains biographical and career information
A brief site with bibliography and biograohical information
Another short bio. and links to e-texts of short stories.
An unofficial fan site with lots of links
ThreeStooges.net [Real Player]
There are two types of people in this world: those who love the Three Stooges and those who cannot stand them. The latter group will probably want to avoid this site, but for Stooges aficionados out there, this site is a great place to visit. Developed by Robert Davidson, this Web site is a cornucopia of sounds, Stooge shorts, transcripts, and videographies all related to the Stooges' long performing career. From their vaudeville beginnings, the Stooges became a household name through their short films. Later, they then experienced a type of renaissance as the shorts made their way to television syndication in the 1950s. The site contains lists of the Stooges fabled physical comedy routines, a filmography, production crew listings, and monitor screen wallpaper that users can download for their own use. Additionally, visitors can find over twenty complete Stooge shorts to watch here, including the much-loved "Disorder in the Court," "Three Little Beers," and "Calling all Curs." Overall, this site is a great deal of fun and rather addictive (from The Internet Scout Project).Jon Stewart'sThe Daily Show and The Colbert Report Read the recent New York Times article, "Is John Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?" by Michiko Kakutani: "Jon Stewart says his job is just throwing spitballs. But in satirizing a world that defies satire, “The Daily Show” delivers both news and morality" (08/17/08).
The Daily Show official site: searchable site that contains (among many things) video clips, daily headlines and information about the show.
CNN transcript of Jon Stewart's appearance on Crossfire.
Watch Stewart's Crossfire appearance again on IFilm.com or on You Tube.
A fan site featuring transcripts and video clips from The Daily Show (including the clips viewed in class
Another Daily Show video archive.A bibliography of books and articles related to Swift, which describes its aim as listing "the key works related to a general understanding of Jonathan Swift -- his life, opinions, and his times -- with a focus on all aspects of Gulliver's Travels."
Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels - Home Page
Great Books - Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift: An Overview
A searchable online edition of Gulliver's Travels, useful if looking for examples of particular terms or images.
A study guide to Gulliver's Travels by Dr. Kristen McDermott at Central Michigan University.
An online collection of Thurber's works
The Thurber Pathfinder: background, extensive bibliography and links.The Mark Twain Project: The goal of this new online resource from the University of California is to provide searchable digital editions of everything Mark Twain ever wrote, including his letters, essays, and novels.
Mark Twain in His Times
Mark Twain: background, extensive bibliography, e-texts, and links.
