Passion Blog Idea #1: This Writer Deserves a Participation Trophy
In my 11th grade AP English Language and Composition class, we wrote a couple of satirical pieces throughout the years. Writing those pieces was some of the best moments in the class as everyone had tears in their eyes from intense laughing. I have been looking for the opportunity to exercise satirical muscles once again, and I see this course as a potential answer.
This is blog that shifts current events or current problems into a satirical light. through the lenses of iGeneration (or at least from the perspective of someone from the iGeneration). The main vehicle for the satire will be stories and situations that are presented as facts, but are in actuality fabrication to demonstrate the irrationality of reality. These blog will experiment with different types of satire but will typically focus on Horatian satire rather than Juvenalian satire. The choice to focus on Horatian satire is due to the audience, as the audience will likely be more receptive to lighter humor rather than angry morals. However, depending on the topic and severity of the situation, Juvenalian satire may be employed to drill an idea into the audience.
Post 1: Elders Understanding Technology
This post will create a hypothetical satirical story about how older generations try to understand the generation that has grown with technology.
Post 2: The Effects of Global Warming
This will speak about global warming in terms by creating a humorous tone for one side of the argument.
Post 3: Politicians Making Decisions for Issues They Are Not Experts on
This post will attempt to take an Onion article approach of satire by crafting a ridiculous situation which contains a kernel of reality.
Post 4: Fidget Spinners
This post will overemphasize the importance of fidget spinners in an attempt to make the fad seem unnecessary. Or it might overemphasize the adverse reactions to fidget spinners to portray detractors in a negative light through humor.
Post 5: Immigration
Depending on the news in about a month, another potential topic could be about immigration. It is easy to satirize the arguments of immigration on both sides because they are often extreme on their own.
Passion Blog Idea #2: Whom You Gonna Call?
Back at home, I was that person. I would constantly correct grammar, especially the nuanced grammar that is honestly irrelevant. Every once in awhile, I would be the one who was corrected. It would be both a humiliating and shining moment as it meant by friends actually listened to me! Since coming to Penn State, I have been experiencing withdrawal in the sense that I have chosen to not correct the grammar of people I have just met. I figured it would not be the best first impressions. But because of this, I have an unnerving sensation about discomfort within in. This blog will be the catharsis for this feeling as I look at popular songs in a manner no one ever wants to think of a song.
A look into erroneous grammar in well known songs that may have cultivated generations to speak with with a casual dialect. This course uses songs, a ubiquitous form of communication, as the vehicle to examine the diminishing adherence to formal grammar. This blog aims to explain the grammar in a simplistic manner, while also documenting when the specific grammar issue became problematic. This blog is not going to be pretentious because it does not want to repel its audience; instead, it will have fun discussing the songs and accept that language evolves over time to connect with the audience.
Post 1: Ghostbuster's Theme Song
This song focuses on the abuse of the nominative form "who" and the objective form "whom," an issue that has been plaguing students for years on standardized tests.
Post 2: "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol
This post will cover the common confusion between intransitive and transitive verbs; specifically, with this song, the issue of "to lie" and "to lay" will be discussed.
Post 3: "If I Was You" by Megan Trainor
This week's song illuminates an issue with the subjunctive tense. This song leads into a discussion of when it is appropriate to use the subjunctive tense and ends with a reference to the grammatically correct example "If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce.
Post 4: "Somebody that I Used to Know" by Gotye
The topic for this week is extremely simple but ubiquitous nonetheless. This song introduces the problem of referring to individuals as objects instead of actual people.
Post 5: "I'm Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood
This song also focuses on a nuanced grammar topic. The lyrics state "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free." Without thinking about the phrasing, the incorrect grammar is barely evident. However, this week's post explains that "where" is not the correct word for the situation and delves into the subtly of dangling modifiers.
In my 11th grade AP English Language and Composition class, we wrote a couple of satirical pieces throughout the years. Writing those pieces was some of the best moments in the class as everyone had tears in their eyes from intense laughing. I have been looking for the opportunity to exercise satirical muscles once again, and I see this course as a potential answer.
This is blog that shifts current events or current problems into a satirical light. through the lenses of iGeneration (or at least from the perspective of someone from the iGeneration). The main vehicle for the satire will be stories and situations that are presented as facts, but are in actuality fabrication to demonstrate the irrationality of reality. These blog will experiment with different types of satire but will typically focus on Horatian satire rather than Juvenalian satire. The choice to focus on Horatian satire is due to the audience, as the audience will likely be more receptive to lighter humor rather than angry morals. However, depending on the topic and severity of the situation, Juvenalian satire may be employed to drill an idea into the audience.
Post 1: Elders Understanding Technology
This post will create a hypothetical satirical story about how older generations try to understand the generation that has grown with technology.
Post 2: The Effects of Global Warming
This will speak about global warming in terms by creating a humorous tone for one side of the argument.
Post 3: Politicians Making Decisions for Issues They Are Not Experts on
This post will attempt to take an Onion article approach of satire by crafting a ridiculous situation which contains a kernel of reality.
Post 4: Fidget Spinners
This post will overemphasize the importance of fidget spinners in an attempt to make the fad seem unnecessary. Or it might overemphasize the adverse reactions to fidget spinners to portray detractors in a negative light through humor.
Post 5: Immigration
Depending on the news in about a month, another potential topic could be about immigration. It is easy to satirize the arguments of immigration on both sides because they are often extreme on their own.
Passion Blog Idea #2: Whom You Gonna Call?
Back at home, I was that person. I would constantly correct grammar, especially the nuanced grammar that is honestly irrelevant. Every once in awhile, I would be the one who was corrected. It would be both a humiliating and shining moment as it meant by friends actually listened to me! Since coming to Penn State, I have been experiencing withdrawal in the sense that I have chosen to not correct the grammar of people I have just met. I figured it would not be the best first impressions. But because of this, I have an unnerving sensation about discomfort within in. This blog will be the catharsis for this feeling as I look at popular songs in a manner no one ever wants to think of a song.
A look into erroneous grammar in well known songs that may have cultivated generations to speak with with a casual dialect. This course uses songs, a ubiquitous form of communication, as the vehicle to examine the diminishing adherence to formal grammar. This blog aims to explain the grammar in a simplistic manner, while also documenting when the specific grammar issue became problematic. This blog is not going to be pretentious because it does not want to repel its audience; instead, it will have fun discussing the songs and accept that language evolves over time to connect with the audience.
Post 1: Ghostbuster's Theme Song
This song focuses on the abuse of the nominative form "who" and the objective form "whom," an issue that has been plaguing students for years on standardized tests.
Post 2: "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol
This post will cover the common confusion between intransitive and transitive verbs; specifically, with this song, the issue of "to lie" and "to lay" will be discussed.
Post 3: "If I Was You" by Megan Trainor
This week's song illuminates an issue with the subjunctive tense. This song leads into a discussion of when it is appropriate to use the subjunctive tense and ends with a reference to the grammatically correct example "If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce.
Post 4: "Somebody that I Used to Know" by Gotye
The topic for this week is extremely simple but ubiquitous nonetheless. This song introduces the problem of referring to individuals as objects instead of actual people.
Post 5: "I'm Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood
This song also focuses on a nuanced grammar topic. The lyrics state "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free." Without thinking about the phrasing, the incorrect grammar is barely evident. However, this week's post explains that "where" is not the correct word for the situation and delves into the subtly of dangling modifiers.
Matt! You've done wonderful inventional work to flesh out post-by-post breakdowns of how you might develop each blog theme. I can't wait to see which one you select!
ReplyDeleteA bit of feedback about your blog design:
- With this theme, your static home page appears blank (except for the title), so a reader has to click on the title to actually begin reading the post. Generally speaking, the fewer clicks a person has to make to engage with your content, the better. (Yes, we're that lazy.)
- Also with this theme, it's hard to see if anyone has commented. How might other readers see comments that already have been posted?
- While I happen to like navy blue, it's a little hard on the eyes when it's the background color and the font is light. It's much easier to read dark font on a lighter background.
If you can take a bit of time to work on these things, I sense that readers will be able to engage with your blog more easily in the future.
Great ideas -- can't wait to watch them unfold!
Please do not withhold your English Grammar Skills. Not only will your grammar blog be quite entertaining, it will be extremely informative too. For most of us peasants are mere hooligans mocking around with the English language, putting in random combinations of letters here and there. Evident in this comment, we do not have proper grammar. So I would say definitely go for the second one.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea about grammar in popular songs would make an interesting topic for a blog! I feel like music has a lot of influence on how we communicate in our day to day lives, and it would be entertaining to see songs picked apart and analyzed. I have seen rap songs corrected for grammar, and it's hilarious but also intriguing how normal it is for us to speak and write incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteI really like all the ideas a lot. My favorites are the onion esque political satire and the grammatical analysis of the five songs. I think that one thing about why the onion is so great is because they exploit very normal situations with ridiculous details that flesh it out and show the absurdity of the generalization they are trying to critique. It would be very funny if you could find a way to put your corrections of the songs onto the music to hear how the corrections would change the song.
ReplyDeleteI love both ideas for your passion blog. My friends and I love using satire and sarcasm when we're talking with each other, so a blog dedicated to this would be really cool. I think, as you mentioned, that it would be pretty funny as well and I love a good piece of writing that makes me laugh and brightens my day. I also love your ideas for the satirical blog, and I can already see how some of the posts will develop and be really interesting.
ReplyDelete