#49, Satire
Presidential Fitness Test Now Awarded To Any Kid Who Can Eat Without Sweating
January 3 2012 /// Issue 48-01
WASHINGTON—Finally conceding it is unrealistic to expect today's children to complete a pull-up, run a mile, or touch their toes, the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition announced Tuesday the new standard for winning its award would be the ability to eat a meal without breaking a sweat. "In our revised physical fitness test, a meal is placed in front of a child, and the longer he or she is able to eat without wheezing (breathing with difficulty) or needing to lie down, the higher the score," said executive director Shellie Pfohl, adding that children who complete the meal in the fastest amount time without shifting around in their seat to make their pants fit more comfortably will be eligible for the top medal. "We want our kids to set more pragmatic, real-world goals for themselves, and being able to run back and forth across a basketball court one time is no longer realistic." At press time, elementary school student Henry Walters was on his fourth helping of mashed potatoes as his obese classmates cheered for him to keep going.
SOURCE: http://www.theonion.com/articles/presidential-fitness-test-now-awarded-to-any-kid-w,26857/
satire: a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
This Onion is one of America's most trusted sources of satire. The Onion pokes fun at nearly every aspect of American life, from the life of a lonely teenager to famous sports athletes to the President himself. Satire is a form of writing in which mistakes, character flaws, and societal issues (in addition to others) are illuminated through the use of humor. A few forms of satire are,
- irony (a literary device in which what is expected to happen does not happen)
- parody (mimicking the style of someone of something)
- exaggeration (taking a real life situation and blowing it out of proportion to show its faults)
The article above pokes fun at the poor health of American students. Most cannot pass the Presidential Fitness Test so the government has drastically lowered the test standards. A student can now receive an award just for eating...without sweating. This is an exaggeration of the U.S.'s health problem.
Write a piece of satire about Korean society. The trick is to make the piece realistic enough that the reader will believe it, while at the same time making it humorous.
-Brenden Lee Teacher
what's mr. wind-up bird up to right now?