This week, the English 400 classes wrote essays based off of the satirical publication The Onion. The assignment was for students to pick an interesting or controversial subject to write about and submit a satirical essay concerning that topic to their teachers.
“A satire is a literary technique [like] ridicule,” Mary Quinn, English teacher, said. “It will help them [criticize] people or ideas without being rude, and it lets them be more creative.”
Students submit satires with subjects ranging from the well known Hollywood family, the Kardashians, to student life issues, some even poking fun at observed stereotypes of Kansas.
“[Satire] is the best thing we have learned all year,” Erica Edwards, senior, said. “Our generation likes to make fun of things that are obvious.”
English 400 students feel that they can really relate to this style of comical writing, by choosing what they want to write about.
“They are choosing something that really upsets them to write about,” Brian Weilert, English teacher, said. “This has shown how common it is for that generation to want to criticize these things.”
Learning how to write these essays on different topics will help students grow by showing them how common satire is in this generation. Students were required to write a minimum of 250 words and submit them to their teachers who would then choose the ones that best fit their criteria and display them in the hallways for the enjoyment of others.