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Learning Intention: Students will analyse how satire and documentary techniques are used to represent political and social perspectives, and evaluate how these representations influence audience understanding of free speech and censorship.
Learning Intention: Students will analyse how satire and documentary techniques are used to represent political and social perspectives, and evaluate how these representations influence audience understanding of free speech and censorship.
Success Criteria:
Define satire and discuss the difference between satire and fake news.
Create a list of satirical techniques.
Visual analysis of recent political cartoons and discuss the origins and purpose of cartoons in media.
Glossary term:
What is Satire: the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
Activity: Look at the two headlines: which ones are satirical? which ones are real?
Activity: Look at the two headlines: which ones are satirical? which ones are real?
Students decide which is “true” and justify in 1 sentence.
Debrief: “Why was this hard? What makes something feel true?”
Satire vs Fake News
Satire vs Fake News
Activity: create a T bar chart
SATIRE (purpose: comment, expose, critique) vs FAKE NEWS (purpose: mislead, persuade, manipulate).
Class builds a list of satire techniques.
Activity: Political Cartoon Satire
Activity: Political Cartoon Satire
What issue?
• What perspective/bias?
• What technique?
• What “truth” is it trying to shape?
Core Text: The Bird and the Bee
The Bird and the Bee a documentary produced and directed by Matt Pirrall as part of the Palladium Pictures documentary incubator and released on Real Clear Politics.
As you view the text: answer the following questions:
How are perspectives shaped through editing, voiceover, juxtaposition, irony?
What message about censorship or truth is being implied?
How does the documentary use humour or satire to expose bias or censorship in the media? Provide one example from the film and explain its purpose.
What message does the documentary suggest about who controls “truth” in society, and how does this influence the audience’s understanding of free speech?
Mini-Discursive Discussion
Mini-Discursive Discussion
Whole class: “Is satire a form of truth-telling or a form of manipulation?” Students must justify without PEEL — use discursive thinking (e.g., “some would argue…”, “on the other hand…”, “a more cynical view might be…”)
Writing Sprint (Discursive Warm-Up)
Students write a 7–10 line discursive paragraph responding to:
“Can satire reveal deeper truths than traditional journalism?”
- encourage voice, nuance, balanced perspective, rhetorical questions, conversational tone
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