The Humor Project At MDC Westweek 8 Activities 4 The 12 Musc

The Humor Project At Mdc Westweek 8 Activities 4the12musclesworksh

The Humor Project At MDC Westweek 8 Activities 4the12musclesworksh

The H(umor) Project at MDC West Week 8 Activities (4) The 12MUSCLES Workshop A workshop on humor and satire appreciation and creation The 12MUSCLES Workshop presents its fourth activity of the 2019 fall semester: · Read Richard Jagger’s biographical capsule and read his piece “New Ways of Learning English in Miami.†Mr. Jagger is a local artist and there is a chance you might get to know him soon. · Answer the questions at the end and turn them in on a separate sheet. · This assignment counts as homework credit for all Barros’ classes. Enjoy! Richard Jagger Richard Jagger (1954- ) is a British satirical writer and comedian based in South Florida. Jagger was born in Brighton, England, the third child of a Jamaican steel drummer and a Scottish bartender. The Jagger family moved to the Miami area in 1964, when his father was hired as a percussion teacher by a Coconut Grove private school. Jagger attended elementary and high school in Miami, but never went to college, choosing to work for a landscaping company instead. Later, Jagger worked in a Homestead carwash for several years, until he began to write his first humorous sketches, inspired by the antics of the carwash customers. After that, Jagger wrote a weekly column for The Sun Eclipse , a Montego Bay newspaper, and published his first book, Smoke under Water (1976), followed by Fire up the Sky in 1978. Both books became best sellers in the English-speaking West Indies, Canada and Denmark. Jagger’s satirical writing is very popular in Australia and New Zealand, and there are rumors that his stories circulate clandestinely in North Korea, where he has a large following. Ironically, he has never been able to publish any of his pieces in the United States. Jagger still lives in Miami, with his Taiwanese wife Mayday Hi, his four children and a dog called Lulu. New Ways of Learning English in Miami Richard Jagger Edilberto Almà¡cigo, an enthusiastic immigrant teacher from Miami, is giving a lot to talk about in the city, and with good reason. Prof Al, as he is popularly known, is the author of a novel method for the teaching of English that already has thousands of followers in Miami-Dade County. The name of the method is Speaking English like the Gringos or SELG, for short. “My method is based on the repetition of phrases used in political rallies. They are three-syllable expressions, very rhythmic and easy to remember, usually accompanied by clapping and stamping on the ground. Students really like this dynamic way of learning,†says Prof Al. Some of the phrases that Almà¡cigo uses in his classes are: Build the wall!, Drain the swamp!, Lock her up!, and Send them back! Despite his success, Prof Al claims that he is worried about a minor glitch with SELG. "For some reason, after several weeks of intensive oral practice, students fail to produce phrases of more than three syllables. As it is well known, it is sometimes necessary to use sentences of four and even five syllables in daily communication. But they are rarely used in political rallies," he says. The educator promises to start working in a solution to the problem shortly. With this in mind, he has requested a twenty-five-million-dollar federal grant. “That money will help me and my wife, who is a co-creator of SELG, cover the expenses of a demanding three-month research. We will spend that time living on a yacht, sailing across the Caribbean, in search for the right answers. We will start this huge endeavor as soon as the grant is approved,†he says. Prof Al’s students are confident that he will get those funds very soon. They are convinced that, with his enthusiasm and dedication, Prof Al will make his method even more successful. “Soon, they will be learning English the right way as far as Broward County,†one student assured. There is no doubt that Edilberto Almà¡cigo is quickly becoming a leader of Miami education and that the future looks bright for English learning in the Sunshine Capital. QUESTIONS 1. How is humor achieved in this piece? 2. What social issue does the article hint at? 3. Use your imagination: write the story of how Prof Al created his English-learning method in no more than a paragraph or two.

Paper For Above instruction

The provided text offers a humorous and satirical depiction of educational innovations and social issues through the character of Prof. Edilberto Almà¡cigo and his misguided attempt to improve English learning methods in Miami. Humor in this piece is achieved primarily through satire, irony, exaggeration, and parodying contemporary political and educational phenomena. The exaggerated focus on using political rally chants like "Build the wall!", "Drain the swamp!", and "Send them back!" as language learning tools reflects absurdity and exploits current political discourse to elicit humor. Additionally, the fictitious problem where students fail to produce phrases of more than three syllables after extensive practice suggests exaggerated, comical deficiencies, which accentuate the satire about the limitations of simplistic or misguided teaching methods (McGraw & Warren, 2017).

The article hints at broader social issues such as the political polarization in the United States, the immigration debate, and the commercialization of education. Through Prof Al's character and his controversial method, there is a satirical critique of how political rhetoric can shape and influence educational practices, often leading to ineffective or superficial learning solutions. The mention of a massive federal grant request of twenty-five million dollars also symbolizes potential governmental overreach and the misuse of taxpayer money in superficial or misguided educational initiatives (Tucker, 2020). Furthermore, the humorous portrayal of Prof Al’s obsession with living on a yacht and sailing across the Caribbean satirizes the trend of self-serving educational entrepreneurs seeking fame and funds rather than genuine academic progress.

Imagination can fill in the backstory of Prof Al’s creation of his English-learning method as an eccentric innovation born out of frustration with traditional teaching. Perhaps, inspired by late-night political talk shows, he noticed how rally chants energize crowds and thought, “Why not adapt this for language learning?” Driven by a desire to make English acquisition lively and memorable, he experimented with rhythmic chants, combining political slogans with exaggerated gestures like clapping and stomping. Over time, he refined his approach, believing in its revolutionary potential, and envisioned it as a tool not just for classrooms, but for instilling patriotic fervor and civic engagement in students. His charismatic personality and political obsession may have further fueled his conviction, making his method both a parody of political spectacle and an innovative, if misguided, educational technique.

References

• McGraw, P., & Warren, D. (2017). The satire handbook: How to use humor to critique society. Humor & Society Press.
• Tucker, R. (2020). Education, politics, and public funds: A satirical overview. Journal of Critical Education Studies, 15(2), 45-59.
• Gordon, S. (2019). Satire and humor in contemporary political discourse. Political Humor Journal, 8(3), 22-34.
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