Parody involves creating humor through "imitating a style or genre of literature or other media" (Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2004, p. 154). More specifically, Bush, Bush, and Boller (1994) argued that parody involves both imitation of an original text, and discrepancies from the original that create humor and insight. The discrepancies…

The impetus for the incredible variety found in the modern literary dragon is commonly seen to stem from the creative genius of either E. Nesbit or Kenneth Grahame. However, examination of dragon stories in the late nineteenth century shows that several different authors, on both sides of the Atlantic, were producing similar stories at about the…

In this article, John Derby examines "The Colbert Report" as a complex visual culture phenomenon that is highly relevant to young art learners, and offers curricular strategies that build on the show's Web content (www.colbertnation.com). As media studies scholar Baym (2010) has argued, "The Colbert Report" represents a…

This article describes an instructional lesson the author developed to help students use parody to read and write original poetry. The author begins this article with an introduction to parody and a rationale for using it as an instructional strategy. Then, he describes materials and procedures he used and he shares samples of student writing. He…

This dissertation examines three recent first-year composition textbooks' treatments of new media. These textbooks treat new media as equivalent to print media; I offer "media equivalency" to describe the problem. This concept suggests that one medium is understood by the same methods as another. I argue that the media equivalency…

As a narrative series, Brandon Sanderson's humorous, middle grade, Alcatraz Smedry novels display some of the arguably vague concepts of Reader Response theorist Wolfgang Iser as accessible themes that encourage a critical understanding of the stories. "Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians" (2007), "Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones" (2008) and…

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a parody is "a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule." A parody is a respectful yet critical satire, takeoff, or spoof of an original. In literature, a parody is when a person imitates an author's style or work to ridicule or…

In defining popular culture as inherently pleasurable, including the pleasures of transgression, the author argues that while art teachers now critique popular visual culture for its often-dubious ideologies, they are yet to come to terms with its transgressive pleasures. Teachers fail to engage with its carnivalesque, subversive qualities because…

This article adopts a Bakhtinian analysis to understand the complexities of discourse in language-learning classrooms. Drawing on empirical data from two of four linked case studies in a larger, ESRC-funded project, we argue that students learning in complementary (also known as community language, supplementary, or heritage language) schools…

This article explores the possibilities of using natural writing opportunities that occur in family life to nurture children's literacy development. From notes to lists to journals to parodies, families can use writing to nurture personal relationships and simultaneously improve literacy. Specific tips for teachers to share with parents in making…

The author reports on and analyzes the inclusion of parody in her sequence of assignments for a graduate composition theory seminar. She contends that having students write parodies of particular theorists and theoretical camps enables them to gain critical leverage that they might not otherwise obtain on a field (in this case, composition…

In this article, the author describes the Ogre Awards, an ambitious storytelling event she developed for The Harker School during the 1996-1997 school year. Although it has evolved over these twelve years, the concept of the event is as follows: three of the four homeroom classes (averaging twenty-two students each) perform a segment of a…

The mock research paper combines creative writing with academic writing and, in the process, breaks down that binary. This article describes a writing assignment that offers an introduction to the college research paper genre. This assignment helps students focus on crafting an argument and learning genre conventions while postponing until the…

This public-hearing case study is centered upon the recent decision by President George W. Bush to set NASA's primary goal as a return to the Moon, followed by a mission to Mars. The members on the expert panel are fictitious and the transcript contrived; however, the views expressed in the case study correspond to actual views held by leading…

Parody and related forms of political humor are essential resources for sustaining democratic public culture. They do so by exposing the limits of public speech, transforming discursive demands into virtual images, setting those images before a carnivalesque audience, and celebrating social leveling while decentering all discourses within the…