53 pages • 1 hour read
Alan BennettThe Uncommon Reader
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Activities
Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.
“Creative Writing: Satire”
In this activity, students will create a satire related to a governmental system.
Bennett’s work is a satirical representation that questions the necessity of systems, ultimately stating that if people think for themselves, then systems such as the monarchy will fail to exist. In this activity, you will create a satire regarding a political figure and/or political system. Use the following questions to guide your drafting process:
- What is the system you are critiquing?
- Why are you critiquing it?
- What are its flaws?
- How are these flaws problematic?
- What is your humorous suggestion to correct these flaws?
- How does your suggestion transform the leader and/or political system?
After drafting your satire, share your piece with a partner for peer-review feedback and editing. Finally, present your satire to the class and reflect on how the theme of The Duty of the Monarch or a parallel theme from the text is represented in your peers’ creative pieces.
Teaching Suggestion: This activity invites students to creatively approach the format of the satire by incorporating their own opinions on the faults and deficits of government systems.
