Short Essay Assignment

Choose one episode of The Simpsons, South Park, Futurama, or King of the Hill. Write an in-depth analysis of the episode, focusing on the satire presented in the episode. What criticisms of society are being presented? What is the episode saying about the short-comings or problems of society, a group, or an individual? Is the episode trying to denounce and/or correct poor, wrong, or reprehensible behaviour? Can you characterise the style(s) of satire being used?

Your analysis should treat the episode as a whole: that is, all the plot strands in the episode. It is very possible that some strands are more important than others, so you should devote more analysis to that which is more important. You do not need to use any secondary material for this assignment. If you do use other material, be sure to document it properly.

The episode you choose should be from the list of fifty episodes for the course. For this assignment, you are not allowed writing on an episode that has already been discussed in class. Thus if you want to write on “Over Logging,” you must hand in the essay before class starts on February 9th; if you want to write on “Girls Just Want to Have Sums,” you must hand in the essay before class starts on February 2nd.

You may also, for this assignment, choose, if you prefer, an episode that is not on the course list. Any episode from the following will be acceptable:

• The Simpsons: any episode from the first twenty seasons
• South Park: any episode from the first twelve seasons
• Futurama: any episode from the original series (first four seasons)
• King of the Hill: any episode from the first five seasons

The essay should be about four pages in length. Essays that are shorter than three pages or longer than five pages might be returned unread or with a failing grade. The page count does not include the Works Cited page.

Essays should conform to MLA guidelines. Essays should have double-spaced lineation. Printed essays should use a 12-point, serif font and should not have a justified right margin. Please use one-inch margins on all sides. Please do not submit the essay in a binder or folder. I am not fond of title pages.