My Analysis

Creating and Communication

• This unit helped me learn about comedic devices by seeing them being used in action. Humour is best learned when you are experiencing it in the moment rather than learning about the structure of a joke. Seeing satire, allusions, irony and sarcasm being used on screen and seeing concrete examples of each device was helpful in teaching me how to identify the differences between them.
• I expressed my ideas and used concrete evidence when we wrote our in-class paragraph on why ‘The Simpsons’ was such a successful show. By putting my knowledge and thoughts in words, it really helped me solidify my understanding.
• I really focused on the “less is more” principle to make sure everything I said was significant and I wasn’t using wasted words. I also tried to give concrete examples of scenes I remembered that used certain comedic devices.

Core Competency Reflection

how it helped me develop and demonstrate core competencies

• I can describe how satire, irony and/or allusion relates to shows like ‘The Office’ and/or in real life. These comedic devices are everywhere, but before this unit I couldn’t identify any besides sarcasm. Now I can understand why certain jokes I hear are funny because I understand the root of where it’s coming from. It makes hearing jokes more enjoyable.
• I remain open minded as I explore viable options or alternative approaches, like when I thought of connecting ‘The Simpsons’ success to the play of Romeo and Juliet that we read beforehand. I tried to identify how different aspects we’ve learned in class connect to each other. What I learned, is that comedic devices are everywhere if we pay attention to them, even amidst tragedies. Which makes them that much more meaningful and heartfelt whether it’s in real life or in movies. That’s an important lesson for everyone to learn and I think that is probably one of the most important things I will be taking from this class.
• I can contribute to and work with criteria to improve my own work; evidence of that is how much I’ve focused on not using wasted words in my writing. I can definitely get better at it, especially If I get time to write a draft beforehand. But, I’ve worked on being more precise with where I want my sentences to go in the sense of accuracy and getting to the point faster than in the beginning of the semester. Something that was hard to let go of that we learned with Mr. Cook is to not use things like “in my opinion” or “I believe” in our writing. It feels very unnatural not prefacing my writing with these sentence starters but It truly makes my writing feel more formal and professional. I really enjoy seeing my writing get more refined through the years through practice.