Sunday, October 28, 2007

mock heroic

hera yoon

Definition: Takes a relatively low subject and treats it in a relatively high fashion.

Literary examples (as seen in class):
1. Mac Flecknoe as Augustus in line 3 of Mac Flecknoe
2. "A Modest Proposal" telling readers to do good for Ireland through cannibalism
3. Pope's "Rape of the Lock"

"Contemporary" examples:
The Onion
Daily Show/Colbert Report
SNL Weekend Update

1 comment:

P.J. said...

Hera:

From at least one of your three textual examples above, could you point out the significance of using mock heroic (say, as opposed to burlesque) in the work? - PJE