Parody.

What makes a good parody? Subject matter - closeness to the original in form. Short parodies with an unexpected ending such as "If at first you don't succeed -- give up!" To a parody on Tennyson's Carge of the Light Brigade or Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. Selecting the right poem to "take off" your subject. Mimicking forms you perhaps would not otherwise use. Have a go at your favourite or least favourite politician.

There will be 9 sessions probably on Fridays and Tuesdays. We start and finish on a Friday.
Session 1. Introduction. Establish levels of experience of parody, some short parodies. Assignment: write short parodies.
Session 2. Share and critique assignment. Longer parodies, getting started -- the parody or the situation to be parodied. Assignment: write a parody based on a poem that you already know. Starting with the poem.
Session 3. Share and critique assignment. Share some poems that you believe might be "parodyable". Assignment use one of those poems in a parody.
Session 4. Share and critique assignment. Matters arising from assignments so far.
Session 5. Choosing a subject you wish to lampoon through parody -- a person or perhaps an event. Assignment write a parody of a person or event.
Session 6. Share and critique assignment. Matters arising from assignment so far. Presentation of parody on FS and in published work. Assignment. Polishing the parody. Improvement of work already done.
Session 7. Matters arising
Session 8. Matters arising
Session 9. Concluding session Q & A.

Of course if something earth-shaking occurs that program could go by the board as we exploit the situation as all good parodists should. Come back Clinton and Lewinsky, you were the best.



Instructor: James Bartlett

About The Instructor: Jim Bartlett is an ex-Royal Marine Officer, and retired teacher, with a good honours degree in Education, and English and Drama, from London University. He has been a member of a local poetry group in South Wales where he currently lives alone in a redundant farm house.

Jim started writing while serving with 45 Commando, Royal Marines in Aden in the mid 1960s. At that time he was writing mainly song lyrics but later moved on to poetry after studying it on his degree course, which he undertook as a mature student between 1972 and 1976.

He has been published in poetry magazines and newspapers from time to time. In 2005 he produced a CD of self-penned songs under the title of "Tomorrow Never Comes", and published a poetry collection of thirty-six poems in 2012 entitled, "Triple Dozen" prior to joining FanStory in March 2015. His songs and poems have won several competitions.

Jim has also lectured on English Folk Lore and Song for the WEA in SE London in the late 1970s. He was urged to enrol as an instructor on FanStory by many who found his reviews of their poetry particularly helpful.