Write an essay on ONE of the topics listed below. Your essay should be approx. 850-1000 words, double-spaced (approx 4 pages), with 12 point font, and should follow MLA or APA style guidelines (whichever you prefer). - Your essay must have a clearly stated thesis. Each paragraph in your essay should have clear topic sentences, and advance your argument in a unified, logical manner. -Your essay should have the structure and tone of a formal essay. Avoid colloquial/conversational language as much as possible! SELECT ONE OF THE ESSAY TOPICS BELOW: 1. Menippean satire (both ancient and modern) contains characters who, as Northrop Frye states, contain "Menippean blood"; these characters represent the targets being criticized in the satire. Select a satire from our course and discuss the satiric significance of its key characters. It is often necessary to consider historical context when analyzing a work of satire; select a work of satire from our course (Not: "A Modest Proposal") and discuss how the author critiques the ideologies, institutions, and cultural norms of their day. 2. John C. Ball argues that satire is a "mode of oppositional writing" well suited to a critique of colonialism (and neo-colonialism) Discuss how American identity and colonialist ideology is undermined or exposed in Kincaid's "A Small Place" or Carey's "American Dreams." 3. The 21st century has seen a proliferation of satiric forms throughout popular media. Select a contemporary satiric form - fake news, Twitter, an animated or live-action television series, film, etc. - and explore its use of satiric forms (Menippean. Juvenalian. Horatian) and techniques. 4. Write your own satire (approx. 3 pages), critiquing a target of your choice by utilizing the appropriate rhetorical methods/devices of satire that we have studied this year (persona, irony, parody, defamiliarization, hyperbole, and the grotesque, etc.), also keeping in mind Juvenalian. Horatian, and Menippean traditions. Next, write an explanatory critique (approx. 1.5 pages) that outlines the context(s) and purpose(s) of your satire and the logic behind your selection of satirical form and devices. This aspect of the project is crucial. If you choose this topic, you are required to consult with me in advance!