Laughter is the heart of dark comedy. It makes the unbearable bearable. Joseph Heller crafted his dark comedy Catch-22 to enable readers to laugh at the painful realities and underscore the absurdities of a war where people you don't know are trying to kill you. An interactive resource from PBS draws readers into studying the satire and parodies that Heller employs.

Concepts

satire, parodies, humor, comedy, literary analysis, protagonists, heroes

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Ask learners to bring in examples of parodies, satires, or catch-22s or to craft their own
• Present the resource after class members have read several chapters of the novel

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a free PBS account to access materials
• One of five Catch-22 resources from PBS 
• Presumes learners have previously studied satire and parody

Pros

• The seven-page interactive resource includes a video, a glossary, and writing prompts

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.11-12.3 RL.11-12.4 RL.11-12.5 RL.11-12.6 RI.11-12.4 L.11-12.5.a L.11-12.5.b