Elements of your Tabloid:

SAMPLE PARODY about American culture;

SAMPLE PARODY about Thanksgiving;

1. Ideally, figure out what "serious" aspect of your topic you are trying to parody. If you can recognize what that serious aspect is, you can begin to assess how to distort the reality of your topic. For example, notice how I've distorted some of the most basic aspects of the Thanksgiving holiday: the eating of turkey and the requisite football game. I'm trying to make light of how these ritualized behaviors might seem strange to other cultures. After all, if certain cultures across the globe were to see what we did on this holiday, it might strike them as exceptionally odd.

2. Identify the 5W1H of your subject. This typically makes up the initial part of your parody. Readers like to know EXACTLY what they are going to discover about the work discussed within the first paragraph. As such, they like to comprehend the initial CAUSES behind the incident you describe. Each paragraph of my sample parody attempts to identify the kinds of things that go on during the "gorging ritual."

3. Add significant details. Ideally, I think it would be even funnier to parody the Nacireman male a bit further. Everybody knows an uncle, father, or grandfather who has several "unsightly" or "gross" habits that always surface when Thanksgiving rolls around. I might discuss the uncle who gets really drunk and farts into the Lay-Z-Boy, the aunty who has a distended abdomen after she eats five helpings of the turkey, or the silly cousins who beat the hell out each other if one of them doesn't win the traditional "wishbone" break. Your details are often what make the parody funny.

4. Provide ironic commentary, or any commentary, for that matter. Outside commentary, often in the form of interviews, add a lot of flavor to the text. I imagined what it would be like if somebody interviewed me, a K.C.C. instructor about the effects of Thanksgiving on the lives of my students. Parodying your words or the words of others in this manner can be humorous in that you are engaging in self-parody.

5. Proofread and draft graphics/fonts; add headlines. A good spoof is a clearly written and carefully crafted one. I can honestly say that the one I created was shoddily and quickly prepared. Graphics, expanded graphics, and catchy headlines put the finishing touches on your work. Most importantly, well-written prose is probably the most appealing aspect to an interesting piece of work. Take pride in your work-such pride is probably the most important aspect of any essay.