Discussion assignment 6

Analyze how Saunders’ uses the satirical techniques of exaggeration, caricature, parody, hyperbole, and irony to satirize the workplace in the stories “Pastoralia” and “Sea Oak.” How does he take these fictional stories beyond realism and into satire?

Consider the following:

the exaggeratedly awful physical work environments in both stories (the cramped, remote cave exhibit and prison-like Separate Area within the ridiculous, sad theme park of “Pastoralia” / Joysticks, the gender flipped parody of Hooters, in “Sea Oak”)

the hyperbolic and darkly comedic abuse of workers (the food restrictions, Disposal Debit aka “Shit Fee” in “Pastoralia” / the humiliation of workers at Joysticks in “Sea Oak”)

the ironic characterization of condescending, incompetent, cruel managers and customers in both stories / the ironically naive narrator in “Pastoralia”

the exaggerated debts, poverty, and precariousness of the workers personal lives