Satirical Procrastination

Matthew Saporito

Ms. Costa

Power of Words

1/2024

Satirical Procrastination

POW Final Project

In my final satirical project, I decided to cover the topic of procrastination as I am a victim of it. My overall message within the project is that procrastination is a harmful practice, yet I conveyed it in a way that seems too good to be true. I could convey procrastination in a satirical sense through a flyer for a made-up procrastination study group and a fake newspaper article that says procrastination is supposedly the future. I chose to use a newspaper article because many people believe the news without hesitation. By putting such a dumb topic in the news, the audience will realize their poor susceptibility and act on the topic. I chose the art component as a flyer for a study group, as most procrastination victims are students.

First, I began the newspaper article by saying, "studies show that procrastination is potentially the solution to our future." Off the bat, many would already be able to tell that the article is satire, yet I continued to show how fake this made-up study was. By using the satirical device of irony, I depicted the researchers of procrastination as lazy and "sitting on their couch." I explained that they have not done anything about procrastination research, with zero surveys and an unfinished experiment. The irony stems from the scientists who are procrastinating about research procrastination. However, it continues beyond there as somehow they have come up with an answer even while procrastinating. The fake newspaper author acts nearly dumbfounded by the research, yet the research makes zero sense; more irony is shown when the author writes, "experts say that kids who procrastinate are far more likely to score an "A" in a class than the 'nerds' – they think." The researchers don't fully know what they are discussing as they procrastinate on the research. With the research being incredibly dumb and ironic, the article indirectly portrays that you shouldn't procrastinate. As the first section wraps up, an example of satirical ethos is depicted when the author includes an example from his life. He begins by saying that the article was supposed to be published two weeks ago, yet he procrastinated and is about to be fired. Rather than acting sad and scared about the fragility of his current position, he acts ecstatic. This further depicts procrastination as a negative, as the average person would feel the opposite about such a situation. As you move across the page to the right, some examples of procrastination regarding our world problems are shown. The first section depicts more scientists procrastinating about the concern of climate change. Rather than acting on it, the scientists are waiting it out because they might be okay. At first glance, this may seem like a poor decision, but the author informs us that they are scientists and we can trust them. This is a parody of the majority of our world ignoring climate change but also a parody depicting how people trust the word of scientists without any hesitation.

Nevertheless, this section shows how damaging procrastination can be as climate change approaches us rapidly, and we aren't doing much about it. A bit more irony is also shown when the company's name is "Insert Company Name." The company and team of scientists are so lazy that they couldn't even make a company name when creating the corporation. The section directly below depicts how Donald Trump ignored the dangers of COVID-19 until the last minute. The previous sentence is a parody of a section of the US population who only care about being the number one in the world, no matter the competition. Again, the adverse effects of procrastination are shown as our country has the leading death toll regarding COVID-19.

Additionally, these past two sections portray examples of satirical pathos; very negative statistics are being shown in a satirical attempt to show the positives of procrastination. The last section of the article is a collection of two interviews with kids at a local school. The irony is shown when the interviewers only talk to two students, yet incongruity is also shown. Within formal writing, an author would never call someone "cool as hell" or a "nerd." This further shows how dumb and ingenuine this article is, advancing the hidden argument that procrastination is hugely damaging. 

On top of the article, the accompanying flyer also layers on the satire. The flyer is an advertisement for a procrastination study group. Irony is evident in the "Why Choose Us" section, where the reasons list is incomplete. Sadly, the creators of this study group need to work on creating the flyer for their own group. The irony is highlighted at the bottom when they haven't even set a time to meet. The fake news article, along with the fake study group flyer, presents the negatives of procrastination by glorifying it in such a way that is so absurd it's difficult to believe. This section also underscores the negative consequences of procrastination in the context of global issues, making the satire more impactful and thought-provoking.