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Satire. Biting Humor. What Is Satire?. Satire is a type of humorous writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change. Satire may range from gentle mockery to harsh condemnation.
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Satire Biting Humor
What Is Satire? • Satire is a type of humorous writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change. • Satire may range from gentle mockery to harsh condemnation. The people of those foreign countries are very, very ignorant. . . . In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language. One of our passengers said to a shopkeeper, in reference to a proposed return to buy a pair of gloves, “Allong restay trankeel—may be ve coom Moonday;” and would you believe it, that shopkeeper, a born Frenchman, had to ask what it was that had been said. from Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Purpose of Satire • The purpose of satire is not only to make readers laugh but also to point out problems or flaws. The moral goal of a satire may be • real-world change or reform • honest re-examination of values • development of new goals, attitudes, or perspectives
The Tools of Satire • To create satire, writers may use • wit • fantasy • irony • sarcasm • hyperbole • understatement
Wit • Satirists use wit to make readers laugh at their own faults. They hope that readers will recognize their weaknesses and correct them. • Wit often combines incongruous ideas in a humorous and unexpected way. Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended. Benjamin Franklin
Fantasy • Satirists use fantasy to create a world where common sense has collapsed. They call attention to social ills by presenting readers with a distorted view of the world. • A satirist’s fantasy may be absurd or grotesque to elicit disgust or dread in readers. She accuses me of being the cause of our disaster! She says, with apparent sincerity and truth, that the Serpent assured her that the forbidden fruit was not apples, it was chestnuts. I said I was innocent, then, for I had not eaten any chestnuts. She said the Serpent informed her that “chestnut” was a figurative term meaning an aged and mouldy joke. I turned pale at that, for I have made many jokes to pass the weary time, and some of them could have been of that sort, though I had honestly supposed that they were new when I made them. from Adam’s Diary by Mark Twain
© 2003-2004 clipart.com “The property owner certainly does practice what he preaches!” Irony • Satirists use irony to point out discrepancies between appearances and reality and to criticize human weaknesses. They expect the reader to understand from the context or tone that the speaker is being ironic.
Sam Dudgeon/HRW Photo “I see you’ve finally developed a system for staying organized.” Sarcasm • Satirists use sarcasm to ridicule a subject. Sarcasm is meant to be hurtful. • Sarcasm may use mocking praise to indicate the opposite meaning.
© 2003-2004 clipart.com Hyperbole • Satirists use hyperbole to make something look ridiculous or worse than it really is. • Hyperbole uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect.
© 2003-2004 clipart.com John was slightly annoyed when his computer froze. Understatement • Satirists use understatement to emphasize the enormity of a problem. • Understatement says less than is meant. • Understatement can make us recognize the truth of something by saying that just the opposite is true.
hyperbole satire understatement What Have You Learned? Match the terms with their correct definitions. hyperbole satire understatement Writers use ____________ when they overstate something to make it seem worse than it really is. Writers use ___________ when they ridicule the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change. Writers use _____________ when they say less than they mean.
