Satire

1. Satire Change Through Humor

2. What is Satire? • Satire is a literary genre that relies heavily on irony, wit, and sometimes sarcasm. • Irony: a difference between what is expected and what actually happens. • Wit: understanding; intelligence • Sarcasm: a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark

3. What is Satire? • There are two main goals of satire: 1.) One main goal of satire is to expose humanity’s immoral behavior and flaws in character. 2.) The second main goal of satire is to change or reform something through ridicule. The satirist reduces the worth of someone or something to its real – and decidedly lower – worth.

4. How is it Different From Comedy? • Although satire uses comic elements, it differs from comedy in that pure comedy primarily seeks to entertain and amuse. • Satire may generate laughter but essentially has a moral purpose. • Satire is typically directed at correctable instances of folly (foolishness) or immorality in humanity or human institutions.

5. The Main Goal • The main goal of satire is not to abuse so much as to provoke a response, ideally some kind of reform. • Thus satire would not be directed at characteristics individuals cannot change (such as physical deformities, for example). • There are two types of satire…

6. Types of Satire • Direct satire uses a first-person narrator who either directly addresses the reader or another character in the work. • Indirect satire achieves its effect not through direct condemnation but rather through modes of presentation and representation. • Satire is often as pointed in what it doesn’t say as in what it does!

7. Satire: Then and Now • Satire was a favored classical genre. • Satirists persist today, particularly in works (including films) who subjects are political figures, situations, or institutions.