Another way to persuade… Parody is a type of satire.

Bell ringer…  Examine the cartoon below. Then, answer all of the following questions about it in complete sentences.  What event is the artist alluding to in this cartoon?  What message is being implied?  Is the implication effective? Why or why not?

The Art of Indirect Persuasion  If you’ve ever enjoyed watching late-night comedy shows, you know how effective and fun this approach can be when it comes to changing perception of the subjects being lampooned.  Explore how diction and syntax can be used to create humor as well as a wide range of satirical tones.  Explore how satirists manipulate and parody the conventions and content of other formats and genres to advance their purposes as writers.

Using humor to persuade…  Beyond arguing, there are other ways to write persuasively. For example…  Satire: a manner of writing that mixes a critical attitude with wit and humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions.

What is a satire?  A literary work that ridicules its subject through the use of techniques such as exaggeration, reversal, incongruity, and/or parody in order to make a comment or criticism about it.

The necessary ingredients…  Humor—Satire is funny!  Criticism, either general criticism of humanity or human nature or specific criticism of an individual or group.  Some kind of moral voice: simply mocking or criticism is not “satire.”

Examples of Satire in Pop Culture What is the subject of each piece of satire? What comment is being made?

Examples of Satire in Pop Culture

Satire Vocabulary  Caricature: An exaggerated portrayal of the weaknesses, frailties, or humorous aspects of an individual or group.

SNL and caricatures  Caricatures of the presidential candidates by Saturday Night Live cast members in ‘03 year actually changed the way that the candidates performed in public.

Satire Vocabulary Overstatement: exaggeration: making to seem more important than it really is. ** Zoolander and the “fashion world”

Satire Vocabulary- UNDERSTATEMENT Opposite of exaggeration; a statement that expresses a fact too weakly or less emphatically than it should. Examples “Being tortured with fire must have been somewhat uncomfortable.” “There are a few Starbucks in America."

Satire Vocabulary  Verbal Irony: a writer says one thing and means another  Dramatic Irony: When the reader or audience knows something the character does not.

Irony

Wit  Wit is most commonly understood as clever expression, whether aggressive or harmless; that is, with or without derogatory intent toward someone or something in particular.  We also tend to think of wit as being characterized by a mocking or paradoxical quality, evoking laughter through apt phrasing.

Wit

Sarcasm  Sarcasm is intentional derision, generally directed at another person and intended to hurt.  The term comes from a Greek word meaning “to tear flesh like dogs” and signifies a cutting remark.  Sarcasm usually involves obvious, verbal irony, achieving its effect by jeeringly stating the opposite of what is meant so as to heighten the insult.

Sarcasm

Four Techniques of Satire Exaggeration/ Hyperbole  To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen.

Hyperbole  Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration to achieve an effect; overstatement.

Four Techniques of Satire Incongruity To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings.

Four Techniques of Satire Reversal To present the opposite of the normal order (e.g., the order of events, hierarchical order).

Four Techniques of Satire Parody  To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place, or thing.

Satire

Types of Direct Satire  Horatian satire is a type of direct satire which pokes fun at human foibles with a witty even indulgent tone.  Juvenalian satire is a type of direct satire which denounces, sometimes with invective, human vice and error in dignified and solemn tones.

Horatian Satire  This type of satire is named after the Roman satirist Horatian.  It seeks to criticize, rather than attack, immorality or stupidity.  In general, Horatian satire is gentler, more sympathetic, and more tolerant of human folly.  Unlike Juvenalian satire, it serves to make us laugh at human folly as opposed to holding our failures up for needling.  Horatian satire tends to ridicule human folly in general or by type rather than attack specific persons.  It tends to produce a smile.

Horatian Satire

Juvenalian Satire  This type of satire is named after the Roman satirist Juvenal.  It is harsher than Horatian satire because it often attacks and shows contempt for people.  Often, it seeks to address some evil in society through scorn and ridicule.  The Juvenalian satirist approaches his work in a more serious manner and uses dignified language to attack erroneous thinking or vice.  In this way Juvenalian satire evokes feelings of scorn, shock, and righteous indignation in the mind of the reader.

Juvenalian Satire

Example of Satire: “A Modest Proposal” Written in 1729 by Jonathan Swift. He believed England was exploiting Ireland.  Many Irishmen worked farms owned by Englishmen who charged high rents–so high that the Irish were frequently unable to pay them.  Consequently, many Irish farming families lived on the edge of starvation.

“A Modest Proposal”  In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift satirizes the English landlords with outrageous humor, proposing that Irish infants be sold as food at age one, when they are plump and healthy, to give the Irish a new source of income and the English a new food product to bolster their economy and eliminate a social problem.

“A Modest Proposal” excerpts  I have been told by a knowledgeable American that a year-old-infant is a “most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled....” Therefore, I suggest that of the 120,000 new infants of poor parents, 20,000 be reserved for breeding and the rest be sold to people of quality.

Think about this…  Why is “A Modest Proposal” an effective satire?

Apply It!  Read “Let’s Hear it for the Cheerleaders,” the satiric piece on pages in your Spring Board books.  As you read, mark the text for areas you find funny.  Then on a separate sheet quote passages you found funny, explaining why you thought each was funny, and interpreting what each quote is saying.  Determine which terms from our lesson best fit the examples of humor you identified.  Finally, respond to the following prompt in a five sentence minimum paragraph:  How does David Bouchier’s article fit the definition of satire? Support your answer with specific evidence from the text.