"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"--Jonathan Swift

 Satire mainly exposes, ridicules, derides and denounces vice, folly, evil, stupidity as these qualities manifest themselves in persons, groups of persons, ideas, institutions, customs or beliefs.

 Satire is born of the instinct to protest; it is protest become art and a refinement of anger.  The typical satirist is a blend of idealist and realist.  Satire is a literary form of criticism.

Sarcasm != Satire  Sarcasm is bitter or cutting speech; speech intended by its speaker to give pain to the person addressed.  Satire, on the other hand, ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.

Sarcasm  from Greek sarkasmos "a sneer, jest, taunt, mockery," from sarkazein "to speak bitterly, sneer," literally "to strip off the flesh”  The difference between satire and sarcasm is the difference between surgery and butchery. — Edward Nichols

Determining the Satirist’s Attitude: Questions to Ask  Is his attitude mild, sympathetic, unemotional? Is it characterized by banter, a lightness of critical comment?  Is the attitude a reflection of intellectual scorn, of a mental irritation with those who live with self-delusions at the expense of others?  Is the attitude one of intense anger, hatred, and bitterness toward the harm which man inflicts on his fellows and towards the gross failure of man’s institutions?  Is it a sardonic comment, characterized by derision and mockery?  Does he wish to jolt the reader out of complacency and indifference?  Is the satirist’s aim a psychological one? Is he making a study of the motivations, sometimes noble, sometimes ignoble, behind foolish and destructive behavior?

Two Forms of Satire Juvenalian – harsh  Tries to arouse moral indignation, anger  Writer is a serious moralist, a dedicated reformer  Attitude: Bitter, denunciatory, attacking vices of men Horatian – gentle  Tries to evoke a smile  Writer is urbane, sophisticated, man-of-the- world  Attitude: Amused at foibles of men

Tools of Satire  Irony  Overstatement  Understatement  Invective  Lampoon  Caricature  Mock epic

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