THE DAILY SHOW
JON STEWART
Satire
Poking fun at human foils and silly
behaviors in hopes of bringing about
a change.
Implications for Satire
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. “One must get out of the habit of measuring
man against an ideal.” Einstein
Northrup Frye on Satire
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Satire must have a degree of fantasy [because
the author is selecting absurdities to satirize,
realism is distorted. If irony is portrayed in a
totally plausible way, we have tragedy].
The grotesque items an author chooses reflects
his or her moral judgment and contains the
satire.
“Satire breaks down when the irony is too
oppressively real to maintain fantasy.”
Three Essentials of SATIRE:
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1. wit or humor founded on fantasy or a sense
of the absurd /grotesque
2. an object of attack
3. defined societal values
Northrup Frye
Wit
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Wit – [V. and N. OE – Consciousness]
Originally meant to learn or to know.
Verb – “The peril of this place I better wot
than you.” Edmund Spenser
Noun – “I am well in my wits, fool as you
are.” Shakespeare – 12th Night
Changing Connotation
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Chaucer – Intellect and Intelligence
Shakespeare – Wisdom or Fancy
John Donne (17th Century) – Fancy, originality
and agility of poetic expressions.
Austen/Swift – Judgment, reason, ability to
articulate universal truths.
A Literary Genre
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Purpose: To Expose Human Folly In Order To
Bring About Change
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Fine Line Exists Between Ridicule for Ridicule’s
Sake and Satire.
Comedy Just Exposes Folly
The Satirist is a Moralist Who Wants A Better
Society
Even The Most Pessimistic Satirist Is An Optimist
The Satirist Does Not Poke Fun At Unchangeable
Characteristics Such As Physical Deformities
Tone: Bitter or Light?
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Satire is bounded by two extremes:
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pure invective
romance
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when the satire moves to the romance end, it must be
pulled back by certain literary devices –
Frye maintains that most often the device is allegory
that has a “mythos” to it.
Two Categories Of Satire
Direct and Indirect
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Direct Satire
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1st Person Narrator Who Directly Addresses the
Audience or the Adversary
Horatian - Pokes Fun of Humble Foils With a
Witty Tone
Juvenalian Satire – Denounces Human Vice and
Error in Dignified and Solemn Tones
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Indirect Satire
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Mennippean Satire
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Most Common
Stock Characters
Loose Narratives
Non Sequitur
Centers on Esoteric and Erudite Ideas
“A Modest Proposal”
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A Classic Argumentative/Persuasive Essay
A Classic Example of Direct Satire
Classic Argumentation
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Three Types of Thesis Statements
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Claim of Fact
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Claim of Policy.
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Marijuana is (or is not) an addictive drug.
OJ is guilty of murder
The Iraq War is Illegal
We need a cabinet position to oversee all intelligence agencies
Claim of Value
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Abortion is immoral.
A woman should have the right to choose whether to have children.
Classic Argumentation
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Presents Need for Change and Begins to
Establish Trustworthiness
Presents Proposal and Continues to Promote
Trustworthiness by Overcoming Possible
Objections (Warrants)
Shows Advantages for Change and Reinforces
Trustworthiness
Elements Of Effective
Argumentation
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Trustworthy Speaker
Balance of
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Logos (facts)
Ethos (values/ethics)
Pathos (emotions)
Homework – Due Tuesday
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Read and annotate “A Modest Proposal” for
the following:
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Structure of a class argumentative essay
Devices of Satire
Shifts in Tone
Audience
Purpose
Group Satire
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Decide on a topic worthy of satire (Must not
be unacceptably offensive)
Decide on Category: Direct or
Indirect(Menippean)
Decide on tone (Horatian, Juvenalian)
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Is it the same for all characters?
Write the Satire and Create a Visual?
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How can I employ devices of satire?
Claim of Policy????
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I do therefore humbly offer it to public
consideration …. the remaining hundred
thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the
sale to the persons of quality and fortune
through the kingdom; always advising the
mother to let them suck plentifully in the last
month, so as to render them plump and fat for
a good table.
Classical Argumentation
Step 1
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Presents Need for Change
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Describes the Irish towns “crowded with beggars
of the female sex”
We need a “fair, cheap, and easy method of
making these children sound, useful members of
the commonwealth.”
Establishes Trustworthiness
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“But my intention is very far from being confined
to provide only for the children of professed
beggars…”
Step 2 – The Proposal
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“That the remaining hundred thousand
[children] may at a year old be offered in sale
to the persons of quality and fortune through
the kingdom.”
Overcomes possible objections:
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“I grant this food will be somewhat dear…”
“I have already computed the charge of nursing a
beggar’s child…”
Step 3 – The Advantages
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“I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return
to my subject. I think the advantages by the proposal
which I have made are obvious and many, as well as
of the highest importance.”
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“For first..”
“Secondly…”
“Sixthly…”
“Many other advatages might be enumerated.” How can I
employ devices of satire
Swift’s Satire
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Presents facts but they are punctuated with
loaded diction (pathos)that should cause
suspicion:
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Women murdering babies
Women referred to as “breeders”
Analysis of “A Modest Proposal”
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Number your paragraphs from 1-31
As a group analyze your assigned paragraphs
for
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Purpose and Rhetorical Devices that achieve that
purpose
Speaker
Audience
Target(s) of Satire and Tone Toward the Target(s)
Include ASR that Supports Your Analysis
Paradox
Pride and Prejudice Group Work
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Choose a satiric passage from your assigned chapters and
identify the page numbers
Type or download it into a word document.
Identify the elements of satire in the passage
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Frye’s tenets of satire
Literary devices
Determine the tone (invective to romanatic)
Use tone handout
Write a thesis statement about that passage.
Send it to me on messages in Blackboard.
Homework
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Choose one of the critical articles in the text to
read for Monday.
Summarize the article and identify the thesis