Happy Tuesday!
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Please read through this power point and take notes in the packet you were
given at the beginning of class. If you don’t finish this, it is homework.
Power Point is on the website OR upload this presentation to your Google
Docs. You will need to understand this information for the work we are doing
this week.
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You will have a test on this information Monday, April 14 so ask questions if
you are confused.
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You will need to be in Slide Show mode to view any links and might want to
use your headphones if you have some with you. Otherwise, just play it on
low volume.
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We will begin reading The Importance of Being Earnest tomorrow. You will
have homework every night. If you are going to be gone, see me for the play
and your homework. Otherwise check the website for more information.
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Have fun and get to work!
Satire
The Mace and Rapier
What is Satire?
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Satire is a weapon used
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to ridicule
to attack the vices and follies they see in human behavior.
Usually states or implies some idea of what should
be the correct behavior or thought.
Goal of satire: self-examination and change foolish
ways.
In written satire, the pen can be a mace – hacking
and bashing the victims to smithereens – or a rapier
– delicately piercing the target.
DEFINITION OF “SATIRE”
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The word satire comes from the Latin satura
meaning a dish filled with mixed fruits.
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This was the usual dessert tray after a banquet, and
an early meaning for the word was “to be well fed”
as seen in such cognates as sated, saturated, and
satisfied.
Questions for Satire
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What does the satire ridicule? What are its targets?
What does the satire suggest is preferable to
whatever is criticized?
What techniques does the satirist use to convey his
or her ridicule?
To what extent is the satirist justified in attacking
his target?
How successful is the satire?
Distance from Satirical Target
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To be effective, writers or performers must have a
detachment from their target.
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Henry Rule confessed, “In truth I don’t ever seem to
be in a good enough humor with anything to satirize
it; no, I want to stand up before it and curse it, and
foam at the mouth—or take a club and pound it to
rags and pulp” (Nilsen & Nilsen 259).
Satire vs. Gallows Humor
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Satirists may use their humor to inspire
reform and change, or they may use it to
promote the status quo.
Satire MUST HAVE A TARGET
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If the creators of satire don’t have a reform or a
solution in mind but are simply holding up an
aspect of the world as ridiculous, then they are
creating irony or gallows humor rather than
satire.
Gallows Humor? Humor from stressful
situations, i.e., death at the gallows.
Horatian VS. Juvenalian Satire
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Gentle and humorous satire is called “Horatian
Satire ” after the writing style of the Roman poet
Horace.
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Heavy or biting satire called “Juvenalian Satire”
after the Roman poet Juvenal.
For Example
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One of the characteristics of Horatian satire is
that it includes a higher percentage of humor.
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Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a
Horatian Satire. It contains humorous
adventures often read by children.
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“A Modest Proposal” is Juvenalian Satire
with its scathing criticism of overpopulation
and persecution of the Irish.
Satire Techniques
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Naïve speaker — doesn’t understand the implications of his
narration
Praise but mean the opposite (criticize) – this is an example
of irony
Say one thing but means the opposite (sarcasm)
Uses rhetorical questions — The question seems to suggest
one answer, but the reader is supposed to disagree with the
implication
Understate — minimize the issue to make people realize its
importance; treat a serious concern as unimportant or trivial
Exaggerate/Hyperbole – blow the issue out of proportion to
make people focus on it; take a trivial concern or situation
seriously
Types of Satire
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Cartoons and art
Exaggeration and caricature
Irony
Symbolism
Speaker
Parody
Reversal
Cartoons and Art
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Lampoon or parody aspects of society or
practices
Example: In the
example to the right,
what is being
criticized? How
does the cartoon
help make a point?
Cartoons and Art
Is this just
“funny”?
Or is it
making a
statement?
What
techniques
does the
satirist use?
Exaggeration
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Focuses on one or two elements of a
situation
Extends them beyond reality or out of
proportion to everything else
Consider the following…
what is being exaggerated?
Caricature
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Distorts one or two
elements of
appearance, usually for
humorous effect.
Gentle form of
exaggeration (usually)
Why is caricature 1
NOT satirical and
caricature 2 is?
Caricature 1
Caricature 2
Burlesque
Ridiculous exaggeration of language.
 Used for comic effect – the language used in a
situation is so absurd as to make it funny.
 Example: In the following clip, how do we
expect the characters to sound? What does the
change do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CDcjHVG2
Kg
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Irony
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Do I really need to explain this?
Incongruity: presents things that are out of
place or are absurd in relation to its
surroundings
Example: But
why is this satire?
What does it
target?
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Why is this song ironic? Listen to the lyrics
and then compare it to the music played along
with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta_iKeH4tsg&safe=active
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Who is the target?
Why is this satire?
Symbolism
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Use concrete symbols to represent abstract
characteristics and conditions
Sometimes context-specific
Example: What is the effect of symbolism for this
satire?
The Speaker in Satire
the use of a speaker as a stand-in for the writer/satirist to offer
criticism:
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Sometimes very angry voices making direct attacks.
Sometimes evil men and women confessing their own sins
proudly.
Sometimes reveal their own folly without intending to.
Diatribe – direct, angry attack in the hope of eliminating
what the satirist regards as undesirable conditions, attitudes,
and behavior.
Parody
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Imitates the style of a particular work or
writer
Style is crucial – HOW the satire is done…
Examples: Airplane! or The Key of
Awesome on youtube. What is being
parodied and why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyBwZeoxISk
Parody of Fine Art
Is this offensive? If so, why?
Reversal
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Presents the opposite of the normal order…
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Order of events or Expectation
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Dessert first, then main course.
The princess saving Prince Charming
Hierarchal order
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When a child runs the household and the parent is
treated like a child.