humor/satire final exam review

farce

comic action is central. jokes are broad, characters stereotypical. usually found in play and movies

vaudeville

short comedy sketches, songs, and one liners. theatrical

examples of vaudeville

modern example is stand up comedian, tv show example is SNL

parody

literary device where a serious subject is imitated sarcastically. it is usually obvious and exaggerated

satire

literary device where a subject is made fun of without imitation. utilizes exaggeration, irony and sarcasm.

example of parody

the daily show

example of satire

the onion, last week tonight

comedy of manners

form of comedy that uses with and sarcasm. includes romantic comedy.

example of comedy of manners

the importance of being Ernest by Oscar wilde

realistic comedy

form of humor with a serious theme paired with irony and sarcasm. usually includes dark humor

black humor/dark comedy

focuses on taboo subjects like death, religion, and sexual oddities. includes cynicism and skepticism

folk and ethnic humor

form that plays on stereotypes of particular ethnic, religious or social groups. can be seen as racist or sexist but will work if its from a member of one of those groups

wit

a fast comeback repartee. can be nasty but still smart

characteristic of satire

topical: referring to time and place

realistic: although usually distorted/exaggerated

shocking

informal: in tone and manner

funny: although sometimes painful or grotesque

first type of satirist

believes that people are essentially good but misguided. states that with education they can change

second type of satirist

believes that people are generally stupid and bad. states that people cant learn and they write for catharsis

flash in the pan satire

stories that are quick to flame up and quick to go away in the news

long term satire

satire form can last from a few months or years. stories are different but involve the same people like in a presidency

general satire

satire type that lasts for years and/or has no set end point. humor comes from the tone, such as being extremely shocked about leaves falling in autumn

quotes

real sounding names

wo/man on the street insight

images with descriptions

bar charts/graphs

fake statistics

6 elements of satire

wo/man on the street

gives insight based on what the wo/man says. if it is positive/negative the satirist is optimist/pessimistic

goal of satire

to bring attention to issues/events that people want to ignore or aren’t aware about

unlike comedy which just seeks to entertain, satire has a goal and uses humor to get to it

1729 in london

modest proposal published

the Irish problem

when ireland was held by england and overrun by poverty, blight and starvation, which was ignored by the English government

to solve the problem by bringing attention to the issues at hand

why did swift write a modest proposal

none of those large issues have been “solved” or might ever be solved by societies

why is a modest proposal still relevant