Satire Terms

Horatian

Pokes fun at human foibles and folly with a witty, gentle, light-hearted tone

Juvenalian

Harsh, angrily, or solemnly attacks human vice and error. Features harsh ridicule and invective

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration

Incongruity

Presenting things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to their surroundings. Having a person speak in a way that is shockingly out of character. Putting a powerful person in a situation in which they have no power

Invective

Speech or writing that abuses, denounces, or attacks a person, cause, idea, or system. It employs heavy use of negative emotive language

Irony (General)

A mode of expression that uses words or events to convey a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation

Verbal Irony

An inversion of meaning. Words written or spoken to convey a meaning opposite of their literal meaning

Dramatic Irony

When the audience has knowledge that the characters don’t. The audience sees added significance in the words and actions of the characters, or the audience’s emotions are triggered as we witness the characters making mistakes

Situational Irony

The opposite of what is expected occurs. Not simply “I thought I would win, but I lost.” It often involves actions that have the opposite effect from what was intended

Socratic Irony

Feigning ignorance to achieve some advantage over an opponent. Socrates pretended ignorance of a subject in order to draw knowledge out his students by a question and answer device

Malapropism

Mispronouncing a word of confusing one word with another. The satirists would do this intentionally, likely as self-deprecating humor, but having fictional characters do it would either create sympathy or make them a target for mockery

Sarcasm

A form of verbal irony, generally directed at another person and intended to mock or ridicule. The tone is what elevates it to sarcasm

Wit

A clever, biting, or insightful expression that initially might go over the audience’s head. Includes banter, one-liners, and comebacks

Inflation

Taking a minor issue and blowing it out of proportion to make it ridiculous and showcase its faults or the faults of those who complain about it

Diminution

Reducing the size, scale, or power of a person or situation to make it ridiculous and showcase its faults

Caricature

An exaggeration or other distortion of an individual’s prominent features or characteristics to the point of making that individual appear ridiculous. The term is applied more often to graphic representations than to literary ones

Parody

An imitation of a work, an author, or a style/genre with the ridiculing or flattering the subject of the parody. The parodist exploits peculiarities of an author’s style to help them achieve their purpose