Satire Test WIND

Farce

This is a situation where comic action is central.  The jokes are broad, the characters stereotypical.  This style is usually found in plays and movies.

Vaudeville and Burlesque

The forerunners of today’s sitcoms.  This form consists of short comedy sketches, songs, and one-liners.  The stand-up comedian is a modern-day example, and SNL is a TV show example.

Parody

This is a literary device where a serious subject is imitated in a sarcastic fashion.  Most of the time the writer imitates the style and subject with obvious exaggeration

Satire

Close to parody but the writer usually makes fun of the subject without imitation.  Satire utilizes exaggeration, irony and sarcasm.  The writer pokes fun at the subject.

Comedy of Manners

Comedy that has to do with social norms, domestic life, or work

Realistic Comedy

This form of humor has a serious theme laced with irony and sarcasm; Uses elements of black humor

Black Humor/Dark Comedy

This form of humor focuses on taboo subjects such as death, religion, and sexual oddities handled in a macabre fashion

Folk and Ethnic Humor

This is a humorous form that plays on stereotypes of a particular ethnic, religious, or social group.  It often works best when the humor comes from a member of the group.

Wit

Fast come-back repartee

Characteristics of Satire

• Topical referring to its time and place

• Claims to be realistic, although usually exaggerated

• It’s shocking

• It’s informal in tone and manner

• It’s funny, but sometimes offensive

Types of Satirists

1. One believes people are essentially good but misguided

2. One believes that people are generally stupid and inherently evil

Types of Satire

1. Flash in the pan – Stories that are quick to flame up and quick to go away in the news

2. Long-term – This satiric form lasts for a few months or years.  The stories may be different, but they involve the same players, like in a presidential administration

3. General Satires – These types of satires can last for years or have no end set point. 

Elements of Satire

1. Quotes (Mix of real and fake.  Sometimes all fake)

2. Real-sounding names (Can be a mix of real and fake)

3. Wo/man on the street - determining the type of satirist 

   1. This gives insight into the mind of the satirist.  If the wo/man on the street gives reasonable, thoughtful quotes then the satirist is generally optimistic.  If the satirist presents the wo/man on the street as silly and uninformed they are generally pessimistic

4. Images with description (Sometimes real photos with captions, sometimes Photoshopped images.  The level of Photoshop quality varies)

5. Bar charts, pie graphs, etc. (generally with all fake information)

6. Fake statistics or numbers

The goal of satire

The goal of satire is to bring attention to an issue that people want to ignore or highlight an event or fact that people are not aware exists

When and where was “A Modest Proposal” written?

1729 in London, England

What was “The Irish Problem”

 Ireland was held by England and there was rampant poverty, blight, and starvation that the English government was ignoring

How does Swift present himself in the satire

Swift presents himself as the voice of a national hero that wants to solve this problem

What is the purpose of A Modest Proposal

 To bring attention to the issues of Irish famine, poverty, death, religious differences with the English, and class/economic disputes

How are the topics of A Modest Proposal relevant today

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

What sort of persona does Swift create for the “author” of “A Modest Proposal”?

The man of the street is notable for his vanity, cold-heartedness, and the ruthlessness of his logic

What is Swift’s proposal?

For the Irish people to sell their children as food for rich English landlords

After his initial suggestion, what does he further propose?

Using the childrens’ skin as leather for gloves and boots

What relevance does “A Modest Proposal”  have for contemporary social and political issues?

Satirizing cold-hearted solutions to poverty that ignore human dignity, resonating today in debates over topics such as inequality or immigration

What is the “moment of truth” in “A Modest Proposal”?

When Swift doubles down on his initial proposals, dismissing them as unrealistic and unappealing