English 10 Honors - Satire Flashcards

Flashcards on Satire

Satire

Writing or art that employs irony, wit, and (usually) humor to expose societal shortcomings, human folly, or injustice.

Horatian Satire

Gentler, wittier, playful satire that seeks to criticize with sympathetic laughter; often points out vanity, foolish behavior, superficiality, or self-absorption, yet somewhat tolerant.

Juvenalian Satire

Angrier, more bitter and sarcastic satire that is harsh and contemptuous in expressing its disgust with a specific behavior, policy, or practice.

Parody

Imitation or mockery to achieve comedic effect; sometimes used to examine behavior or mock time periods, works of literature, art, or events.

Irony

The incongruity between expectation and reality or what is said and what is meant.

Hyperbole

Overstatement; exaggeration in the service of truth, suggesting a deeper meaning; incongruity between what is literally said and what is actually meant.

Caricature

Specific type of hyperbole: a representation in which the subject’s distinctive features are deliberately exaggerated to yield a comic or grotesque effect; if done well, calls attention to character faults.

Understatement

Opposite of (and subtler than) hyperbole; often used to hide a wry jab in politeness.

Juxtaposition

Placing two ideas or words side by side to emphasize their incongruity; focusing on the incongruity alerts the reader to the author’s purpose.

Wordplay

Using puns (deliberately misusing words that sound alike) and double entendres (expressions with two meanings) to create humor essential to irony.

Non Sequitur

A conclusion that does not follow logically from the premises previously stated; a type of logical fallacy or strained, false logic.