Satire

What is Satire?

• Satire is a style of rhetoric that exposes vices and foolishness in people and society. Many works of satire aim to create political or social change.

Types of Satire

1. Horatian Satire - comic and offers light social commentary. It is meant to poke fun at a person or situation in an entertaining way.
2. Juvenalian - dark, rather than comedic. It is meant to speak truth to power.
3. Menippean - casts moral judgment on a particular belief, such as homophobia or racism. It can be comic and light, much like Horatian satire—although it can also be as stinging as Juvenalian satire.

Devices of Satire

1. Humor: The quality of being amusing or comical
2. Sarcasm: Mockery using irony to scorn or ridicule
3. Irony: The quality of having the opposite meaning or effect of what is stated or expected generally for a humorous effect or for emphasis
4. Hyperbole: Extreme exaggerations not meant to be taken literally for the sake of emphasis
5. Reversal: A change in direction or position
6. Parody: The imitation of another style for the sake of comedic effect
7. Incongruity: The quality of being out of place or inappropriate
8. Understatement: A statement that underplays or presents something as lesser than it truly is
9. Anecdote: A short story about a past event
   10. Stereotype: A view or opinion of a broad group of people due to a specific trait
   11. Allusion: A reference to something, generally literature, to connect or associate ideas
   12. Diction: The choice of words used
   13. Verbal Irony: A contradiction between what is literally stated and meaning

Examples of Satire

• 1984 - George Orwell
• What I Learned - Roz Chast
• A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift
• Dear Mountain Room Parents - Maria Semple
• Advice to Youth - Mark Twain
• Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of Guns - Molly Ivins

SOAPSTone

• SOAPSTone is a technique used that can allow one to better understand a text
  • Speaker - Who is speaking and telling the story.
  • Occasion - What is the context? What is the setting? What prompted this text?
  • Audience - Who is the audience? Who is this made for?
  • Purpose - Why did the author write this?
  • Subject - What is it about?
  • Tone - What is the tone?