Satire, YO!!

What is satire?Satire is a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. It intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies and foibles. A satirist uses characters, which stand for real people, to expose and condemn their corruption.

“‘Tis the intent and business of the stage, To copy out the follies of the age, To hold to every man a faithful glass, And show him of what species he’s an ass” John Vanburgh, The Provoked Wife (1697)

The necessary ingredients:Humor

Criticism, either general criticism of humanity or human nature or specific criticism of an individual or group.

Some kind of moral voice: simply mocking or criticism is not “satire.”

The Satiric Manner:

Ironic/Sarcastic

Either good natured criticism (Horatian after Horace) or bitterly cynical denunciation (Juvenalian after Juvenal)

Always opposed to pretense, affectation, and hypocrisy

More than a little bit prone to references to things society finds taboo or disgusting (bodily functions, sexuality, etc.)

Satire vs. Gallows Humor

Satirists may use their humor to inspire reform and change, or they may use it to promote the status quo.

If the creators of satire don’t have a reform or a solution in mind but are simply holding up an aspect of the world as ridiculous, then they are creating irony or gallows humor rather than satire.

Some tools of the satirist:Direct satire

Indirect Satire

Parody

Caricature

Utopianism/Dystopianism

Direct Satire: stating a direct criticism humorously. This is the oldest and, historically, most common form of satiric writing. An ironic commentary on some aspect of the human condition or of contemporary society

My favorite health club is the International House of Pancakes... Recently, I was there, when from behind me, a woman of 25 uttered the dumbest thing I'd ever heard in my life ... She said, 'If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college.' I'll repeat that. I'll repeat that because that's the kind of sentence that when you hear it, your brain comes to a screeching halt. And the left hand side of the brain looks at the right hand side and goes, 'It's dark in here, and we may die.' She said, 'If it weren't for my horse...' as in, giddyup, giddyup, let's go - 'I wouldn't have spent that year in college,' a degree-granting institution. Don't! Don't think about that sentence for more than three minutes, or blood'll shoot out your nose…But every so often, somethin' like that happens: 'If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college. If it weren't for my horse...If it weren't for my horse...If it weren't for my horse...' So your brain goes, 'LET'S FIGURE IT OUT! Son of a b#$%&! I wonder what that's about!' I wonder, was she riding the horse to school? No, she wouldn't be riding the horse to school. Maybe it was a polo pony; she had a polo pony scholarship. Maybe she sold the horse and that's how she - she was betting on the horse! WTF?!! And then you realize that anybody who went to college would never say anything that stupid in public. And as soon as you have that thought, your eyes close and the next morning they find you dead in your bathroom. –Lewis Black, 2006

Indirect Satire

Parody: a work of literature that mimics another work of literature, usually as a way of criticizing it.

Monty Python and the Holy GrailWeird Al YankovicScary Movie/Epic MovieGulliver’s TravelsDon Quixotehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690

Reversal: To present the opposite of the normal order. Reversal can

focus on the order of events, such as serving dessert before the main dish or having breakfast for dinner. Additionally, reversal can focus on hierarchical order—for instance, when a young child makes all the decisions for a family or when an administrative assistant dictates what the company president decides and does.

Example: Fiona falling

in love with Shrek;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFvqpAT9YQk

Caricature: An exaggerated portrayal of the weaknesses, frailties, or humorous aspects of an individual or group. a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Example: Mr. M’Choakumchild from Hard Times, by Charles Dickens

The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room, and the speaker's square forefinger emphasized his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the schoolmaster's sleeve. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's mouth, which was wide, thin, and hard set. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's voice, which was inflexible, dry, and dictatorial. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's hair, which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from its shining surface, all covered with knobs, like the crust of a plum pie, as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room for the hard facts stored inside. The speaker's obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders, - nay, his very neckcloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a stubborn fact, as it was, - all helped the emphasis.

'In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!‘

- Chapter One

The sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live aired several critically acclaimed sketches parodying then Alaskan Governor and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election. The sketches featured former cast member Tina Fey, who returned as a guest star to portray Palin. Fey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her impersonation of Palin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE-OCDexYrU

UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIASA technique often used in satirical novels is the contrast between utopian and dystopian societies.

The author usually introduces what, at first, appears to be a utopian society which the reader soon realizes is actually grotesque or dystopian.

Examples: 1984, Brave New World

Characteristics of Satiric Writing

Irony Irony is a mode of expression, through words (verbal

irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.

The surprise recognition by the audience often produces a comic effect, making irony often funny.

To be an effective piece of sustained irony, there must be some sort of audience tip-off, through style, tone, use of clear exaggeration, or other device.

3 Types of Irony Verbal Irony: Verbal irony is the use of words to mean

something different from what a person actually says (sarcasm). Usually developed through hyperbole and understatement.

Dramatic Irony: This type of irony is popular in works of art such as movies, books, poems and plays. It occurs when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of. Example: Oedipus Rex

Situational Irony: It involves a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. Situational irony occurs when the exact opposite of what is meant to happen, happens. Example: last year a “no helmet” protester died while riding his motorcycle. He died of head injuries.

Hyperbole and Litotes Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration to achieve an

effect; overstatement. For example: “Ms. Gilbert, how much was that multiple choice test worth?” “Well, little one, because you asked it will be worth 7000 points.”

Litotes are a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. For example:

“Being tortured with fire must be somewhat uncomfortable.”

“There are a few Starbucks in America."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMTbkfgT_jc

Exaggeration: the portrayal of something trivial or unimportant as very important, usually to emphasize its triviality.

Diminutization: the portrayal of something perceived as important as something trivial/unimportant to show its unimportance.

Examples: Zoolander and the “fashion world”Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise”

RidiculeRidicule is the use of words intended to belittle a

person or idea and arouse contemptuous laughter.

The goal is to condemn or criticize by making the thing, idea, or person seem laughable and ridiculous.

Invective Invective is speech or writing that abuses, denounces,

or attacks. It can be directed against a person, cause, idea, or system.

It employs a heavy use of negative emotive language. For Example: “I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.” (Swift, Gulliver’s Travels)

Let’s try out your new knowledge!

Watch the following clip and try to identify the satirical elements.

Determine if the piece is Juvenalian or Horation satire.

What do you think the satire is arguing against or for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ZM0-f5_CU