The Anatomy of Satire

Fools are my theme, let satire be my song. Lord Byron

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game. Vladimir Nabokov

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What is Satire?The use of humor to expose the vices

and foolishness of society/politics/people.

A literary genre which blends humor with criticism for the purpose of instruction or the improvement of humanity.Through humor, satire aims to cure folly, to punish evil, and to move people to notice and to protest.

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Ingredients of Satire

HumorCriticism, either general criticism of humanity or human nature or specific criticism of an individual or group.A moral voice seeking reform: Simply mocking or criticism alone is not “satire.”

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Strategies of Satire 1Horatian Satire

Juvenalian Satire

Diatribe/Invective

Caricature

Double Entendre

Parody/Burlesque/Travesty

Mock Heroic/Mock Epic

Understatement/Diminution

Litotes4

Strategies of Satire 2Farce

Mock Encomium

Wit

Knaves and Fools

Reductio ad Absurdum

Malapropism

Sarcasm

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Innuendo

Bathos

Hyperbole

Dark Humor/Grotesque

Comic Juxtaposition

Euphemism

Types of SatireHoratian: Gentle humorous satire after the Roman poet, Horace. Good natured, light-hearted criticism through comedy. Playfully critical, self-deprecating humor. Lois Lowry’s The Giver with its anti-totalitarian message. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTw9z3ufH5g: Nice Guys Finish Last

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Types of SatireJuvenalian: Abrasive, contemptuous harsh, savage, scornful, cynicalAfter Roman

satirist, Juvenal. Family GuySwift’s Modest Proposal, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit451

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DIATRIBE/INVECTIVE– Direct attack that abuses,

denounces, name calls– Stated without irony or sarcasmDennis Miller, Chris Rock, George

Carlinhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjOkTib5eVQ

RICHARD SHERMAN of the Seattle Seahawks

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Invective/Diatribe“A knave, a rascal; an eater of broken

meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly,

three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy,

worsted-stocking knave… and art nothing

but the composition of a knave, beggar,

coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a

mongrel b****…” Shakespeare

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WitQuick, clever word playa natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a

quick and inventive way to create humor.

Examples:– Thoreau: "If a man does not keep pace with his

companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away."

– Mark Twain: "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

Wit

CARICATUREAn exaggerated portrait/ portrayal of the weaknesses, frailties, or humorous aspects of an individual or group, often physical in nature.

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CaricatureCaricatures of the presidential candidates by Saturday Night Live cast members in ‘03 year actually changed the way that the candidates performed in public.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UMri4dcY58: Caricatures of famous people

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CARICATURE“Mr. Chadband is a large yellow man, with a fat smile, and a general appearance of having a good deal of train oil in his system. Mrs.Chadband is a stern, severe-looking, silent woman. Mr. Chadband moves softly and cumbrously, not unlike a bear who has been taught to walk upright. He is very much embarrassed about the arms, as if they were inconvenient to him.” - Charles Dickens

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ParodyA MOCKING IMITATIONA work of literature/song/movie that mimics another to mock it.Austin PowersScary Movie/Epic MovieGulliver’s TravelsDon QuixoteWicked

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNBP18nrRdw

: i-phone 515

ParodyImitation which, through distortion and exaggeration, evokes amusement, derision, and sometimes scorn

Borrows a pre-existing form

The Daily Show, The Colbert Report

Weird Al

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Types of ParodyBurlesque:– Vulgar, ridiculous exaggeration and

distortion.– Treats serious subjects frivolously (Low)

and frivolous subjects seriously (High).– Discrepancy between subject and style, for

example, using a dignified style for nonsensical matter and a flippant style for a weighty matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdoLr7zjF7A

: Rob Ford, crack-lovin’ mayor of Toronto17

Types of ParodyTravesty/DIMINUTION

presents a serious subject casually.

This mode of satire reduces a subject to its lowest level.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian which mocks the life of Jesus.

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Types of ParodyMock-heroic/Mock-epic/INFLATION– Discusses something trivial as if it were of

great importance.– Grand diction, lofty style for a trivial theme– Takes a trivial or repellent theme and treats

it with grandeur or feigned solemnity– Alexander Pope’s mock-epic, ‘The Rape of

the Lock”

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Example of Mock-Heroic from Pope’s Mock Epic, The Rape of the Lock

The Peer now spreads the glittering Forfex wide,

T' inclose the Lock; now joins it, to divide.

Ev'n then, before the fatal Engine clos'd,

A wretched Sylph too fondly interpos'd;

Fate urged the Sheers, and cut the Sylph in twain,

(But Airy Substance soon unites again)

The meeting Points the sacred Hair dissever

From the fair Head, for ever and for ever!20

Shrek – The Mock-Epic

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An ogre is an unlikely hero.Shrek mocks the typicalconventions of the fairy tale.

Other Techniques/Devices of Satire

Double Entendre (Double Meaning): Use of a word/expression with more than one meaning, one is usually risque. “Is there a ring of debris around Uranus?” Yep…I told you the subtext was inappropriate.

The double entendre usually leads to sexual innuendo so class appropriate examples are hard to come by…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29vYOdf47b8: Fresh Prince of Bel Air

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Understatement: downplaying something important

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When a writer or speaker tries to make a situation seem less important that it really is.

Understatement"Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her person for the worse."(Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub, 1704)

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LITOTES

Ironic understatement that expresses a thought by using negations.

I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain."(Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye, by J. D. Salinger)

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Mock Encomium

Mock encomium, or paradoxical encomium, is a mock tribute.

It appears to praise someone, when it is actually finding fault.

“She is incredibly proficient in the art of lying.”

FARCEImprobably ludicrous situation

Anchorman movie, Laurel and Hardy,

Obamacare (only that’s not funny)

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InnuendoInnuendo: A derogatory

implication/suggestion about someone/something. Most are sexual, so again…few classroom appropriate examples. A suggestive remark

“He is one candidate in this race who does not have a drinking problem.”

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BATHOS

An abrupt, unintended lapse from the exalted to the ridiculous, producing a comic effect.

“The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.”

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BATHOS

Why are people born? Why do they die? And why do they spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?

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reducing a serious issue to absurdity to expose and mock.

The Big Bang Example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWGiOuzpe4

Reductio Ad Absurdum

A. In America, citizens have the right to bear arms.

B. Oh, so it's OK with you for hundreds of innocent kids to be killed each year with unregistered handguns?A. Everyone in a free country ought to be able to live according to their own religious beliefs.

B. Oh, so it's OK for witches to dig up bodies to cut out gall bladders for ingredients for their magic potions?

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Malapropism

Malapropism is the erroneous use of a word that sounds the same as the original word to form a ridiculous statement.– It is often used to portray characters as

being ignorant, confused, or flustered.

From French mal a propos meaning “inappropiate”

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Malapropism Example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLwYpSCrlHU Joey’s malapropism on “Friends”

**Before watching know a “moot point” is an expression for something that no longer has a meaning, or does not matter.

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Malapropism

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Knaves and FoolsKnaves and fools is used in comedy where thereare no villains or innocent victims. Instead,there are scoundrels (knaves) and suckers(fools). A knave is someone who is portrayedundesirable and takes full advantage of “asking

for it.” A fool is someone who is extremely easy to trick or is simply unintelligent.

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Knaves and Fools

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Black/Dark HumorGrotesque or morbid, sick humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox and cruelty of the modern world. Kurt Vonnegut makes liberal use of dark comedy in his satirical novels, including Slaughterhouse Five.

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Dark Humor connects humor and horror

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Satiric Web SitesCHIASMUS (MARDY GROTHE):http://www.chiasmus.com/welcometochiasmus.shtml

CIECOE: COUNCIL TO INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING AND CONSORTIUM TO OFFEND EVERYBODY:

http://www.factsformorons.com

THE COLBERT REPORT (STEPHEN COLBERT):http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml

CRACKED:http://www.cracked.com/

THE DAILY SHOW (JON STUART):http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml

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More Satiric WebsitesTHE ONION (CAROL KOLB):http://www.theonion.com

SATIRE ON ORGANIZED RELIGION:www.landoverbaptist.com

STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE:http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

THANK YOU MASKMAN (LENNY BRUCE):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CebRfSFnWGM

WHITEHOUSE:http://whitehouse.org/initiatives/posters/

THE WHOLE WORLD TOILET PAPER MUSEUM (RICH TAGYERIT):

http://www.tagyerit.com/tp.htm 41