Satire and irony
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This document defines and explains satire. It states that satire blends humor and criticism to instruct or improve humanity. Key elements of satire include humor, criticism of individuals or groups, and a moral perspective. Satire can be direct, through humorous criticism, or indirect through parody, caricature, exaggeration, or diminutization. It also distinguishes between Horatian and Juvenalian satire, with Horatian using gentle humor and Juvenalian using scorn and outrage. Examples of different types of satire are also provided.
Satire and irony
- 1. Satire Is the author serious or is he joking around?
- 2. Definition • Satire = Noun. A literary device which blends humor with criticism for the purpose of instruction or the improvement of humanity
- 3. 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.”
- 4. • 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.)
- 5. Two Kinds • Direct satire • Indirect Satire – Parody – Caricature – Exaggeration – Diminutization
- 6. Direct Satire • stating a direct criticism humorously. This is the oldest and, historically, most common form of satiric writing. “You can't get in your car and not run into another idiot who pulls into the gas station with his fuel tank on the wrong side and then has to get instructions from a NASA team at Houston Control to figure out how to maneuver his car so that the tank is on the correct side. And you can't open a paper without reading about a mondo idiot who gets hurt or killed at a railroad crossing because they had to try and beat the train to get home in time to watch Charlene Tilton's salute to porcelain clowns on QVC.” Dennis Miller: “The Death of Common Sense”
- 7. Indirect Satire • Uses characters who represent points of view and are made ridiculous by their own behavior and thoughts, and by the narrator's ironic commentary
- 8. • Parody = a work of literature that mimics another work of literature, usually as a way of criticizing it. • Scary Movie • Weird Al Yankovich • Austin Powers • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- 9. Robin Hood: Men in Tights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX4Ik-cyp-I
- 10. • Caricature = An exaggerated portrayal of the weaknesses, frailties, or humorous aspects of an individual or group.
- 11. • 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.
- 12. Horatian vs Juvenalian • Horatian = playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humor. – directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humor toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil
- 13. Examples • The Simpsons • A. Pope – “The Rape of the Lock” • Lewis, Clive Staples – The Screwtape Letters
- 14. A. Pope: “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!
- 15. Horatian vs Juvenalian • Juvenalian = more contemptuous and abrasive. It addresses social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. – pessimistic, characterized by irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor.
- 16. Examples • Bradbury, Ray – Fahrenheit 451 • Orwell, George – 1984, Animal Farm • Swift, Jonathon – “A Modest Proposal”
- 17. Irony • Situational – The opposite of what is expected to happen occurs • Verbal – The opposite of what is meant is said (sarcasm) • Dramatic – The reader knows something the character does not
- 18. Situational Irony • The fire safety lectures were canceled because the screen caught on fire. • An ambulance runs over a pedestrian. • If you have a phobia of long words you have to tell people that you have Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia...
- 19. Verbal Irony • Your friend gets splashed by a car driving through a puddle and you say: “wow, how lucky are you?!”
- 20. Dramatic Irony • Scary music in a horror movie only the audience can hear, so we are prepared for what is to come while the characters are not. • In Titanic, we know the boat is going to sink. The people on the boat are unaware of the actual dangers the iceberg presents.
- 21. Why is this ironic?
- 22. Why is this ironic?
- 23. Why is this ironic?
- 24. Why is this ironic?
- 25. Mars Rover Landing (2012) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pInQS9cj m7Y
- 26. The Onion “America’s Finest News Source”
- 27. Family Avoiding Eye Contact With Dad After Steelers Fumble BETHEL PARK, PA—Uncomfortably shifting in their seats as the costly turnover was replayed in slow motion, the entire Harrison family avoided eye contact with father Jeff Harrison for several incredibly tense minutes Sunday following a fumble by the Pittsburgh Steelers, household sources confirmed. “Goddammit,” said the visibly incensed 52-year-old, who just moments before had been jovially watching the game with his wife and two children, all of whom were now in complete silence and actively staring straight ahead or down at their phones as the fumble was confirmed by referees. “C’mon—hang on to the ball for Christ’s sake! Unbelievable.” At press time, reports confirmed the two Harrison children were quietly considering leaving the room and watching the game upstairs as their father began to yell that the player’s knee was down and that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin should “just challenge the damn call.”
- 28. Michael Phelps Banned From Having Any Contact With Water For 6 Months COLORADO SPRINGS, CO—Calling the three-time Olympian’s recent arrest for driving under the influence a blatant violation of the organization’s code of conduct, USA Swimming reportedly banned Michael Phelps Monday from having any direct or indirect contact with water for six months. “We take these latest infractions very seriously and they require significant consequences; therefore, over the next six months, Mr. Phelps will be barred from having any personal or professional interactions with water,” said USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus in a statement to the media, citing the suspension’s stipulations that Phelps refrain from drinking, showering, or partaking in any sort of activity that puts him in close proximity to the liquid over the next 24 weeks. “There’s been some precedent with other athletes who were banned from going near any body of water for two to three months for similar transgressions, but seeing as this is Mr. Phelps’ second offense, he has to be punished accordingly. If he slips up, he’ll never touch water again.” At press time, Phelps was making preparations to drain all the water remaining in his body’s 37.2 trillion cells
- 29. Irony Assignment • Create an original work of irony –Draw a picture that is filled with irony –Try to make the picture stand alone without an explanation of why it is ironic •Situational –The opposite of what is expected to happen occurs •Verbal –The opposite of what is meant is said (sarcasm) •Dramatic –The reader knows something the character does not