STUDY IN SATIRE Schneiders LA 9 Honors DEFINITION

STUDY IN SATIRE Schneider’s LA 9 Honors

DEFINITION § The literary art of diminishing a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation.

PURPOSE § To expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society § To correct human vice (evil or wrongdoing) and folly (foolishness or stupidity) § To target only the faults for which an individual is correctable (not one for which a person is not responsible) § To improve society and make the world a better place § To persuade an audience to a certain perspective

TARGET (or BUTT) § Satire is targeted toward a specific audience or entity in the hopes that those criticized will improve and change. § Targets include: § § § A person A country A government Any entity or group The entire world A particular belief, opinion, worldview, or mindset (and by extension, anyone who supports it)

COMEDY vs. SATIRE § Satire differs from comedy in that while the chief aim of comedy is just to evoke laughter (not to change anyone), the chief aim of satire is to ridicule and criticize (use laughter as a weapon against a butt [target] that exists outside of the work itself).

COMEDY or SATIRE? (This is a 2 part slide…so go on to next one)

COMEDY or SATIRE? RICHARD NELSON PERNICE My reflection doesn't respect me very much.

COMEDY or SATIRE?

COMEDY or SATIRE?

COMEDY or SATIRE?

TYPES OF SATIRE (based on TONE) § 1) Horatian satire: gentle, sympathetic, light, mildly mocking, tolerant, witty, wise, and self-effacing (able to laugh at oneself) § (Named after Roman satirist Horace of Venusia, Italy in 65 BC) § 2) Juvenalian satire: bitter, harsh, and serious, creating contempt, moral indignation, or sadness at humanity’s wrongdoings § (Named after Roman satirist Juvenal of Aquino, Italy circa 55 to 60 AD) § 3) Menippean satire: novel-length satire mixing poetry and prose; rambles to topics unrelated to plot; attacks mental attitudes rather than just specific individuals or entities; may contain a number of unusual settings § (Named after Greek satirist Menippus of Gadara, Syria circa 250 to 300 BC) § *Note: Any work may contain elements of all 3

IDENTIFY THE TYPE § Which type is it?

IDENTIFY THE TYPE § Which type is it?

IDENTIFY THE TYPE § Which type is it?

The DEVICE vs. the GENRE § Satire may be a device used within many works whose overall mode is NOT satiric. § A certain scene in a movie may be ironic without the whole movie being a satire. Of Mice and Men contains irony, but it is not a satirical novel. § Literary writings (whether poetry or prose) in which criticizing is the main purpose constitute a distinct literary GENRE termed “satire. ” § Examples include: Alice in Wonderland, Animal Farm, Gulliver’s Travels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn § Do not confuse the device with the GENRE!

PERSONA § Satirists often use a persona (mask) as a narrator to express their satire. § Do NOT confuse the persona with the author’s own voice! § Example: Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses the persona of the title character, Huck Finn, to reveal (an innocent and naïve but also) the prevalent racist mindset of the time. Twain himself did not advocate this mindset.

SATIRIC DEVICES § BURLESQUE: Achieves ridiculous exaggeration by treating a trivial subject as though it’s all-important and serious, or a serious, important subject derogatorily as though it’s ridiculous or trivial. § Often considered inappropriate or off-color. § Monty Python: the Bunny Scene

CARICATURE § Burlesque imitation translated into art or description. § A picture or description of a person exaggerating certain features while oversimplifying others

PARODY § Imitation (or burlesquing) of an author, their ideas, or work. As in a burlesque, serious ideas may be made look ridiculous, or the trivial ideas made to look serious. It is a form of exaggeration as it overemphasizes certain characteristics until they are out of proportion to reality.

TRAVESTY § Presents a serious (often religious) subject frivolously, ridiculing the dignified. § Identical to parody except for: § TONE – while parody is often more Horatian, travesty is more Juvenalian § Parody can treat serious as ridiculous or ridiculous as serious while travesty ONLY ridicules the sacred or serious § Example sentence: The judge made a travesty of justice when he accepted a bribe from the prosecution. Wine Into Water

MOCK EPIC § Treating a frivolous or minor subject seriously, especially by using the style of epic literature (invocations, descriptions of armor, battle, extended similes, etc. ). § Example: Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock is a narrative poem which reveals that the “assault” involves a young man cutting a lock of a young girl’s hair. § Written to ridicule the families of both youths for overblowing the incident and creating a feud, and to portray the ridiculous heights to which beauty and vanity would take someone. § § § The abduction of Helen of Troy = cutting the curl from Arabella’s (alias Belinda’s) hair The gods = minute guardian spirits of virgins (sylphs) Achilles’ shield = Belinda’s petticoat Adds parody to imitation by following the form of speeches from The Iliad Elaborate formal verbal structure with invocations, lamentations, exclamations, and similes

Farce/Exaggeration/Inflation: § Exciting laughter through exaggerated, improbable situations. This usually contains low comedy: quarreling, fighting; coarse with horseplay, noisy singing, boisterous conduct, trickery, clownishness, drunkenness, and slap-stick. § Visiting the Doctor

Knaves & Fools § In comedy there are no villains and no innocent victims. Instead, there are rogues (knaves) and suckers (fools). The knave exploits someone “asking for it”. When these two interact, comic satire results. When knaves & fools meet, they expose each other. § Consider The Taming of the Shrew: who were the knaves, and who were the fools?

Comic Juxtaposition § Linking together with no commentary items which normally do not go together 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Sherry’s Bucket List: Travel Learn a foreign language Lose my little brother Own a horse Keep a 4. 0

SARCASM § A sharply mocking or contemptuous remark. The term came from the Greek word “sarkazein” which means “to tear flesh. ” § Sarcasm Sign

IRONY § The actual intent is expressed in words which carry the opposite meaning. It is lighter, less harsh in wording than sarcasm, though more cutting because of its indirectness. The ability to recognize irony is one of the surest tests of intelligence and sophistication. Irony is achieved through such techniques as hyperbole (exaggerating) and understatement (minimalizing). § It is the end of the world as we know it. She has a zit on the end of her nose. § My wife may be a tad anxious when she learns we’re bankrupt. § There are 4 TYPES OF IRONY…. .

VERBAL IRONY § Simply an inversion of meaning; saying the opposite of what is meant

SITUATIONAL IRONY Depends on a discrepancy between purpose and results. (The burning firehouse, the cardiologist who dies young from a heart attack, etc. )

DRAMATIC IRONY When the words or acts of a character carry a meaning unperceived by himself but understood by the audience. The irony resides in the contrast between the meaning intended by the speaker and the added significance seen by others. Any time in a movie or play YOU know what will happen, but the character/actor is unaware. They are happily fishing and jump in for a swim unaware that a shark has come unusually close to shore…. but you know.

SOCRATIC IRONY § Socrates pretended ignorance of a subject in order to draw knowledge out of his students by a question and answer device. Socratic irony is feigning ignorance to achieve some advantage over an opponent.

Understatement /Diminution: § Taking a real-life situation and reducing it to make it ridiculous and showcase its faults. § Ex: Giving the nickname “tiny” to a 350 pound man, or describing him as “not the smallest guy in the room. ”

Deflation § Representation that shows someone’s ego, hopes, spirits, etc. reduced (normally following a mistake) § Examples: § The English professor mispronounces a word. § The President slips and bangs his head leaving the helicopter, etc. § The beauty queen does not realizing she is still wearing her microphone as she uses the restroom and disses her rivals. § Donald vs. Trump

Invective § Harsh, abusive language directed against a person or cause. Invective is a vehicle, a tool of anger. Invective is the bitterest of all satire.