“Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut

 What is Satire?

 Satire - any kind of writing, speaking, or art that ridicules some weakness in individuals or society

 There must be a clear target (it may not be obvious though) • Can attack an institution (government, politics, religion, education, society, etc) or social evil • Can attack an individual or a type of person   Must be humorous, but with the purpose of pointing out human faults and effecting some improvement in humanity or human institutions A good satire should make the reader/watcher think

 Satire’s purpose is to bring about change!  The primary purpose of any satirical work is to use the weapon of wit to attack something with which the author strongly disagrees in the hope of producing a change  Satire usually asks us to see what is around us and consider it

 Art  Music  Poetry/Prose  Drama/TV  Cartoons

 Weird Al Yankovic  “You’re Pitiful” satirizes the song “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt

 George Orwell

 Saturday Night Live

 Irony • • • Situational Dramatic    Verbal Sarcasm Hyperbole/Exaggeration Understatement

 Irony - the contrast between what is expected or what appears to be and what actually is • Situational Irony - refers to a happening that is the opposite of what is expected or intended • Dramatic Irony - occurs when the audience or reader knows something important that a character does not know

 Verbal Irony - the contrast between what is said and what is actually meant • • • Sarcasm - a type of verbal irony often in the form of a remark in which the literal meaning is complimentary but the actual meaning is critical Hyperbole- a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to emphasize strong feelings or to create a satiric effect Understatement - the technique of creating emphasis by saying less than what is actually or literally true

     Understatement Sarcasm Hyperbole Situational Dramatic