Transcript What is S A T I R E? - Mrs. Reyes's Ninth Grade English

SATIRE
Satire is a literary and
dramatic genre
 Satirists
ridicule human behavior
or parts of our society they want
us to recognize as unacceptable.
Satire is often funny!
 The satirist chooses to use humor to
make readers or the audience aware of a
serious--and usually harmful--issue in
society or with human behavior.
 They could write a serious speech or
piece of nonfiction or report to
accomplish the same goal.
The Cole Vucurevich Definition
With
satire, “a
writer is trying
to tell humans
how not to
act.”
What’s Tricky About Satire
 Because
satire often combines
anger and humor, it can be
profoundly disturbing.
What’s Tricky About Satire
 Because
its TONE is often ironic
or sarcastic, it is often
misunderstood.
In 2008 this satirical New
Yorker cover caused great
controversy.
Do you think the article
inside was critical or
sympathetic of thenpresidential-candidate
Barack Obama?
What’s Tricky About Satire
 We
must remember there is a
difference between WHAT an
author writes and WHY they
choose to write it.

All in the Family was a sitcom that premiered in 1971. Its
main character, Archie Bunker, was a very outspoken bigot,
making prejudiced statements about African-Americans,
women, Jews, and others. Many found the show offensive,
not realizing it was satire--that the intent was to expose and
condemn the intolerant attitudes so many Americans held.
Satire always has a TARGET
 At
the heart of satire is the writer’s
concern, frustration, or rage about
something in society or with human
behavior that he or she considers to be
wrong or unfair.
 Look
at the following cartoons and try to
determine the target of the writer’s
satire.
 Think: What is the issue or wrong or
injustice the cartoonist is trying to bring
to light?
 It’s a lot like figuring out theme:
1) What’s the subject?
2) What’s the writer specifically trying to
show us about that subject?
A
note about this unit:
 Some of the cartoons, stories, or
articles we will look at involve issues
that are controversial that you may
have strong feelings about.
 Remember, our goal is to identify
and explore the writer’s or artist’s
intent. You do not have to agree with the
opinions expressed.
These two satirical
cartoons address similar
subjects, but have different
targets. Try to identify each
cartoon’s TARGET.
THREE Techniques Writers and
Artists Use to Create Satire
1. Exaggeration
 Writers
and artists will typically
exaggerate and distort the target
in certain ways in order to
emphasize the characteristics he or
she wishes to attack.
1. Exaggeration
With satirical cartoons, people
are often drawn as caricatures—
portrayed with visual
exaggerations.
1859 satirical
cartoon
lampooning
Charles
Darwin in a
caricature.
1. Exaggeration
 In
these next slides, look for what
is being exaggerated.
 Use this to help you find the target
of the satire.
Editorial
cartoon from
the 1960s-years after the
landmark
Brown vs.
Board of
Education
Supreme Court
Decision
Exaggeration in
“The War Prayer”
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Mark Twain really exaggerates the partylike atmosphere of the opening paragraph
as the town prepares to send their soldiers
off to war, so that we, as readers, will
question their behavior.
“bands playing”
“toy pistols”
“wilderness of flags”
“happy emotion”
“cyclones of applause”
Exaggeration in
“The War Prayer”
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Where else does Twain use Exaggeration
in “The War Prayer”?
Think about the messenger that shows up.
Think about the words of the “unspoken”
prayer.
2. Irony
Writers
and artists will often
use humorous situational
irony to attack their target—
often to point out hypocrisy
in human behavior.
Irony in
“The War Prayer”
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Mark Twain uses irony when the
messenger says the “unspoken prayer”.
It’s filled with requests that are not what we
logically expect to hear in a prayer.
“help us to tear their soldiers to bloody
shreds”
“help us to lay waste to their humble
homes”
“help us to turn them out roofless with their
little children to wander unfriended…in rags
and hunger and thirst?
These satirical cartoons
address the subject of whether
or not a Muslim group had the
right to build a mosque—a
place for worship and
meeting—near the site of the
9/11 attacks in NYC.
How do the satirists
use IRONY to
express their
messages?
What’s exaggerated in this cartoon? What’s ironic?
Now…what’s the target?
3. Reductio ad absurdum
(Reduction to the Absurd)
 The
writer/artist agrees
enthusiastically with the basic
attitudes or assumptions he or she
wishes to satirize and, by pushing
them to a logically ridiculous
extreme, exposes the foolishness of
the original attitudes and ideas.
3. Reductio ad absurdum
(Reduction to the Absurd)
 In
other words, the writer, or the
character created by the writer, argues
FOR the idea or behavior he or she is
actually against.
 The holes or ignorance of the
argument makes us see the stupidity of
the original idea.
Stephen Colbert plays a
character who
continually makes and
defends particular
arguments and ideas.
However, in truth,
Colbert is satirizing these
ideas. The character he
plays was inspired by real
life political
commentator, Billy
O’Reilly of Fox News.
Review of the three techniques
All of the following satirical cartoons have
the same target.
 Identify the target and then the technique
being used. Some cartoons may use more
than one.
A) Exaggeration
B) Irony
C) Reduction to the Absurd

DADT is an abbreviation for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell—a policy
created in the 1990s. Gays were permitted to serve in the
military as long as they didn’t reveal or discuss their sexual
orientation. It was repealed in 2010. These satirical cartoons all
appeared before the repeal—during years of debate.
IRONY – the
logical expectation
is that we’d never
be able to answer
this question. Also,
the satirist might
be attempting to
point out that the
logical expectation
is that the question
of gay or straight
never enters our
minds when we
see this famous
picture.
Reduction to the
Absurd—the
writer/artist wants
to expose the
absurdity of the
argument.
Exaggeration—
making the gay
soldier wear a pink
scarf
IRONY –
The logical
expectation
is that we
mourn the
loss of any
dead soldier.
We don’t
expect this
question to
come up or
be important
when
soldiers
have died.
Exaggeration – This would probably never happen—that a decorated soldier,
gay or straight, would pin a heart from their loved one on a place for official
military decorations. It also shows how ridiculous the argument
Reduction to the Absurd—It points out the ridiculousness of the argument
that a gay soldier’s behavior would be consumed with his or her love life
rather than military responsibilities.
IRONY – Soldiers
are required to
be--and are--very
brave individuals.
Therefore, even
though some
soldiers may feel
uncomfortable
about
homosexuality,
we don’t logically
expect them to be
so afraid that they
could not perform
their job well.
Reduction to the Absurd – The artist/writer wants us to hear
the absurdity of this statement given the circumstances and is
arguing FOR what he or she is actually against. ALSO,
IRONY – This is NOT what we logically expect to be “most
important” in this situation.