Transcript What do you really mean?

WHAT IS SATIRE?
KEY TERMS
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Satire
Irony
Sarcasm
Euphemism
Exaggeration
Understatement
Parody
Generalization
SATIRE
A genre that criticizes and ridicules folly, vices, and
corruption with the intention of reforming
society.
Satire discredits and ridicules its target by implying
a comparison with an ideal situation.
The satirist uses a variety of literary techniques to
subtly poke fun at the target.
SATIRE
What are some common targets for satire?
Vanity, hypocrisy, religion, bigotry, human vices,
sentimentality, greed, celebrity worship,
materialism, hubris, dumbing down of education,
snobbery, foolishness, cruelty, insensitivity,
laziness, and so on
IRONY
A figure of speech in which the actual
intent is expressed in words or situations
that carry the opposite meaning.
Its purpose is to dramatize or emphasize
the subject.
THREE TYPES OF IRONY
• Verbal – when what is said is the opposite of what is
meant
• Dramatic – when a character’s statements or beliefs
are not what the reader, audience, or other characters
know to be true
• Situational – when what occurs is the opposite of
what is expected to occur
VERBAL IRONY
Your boyfriend shows up in ripped up jeans and a
stained t-shirt.
With a smile, you say, “Oh! I see you dressed up for our
date. We must be going to a posh restaurant.”
EUPHEMISM
Euphemism is an indirect statement substituted for a
direct one. It’s a way of saying what you really mean
(something negative) by masking it with something
more neutral or less negative.
For example, the government might refer to bombs,
missiles, and warheads as ordinance.
Instead of saying someone was axe-murdered, you say
he “passed on to a happier place.”
SARCASM
A bitter or cutting speech, intended to wound
a person’s feelings. It comes from a Greek
word meaning to tear flesh.
Sarcasm is an example of verbal irony. (But
verbal irony is not always sarcastic, since it
does not always want to wound.)
SARCASM
A mother catches her eleven-year-old, who is
failing all of his classes, in the act of watching
South Park instead of doing his homework as he
was supposed to do. Pointing to the screen she
says, “Here’s the explanation for all that brilliant
work you’ve been doing in school, my darling
prodigy.”
DRAMATIC IRONY
When watching a talk show, the audience knows why a person has
been brought on the show. However, the person sitting in a chair
does not know that he is going to be reunited with a former jilted
lover who reveals that she got pregnant and is now the mother of
the person’s son. Dramatic irony creates suspense and emphasis.
DRAMATIC IRONY
Have you ever seen a horror movie that has a killer on
the loose? You, and the rest of the audience, know that
the teenagers should not go walking in the woods late
at night, but they think a midnight stroll would be
romantic. Needless to say, the teens become the next
victims.
SITUATIONAL IRONY
Once upon a time, there was a girl who went into the
woods. She entered a funny little house, and she was
kind of hungry, so she ate a bowl of porridge that was
sitting on the table. Unfortunately for her, it was
poisoned and she died.
Because most people are familiar with the story of “Goldilocks
and the Three Bears,” this ending comes as a bit of a surprise.
INVERSION / REVERSAL
Inversion / Reversal is the reversal of the normal order of
things, such as the usual roles people play.
It is a specific form of situational irony, because it is
creates emphasis by defying audience expectations.
An example would be having a child in the role of the
parent and a parent in the role of a child.
INCONGRUITY
Incongruity occurs when something is out of place or
absurd.
It is a specific form of situational irony, because it is
creates emphasis by undermining audience
expectations. It also involves exaggeration.
For example, Jonathan Swift in “A Modest Proposal”
suggested that a good solution to poverty would be to
have the poor sell their children as food.
MORE EXAMPLES?
Can you think of any examples of irony,
inversion, or incongruity in recent movies
you have seen?
EXAGGERATION (HYPERBOLE)
A figure of speech that creates emphasis by
making the subject seem larger or greater than it
really is.
EXAGGERATION (HYPERBOLE)
Someone tells us of a time when he told an
off-color joke about a grandmother and then
realized that his own grandmother, a prim and
proper lady, happened to be standing right
behind him. “I almost died,” he says.
“I’m starving.”
UNDERSTATEMENT (LITOTES)
A figure of speech that creates emphasis by
making the subject seem smaller or less
important than it really is.
Another way of looking at understatement is
that it creates emphasis by stating the negative
of its opposite.
UNDERSTATEMENT
• We visit our friend in the hospital. We know from his
wife that the prognosis is bad, and also that our
friend has been informed of his condition. When we
enter, we ask him how he's feeling. “Well,” he says,
“I've been better.”
• “He’s not a bad cook.” (Meaning he’s quite good.)
• “She’s not the world’s best speller.” (Meaning she’s
terrible at it.)
PARODY
An imitation of the style of an author or work
for comic effect and ridicule
ORIGINAL
PARODY
GENERALIZATION
To apply an idea or belief to all situations,
whether appropriately or not and neglecting
differences or exceptions. In other words, to
stereotype a person or situation.
GENERALIZATION
In the Simpsons episode titled “The PTA Disbands,”
Homer says, “Lisa, if you don't like your job, you don't
strike. You just go in everyday and do it really halfarsed. That's the American way.”
When Homer says, “That's the American way,” he generalizes
that his own defeatist attitude toward work is the status quo.
And what about the irony?