This week in AP Lit we started the semester by learning about satire. There is so much more to satire than simply being funny. Satire by definition is a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. Unlike literature, which aims to instruct and please, satire aims to improve humanity and/or society. There are five parts to satire: target, type, approach, technique, and aim.
The targets of satire can be a place, person, type of person, or society and/or institutions. There are two main types of satire: horation and juvenalian. Horation is gentle, funny, and makes the audience realize how silly the problem being presented is. On the other hand, juvenalian is angry and arouses moral indignation through bitter attacks.
The types of satire are direct, the satirist speaks out directly against the target, or indirect, narratives which the characters make themselves look silly.
There are several techniques used in satire. High burlesque is when a trivial subject is treated in a very serious matter and low burlesque is when a serious subject is treated in a comic manner. Parody is a close imitation of a specific style and/or approach. Parody is not always satire. Caricature is the exaggeration of prominent features in a flat character and a lampoon is round character which ridicules itself. Other techniques include irony, litotes, hyperbole, song, poem, etc…
Finally, the aim of satire is to bring about change and improve the world. When analyzing a piece of satire, one must find the specific aim of the piece.
Now, apply the five parts of satire.
The Diet That Works
Range Rover Rachel is preparing to pray
She checks her mascara, her hair seems okay
She assembles her prayer-stool, it's upholstered with wool
Her brown shiny knees won't become at all dull
Places prayer stool on carpet, it was made in Iran
Many coloured but subtle, won't compete with her tan
You can buy them mail-order, or online from Habitat
She prays for her midriff - three ounces of puppyfat
''Kensington, Atkins, high protein or none?
I've tried every diet but the lard hasn't gone
I've bought special devices, focus workout on tummies
I've tried to stop eating by sucking at dummies.''
Didn't expect an answer, but a vision she's seeing
Thank God for body-hugging, guaranteed panty-line free, super-absorbent undies, Rachel fears she is peeing
''YOU WONDER,'' says God, ''WHICH SCHEME MAKES YOU THINNER?
THE HUNGRY AND HOMELESS - INVITE THEM TO DINNER.''
Copyright Peter Fairbrother
Next, identify the five parts.
Target: people obsessed with their appearance
Type: Juvenalian- author’s tone and God’s remark is bitter
Approach: Indirect- the target is never stated
Techniques: Irony- Rachel worries about three pounds while there are homeless, starving people. Caricature- Rachel’s obsession on her appearance is exaggerated
Aim: to show people they should stop worrying about their appearance and focus on serious problems such as world hunger .
Finally, use this information to create a GENIUS statement like:
This juvenalian piece of satire uses irony, poetry, and caricature to indirectly target people obsessed with their appearances to show people they should stop worrying about their appearance and focus on serious problems such as world hunger.
Using the five aspects of satire, you can analyze a piece of satire and understand its full meaning.
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2 comments:
Excellent overview of where we are in the class and what the goal is for every student to be able to complete. Thanks!
I laughed out loud at the poem. haha. I agree with Decker that this is a perfect outline for understanding satire. Sometimes, I think it can be confusing to understand when another work of literature has all of the satire elements listed, but isn't one. Perhaps some works can be interpreted as satires, or are sometimes written by authors without the intention of trying to be one, but the effect is that of satire (and by that, I mean possibly enraging people, or having debatable content). For example, if an artist drew an abstract piece of art that was supposed to look like a bunch of squiggles, and someone from the US thought that it was supposed to be a caricature of soldier strangling an Afghan, thinking the artist was targeting violence in the world. Highly unlikely example, but I wonder...
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