Study in Satire - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Study in Satire

Schneider’s LA 9 HonorsSlide2

DEFINITION

The literary art of diminishing a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation.Slide3

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 perspectiveSlide4

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)Slide5

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).Slide6

COMEDY or SATIRE? (This is a 2 part slide…so go on to next one)Slide7

COMEDY or SATIRE?

RICHARD NELSON PERNICE

My reflection doesn't respect me very much.Slide8

COMEDY or SATIRE?Slide9

COMEDY or SATIRE?Slide10

COMEDY or SATIRE?Slide11

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 3Slide12

IDENTIFY THE TYPE

Which type is it?Slide13

IDENTIFY THE TYPE

Which type is it?Slide14

IDENTIFY THE TYPE

Which type is it?Slide15

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

FinnDo not confuse the device with the GENRE! Slide16

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.Slide17

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 SceneSlide18

CARICATURE

Burlesque imitation translated into art or description. A picture or description of a person exaggerating certain features while oversimplifying othersSlide19

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.Slide20

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

h

e accepted a bribe from the prosecution.

Wine Into WaterSlide21

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

similesSlide22

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 DoctorSlide23

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

?Slide24

Comic Juxtaposition

Linking together with no commentary items which normally do not go

together

Sherry’s Bucket List:

Travel

Learn a foreign language

Lose my little brother

Own a horse

Keep a 4.0Slide25

SARCASM

A sharply mocking or contemptuous remark. The term came from the Greek word “

sarkazein

” which means “to tear flesh.”

Sarcasm SignSlide26

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…..Slide27

VERBAL IRONY

Simply an inversion of meaning; saying the opposite of what is meantSlide28

SITUATIONAL IRONY

Depends

on a discrepancy between purpose and results. (The burning firehouse, the cardiologist who dies young from a heart attack, etc.)Slide29

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.Slide30

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

.Slide31

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.”Slide32

Deflation

Representation that shows someone’s ego, hopes, spirits, etc. reduced (normally following a mistake) Examples:

The

English professor mispronounces a

word.

T

he

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. TrumpSlide33

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

.