with new reference pictures

1. Introduction to Satire
The Art of Indirect Persuasion

3. What is Satire?
 If you have ever enjoyed watching late-night comedy shows, you
know how effective and fun this approach can be when it comes to
changing perception of the subjects being lampooned.
 We will explore their genres and techniques – the art of satire
 Important aspects include diction and syntax, tone, and parody (the
art of manipulating the conventions and content of other formats and
genres)

4. What is Satire?
 Satire is a literary genre that uses irony, wit, and sometimes sarcasm
to expose humanity’s vices and foibles, giving impetus, or momentum,
to change or reform through ridicule.
 It is a manner of writing that mixes a critical attitude with wit and
humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions.
 While some writers and commentators use a serious tone to persuade
their audiences to accept their perspective on various issues, some
writers specifically use humor to convey a serious message.

5. Objectives
 Irony
 Hyperbole / Exaggeration
 Litotes / Understatement
 Caricature
 Wit
 Sarcasm
 Ridicule
 Parody
 Invective
 Antithesis
 Colloquialism
 Anticlimax
 Obscenity
 Violence
 Vividness
 Reduction / Reductio ad
absurdum
 Burlesque
 Juxtaposition
 Diminution
By the end of this unit, you should be able to identify, explain, analyze and
apply the following key characteristics of satire:

6. Jonathan Swift on Satire
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally
discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the
chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the
world, and that so very few are offended with it.”

7. Attitude of Satire
The essential attitude in satire is the desire to use precisely clear
language to still an audience to protest. The satirist intends to
describe painful or absurd situations or foolish of wicked persons
or groups as vividly as possible. He believes that most people are
blind, insensitive, and perhaps anesthetized by custom and
resignation and dullness. The satirist wishes to make them see
the truth – at least that part of the truth which they habitually
ignore.
Gilbert Highet, The Anatomy of Satire

8. Types of Satire
Horatian:
 gentle, sympathetic form of
satire with subject mildly
made fun of. The audience
is asked to laugh at
themselves as much as the
characters/speaker.
Tone:
 Cheerful
 Urbane
 tongue-in-cheek
 Optimistic
 Warm
 Witty
 Gentle
 chiding

9. Types of Satire
Juvenalian:
 harsh and bitter satire,
mocking ridicule, points
with contempt to the
corruption of men and
institutions.
Tone
 Cutting
 Bitter
 Angry
 Contemptuous
 Grim
 Sardonic
 Harsh
 indignant

10. Forms of Satire
 Parody
 Caricature
 Travesty
 Slapstick
 Mockumentary
 Fake newscast
 (Self-)Deprecation
 Burlesque (low, high,
physical)
 Foil
 Dystopia/Utopia

11. What type is this?

12. And this?

13. How about this?

14. Finally – this?

15. Objective of Satire
 The overall purpose of satire is usually to make some kind of
moral or political change in society
 Many satirists hope that the humor will have a corrective effect
(almost like a punishment for bad behavior), ultimately
 leading people to change the way they behave
 discouraging others from behaving the same way in the future