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SATIRE . Learning about Satire through Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest proposal” . SATIRE. The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
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SATIRE Learning about Satire through Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest proposal”
SATIRE The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its bigger purpose is often social criticism (using wit to draw public attention to issues in a society)
Horatian vs. Juvenalian Satires • Horatian: • Named after the Roman satirist Horace. • Playfully criticizes a social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humor • Tends to look at follies, rather than evils and comprises a sympathetic tone • EX: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Colbert Report, The Simpsons or South Park • Juvenalian: • Named after the Roman satirist Juvenal • Addresses social evil through scorn, outrage, or savage ridicule • Often pessimistic, contains irony, sarcasm, moral indignation, personal invective, with less emphasis on humor • EX: Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, Lord of the Flies, 1984, Animal Farm, political cartoons and TV shows (The Daily Show)
Commonly Used Satiric Devices Hyperbole: If I have to hear one more news report about Miley Cyrus’s twerking, I will die! Invective: "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -Oscar Wilde Inversion (reversal): A young child makes all of the decisions for the family. Irony: A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets Sarcasm: Not the brightest crayon in the box now, are we? Satire: South Park, The Simpsons, The Colbert Report Understatement: Oh, it’s just a scratch (there is a huge dent in the car)
Jonathan Swift Born 1667- Died 1745 Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, poet, and cleric Best known for “A Modest Proposal,” “Gulliver’s Travels,” and The Battle of the Books” One of the most well-known English prose satirists
Assignment: Read through “A Modest Proposal” in groups As you read together, highlight points where you see satirical devices or where you think Swift is using satire Answer the guided-reading questions as you read, discussing them in your group (each person must fill out their guided-reading questions) Find examples of each of the satirical devices in the essay (fill them in on your worksheet)
A Modest Proposal Written in 1729 Juvenalian satirical essay Swift suggests that the poor Irish could ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the rich people in society In doing this, he mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as the Irish society (landlords with all of the wealth and money compared to the vast majority of poor, starving, and dying people working under them)