SATIRESATIRE

Today…

We are going to look at three different forms of media (video, text, and visual) that have something in common.

After looking at each, we’re going to talk about how they are all similar.

Video

Nerdin' Ain't Easy from Portlandia (2012)

Is It Local? from Portlandia (2011)

Sanitation Twins from Portlandia (2011)

Horrifying Planet from The Onion (2012)

Text

"Advice to Youth" by Mark Twain (1882) "Area Man Relieved State of the Union...“

from The Onion (2013) "Basketball Coach Sees Somethin” from

The Onion (2013) "SXSW“ (Word innovate said 650,000

times) from The Onion (2013) 8th Grade Civics Teachers from The

Onion (2011)

Visual

"New Yorker Cover, Barack Obama” (2008)

The Party of Lincoln (2012) Mitt Romney Charisma (2012) Newswire on “The Onion”

N-N-E

We’re going to look at a few of these a second time. For each, make a Notice/Name/Effect chart.

Notice Name Effect

“textual evidence”

What the device is called

How it makes you feel as a reader

Words/phrases that ‘jump out’ at you.

Rhetorical feature/device name

How the device connects to author’s purpose.

N-N-E cont.

Talk with a partner(s) about the similarities of each.

Look specifically at shared devices and effect.

What each has in common:

The three pieces of media all have different subjects and use some different rhetorical strategies. What each has in common, though, is a shared purpose!

What is the shared purpose of the pieces you’ve seen?

Satire

“the use of mockery, irony, humor, and/or wit to attack or ridicule something (person, habit, idea, institution, societal custom) that is considered to be foolish, flawed or wrong; a satire is created to expose vice and folly for the purpose of improving human institutions and/or humanity.”

Vice and Folly

Vice-any kind of anti-social behavior, ranging from moral depravity to trivial defects; covers everything from the completely reprehensible to the petty and mundane

Folly-a lack of common sense, prudence or foresight

Satirical Techniques

Exaggeration/Hyperbole-making a small blemish or a hidden vice larger in order to make it more visible or readily apparent; satire can exaggerate a subject or an institution

Distortion-twisting or emphasizing some aspect of a condition or institution or event in order to highlight it; distortion can include juxtaposition of incongruous or inappropriate ideas or things.

Sarcasm/Verbal Irony-meant to highlight the incongruity/disparity between the beliefs of the satirist and the vice or folly being satirized

Satirical Techniques

Understatement – when the vice or folly is especially evil or so great that it is impossible to exaggerate, understatement will serve the same effect.

Innuendo – an implication or indirect attack on a specific person or target

Diction - use of silly, bizarre, or intentionally humorous words to highlight the ridiculousness of the vice or folly being satirized

Satirical Techniques

Pun/Malapropism-word play or double entendres; any construction of words that contain a double meaning (usually one mundane or common, the other bawdry)

Oxymoron/Paradox-purposeful contradiction to highlight the incongruity of the vice or folly

Parable/Allegory-work in a way similar to a pun or malapropism, as they allow a satire to work on multiple levels to deepen/enrich the meaning

Parody-meant to poke fun at or mock a target by taking the form of that which is being mocked

Analysis of Satire

1. What are the underlying assumptions or unwritten attitudes in the piece (warrants)?

2. What vice or folly is being critiqued? (Can be more than one!)

3. What might the author’s argument look like stripped of humor? i.e.-if it were NOT satire

4. What resources of language or satirical techniques does each satirist use? How do these techniques ‘disarm’ or ‘take down’ the intended target to make the criticism more acceptable to the audience?

5. What is the goal of the satirist? i.e.-what change does the satirist wish society, the individual, etc. to make?

6. How effective are the methods of satire?

Analysis of Satire

Opening Paragraph-Identify the vice, folly, or flaw being targeted; outline the characteristics of the audience; explain the goal or purpose of the satire (what change it is meant to bring about)

Body Paragraph-Address at least 2 specific techniques employed by the author (using textual evidence) and relate each back to the author’s PURPOSE!!

Conclusion-Predict the probable effect of the satire on its audience

Analysis of Satire

For homework, select one piece of media from the choices provided and write a ONE-PAGE analysis of it, according to the specifications on the previous slide.

Be sure to use textual evidence! (You should ALWAYS use textual evidence when making any sort of argument or analysis.)