SATIRE NOTES
Satire is “laughter with knives”--it is humor that has an edge, or a “biting” effect. All SATIRE
uses HUMOR, but not all HUMOR is SATIRE.
How Comedy Affects Us
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Satire, ridicule, and burlesque often work in the service of change.
Comedy is based on irony.
Awareness of irony is an intellectual, not emotional process
Comedy lifts us out of our emotional responses
With emotional defenses down, our mind can see the need for change in a comic
character.
Typically the comic character is blind to his misperceptions but repeats the rigid behavior.
Good comedy allows us to feel superior to the characters.
We sense our own rigidity and blindness are like the comic fool’s and note the laughter the
comic fool arouses.
Comedy acts as a way to change the individual or the society by using laughter.
Comedy uses exaggeration, understatement, role reversal and devices of irony to make us
laugh and compare.
Types of Comedy
Satire: Holding up to ridicule the follies and vices of a people or time
Lampoon: A broad satirical piece that uses ridicule to attack a person or group
Farce: A light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot, exaggerated character, and often slapstick
elements are used for humorous effect.
Parody: A composition imitating or burlesquing another, usually serious, piece of work. Designed to
ridicule in nonsensical fashion an original piece of work. Parody is in literature what the
caricature and cartoon are in art.
Slapstick: Boisterous form of comedy marked by chases, collisions, and crude practical jokes.
The Comedic Ladder
by Brenden Kenney—College Board Consultant
Comedy of Ideas
Characters argue about ideas like politics, religion, sex, marriage;
Characters use their wit and their clever language to mock their opponent in an argument;
Subtle way to satirize people and institutions like political parties, governments, churches, war,
marriage
Comedy of Manners
Amorous intrigues (love affairs) among the upper classes
Focus is on witty language, clever speech; insults and ‘putdowns’ are traded between characters;
Society is often made up of cliques that are exclusive with certain groups as the in-crowd, with
everyone else on the peripheral
Farce
Plot is full of coincidences, mis-timings, mistaken identities;
Characters are puppets of fate—they are twins, born to the wrong class, unable to marry, too poor,
too rich;
Loss of identity because of birth, fate or accident;
Sometimes they are twins separated unaware of their double
Low Comedy
Dirty jokes, dirty gestures, sex, and elimination are subjects of the humor;
Exaggeration or understatement are the extremes of the humor with a focus on physical like long
noses, cross eyes, humped back and deformities;
Slapstick, pratfalls, loud noises, physical mishaps, collisions are part of the humor of man
encountering an uncooperative universe
Devices of Satire
The satirist uses a wide variety of devices to achieve a satiric goal. Some of these are very subtle, and
others are quite blunt. But all of them, in the end, are methods of distortion.
Caricature: A representation in which the subject’s distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately
exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect
Colloquialism: Use of slang or informal language—includes regional dialect
Deflation: An object either assumes or is given elevated status and then is treated in such as way that
estimation of the object decreases.
Disparagement: To speak of in a slighting way; belittle; reduce in rank or esteem
Euphemism: a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept
Hyperbole: Exaggeration or overstatement.
Incongruity: A surprising contrast occurring through situation, image, allusion, character, diction,
anachronism, etc.
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.
Irony: All satire is ironic, but not all irony is satire. Irony is the tension that results when you expect one
thing and get more than, or less than, or the opposite of what you expected.
Verbal irony: Discrepancy between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant
Situational irony: Discrepancy between what is expected and reality
Dramatic irony: Discrepancy between what the reader or audience knows and what a character
knows
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.
Litotes: A form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite.
For example, “She’s not uninterested in boys” to mean she’s “boy crazy” is to use litotes
Malapropism: An inappropriateness of speech resulting from the use of one word for another which
resembles it. The term is derived from a character, Mrs. Malaprop, the Sheridan’s The Rivals,
who was constantly giving vent to such expressions as “as headstrong as an allegory on the
banks of the Nile.”
Non-sequitur: Inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premise or evidence.
Oxymoron: A group of apparently contradictory terms suggesting a paradox—i.e. Jumbo shrimp
Paradox: A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon
closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity
Parody: A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect
and/or ridicule
Pun: A play on words based on the similarity of sound between two words with different meanings
Sarcasm: An exaggerated form of verbal irony; bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule
someone or something. The term came from the Greek word “sarkazein” which means “to tear
flesh.”
Stereotyping: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image
Understatement: when the literal sense of what is said falls detectably short of (or under) the
magnitude of what is being talked about. When someone says “pretty fair” but means
“splendid,” that is clear understatement
Wit: While this term has more specific uses in Renaissance and 17th century writing, for modern works, it
generally refers to clever uses of language to arouse laughter
Name: ________________________
Block: ______
Date: ____________________
Analyzing a Satirical Film
Essay Rubric
Come On!
You can do better!
It’s OK.
I guess.
Analysis of Satire
0pts
Author identifies Does not identify
20pts
22 pts
the types and
the types or devices There are very few
Identifies types and
devices of Satire of satire in the film references to satiric
devices of satire, and
present in the film, OR there are not
types and devices,
includes appropriate
and then analyzes direct quotes from and very few pieces
evidence.
the usefulness and the film to support
of evidence.
effect of each.
the analysis.
Content/Idea
Development
5 pts
The content of the
20 pts
Content reads like a
15 pts
essay is thoughtful
Content is adequate
movie review and
Content contains
and engaging and
contains adequate
contains no
minimal analysis.
the author offers
analysis.
analysis.
creative and original
ideas.
Organization
The writing should
22 pts
demonstrate careful
Demonstrates logical,
organization that
15 pts
coherent organization.
enhances the
Demonstrates organization with lapses in
Uses effective but
purpose with varied coherence. Uses rudimentary transitions.
unremarkable
and subtle
transitions.
transitions
throughout.
Grammar
The grammar and
mechanics should
22 pts
be flawless. The
5 pts
Shows promise, but
writer should use Shows a lack of sophistication and a lack of makes some errors. Uses
sophisticated
mastery. Uses simplistic or even incorrect
acceptable words
vocabulary and words. Hard to follow.
appropriate for the
concise and
purpose.
effective
punctuation.
Wow!
You are amazing!
25 pts
Identifies several
instances of types and
devices of satire, uses
direct evidence to
support the analysis,
and makes a creative
and original statement.
25 pts
Content is thoughtful
and creative and
contains ample
analysis.
25 pts
Demonstrates careful
organization that
enhances the purpose
of the essay. Uses
transitional phrases
and clauses to navigate
ideas.
25 pts
Shows a command of
grammar and usage;
uses accurate, rich, and
precise words.