APLang --Satire Notes and Examples Chart
Name:
Satire = the literary art of making a subject ridiculous by arousing towards it feelings of contempt, amusement, and scorn.
 Satire often employs the comic to the end of pointing out human faults and effecting some improvement in humanity or human institutions.
 The butt of satire may be an individual, a type of person, a particular social evil, or even the entire race of mankind.
 The most frequently used satirical techniques are irony, sarcasm, burlesque, exaggeration, incongruity, reversal, and parody.
 There are two major types of satire: Horatian satire and Juvenalian satire.
Satire Techniques—PPT note catcher
Verbal Irony = words are used to
suggest the opposite of their usual
meaning
Dramatic Irony = a contradiction
between what a character thinks and
what the reader or audience knows to be
true
Irony of Situation = an event occurs that
directly contradicts the expectations of
the characters, the reader, or the audience
Examples from texts—“University Days, ” “Advice to Youth,” “The Company Man,” and “A Modest Proposal”
Satire Techniques/definition
Sarcasm = is more caustic, crude, and
heavy-handed than irony. It tends to
more personally directed than irony
Hyperbole = to enlarge, increase, or
represent something beyond normal
bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and
it faults can be seen. Caricatures are an
example of exaggeration that focuses on
a physical feature or trait.
Litotes = conveys an ironic sentiment
by its understatement
Examples from texts
Satire Techniques/definition
Incongruity = to present things that are
out of place or are absurd in relation to
their surroundings
Reversal = to present the opposite of the
normal order. Reversal can focus on the
order of events, such as having desert
before dinner. Additionally, reversal can
focus on hierarchical order – for instance,
when a young child makes all the
decisions for a family or when an
administrative assistant dictates what the
company president decides and does
Parody = to imitate the techniques
and/or style of some person, place, or
thing in order to ridicule the original.
For parody to be successful, the reader
must know the original text that is being
ridiculed
Examples from texts
Satire Techniques/definition
Burlesque = a form of comedy
characterized by ridiculous exaggeration
and distortion. A serious subject may be
treated frivolously or a frivolous subject
may be treated seriously. An example
can be when a character who should use
formal, intelligent language speaks like a
fool. It can also be when a character who
is portrayed as uneducated uses highly
sophisticated, intelligent language.
Horatian = Satire is which the voice is
indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty.
The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule
the absurdities and follies of human
beings, aiming at producing in the reader
a wry smile.
Juvenalian = Formal satire in which the
speaker attacks vice and with contempt
and indignation. This satire is in its
realism and its harshness is a sharp
contrast to Horatian satire.
Examples from texts