Satire Project
This assignment calls upon you to create a satire of someone or something. You have flexibility
when it comes to topic and form: you get to choose who/what you want to skewer, and how you
want to do it. You may want to satirize boy bands in song, bloggers in a webpage, or romantic
comedies in a short film. Of course, you can also create an essay or short story in order to present
your satire. You may also present your satire through a cartoon strip, Power Point presentation,
or through some other means.
In some ways, this project is completely different from the written exercises you have completed
to this point. First, this work is, at least in part, a creative work. You will be evaluated on your
ability to present your satire in a fresh and creative way. Further, you will not have a text to rely
upon--it's just you out there, offering your view.
You have a clear point: why are you satirizing this object? Next, you will have to choose your
topic well: does this person, trait, thing deserve to be satirized?
You must also really consider your audience: Satire fails or succeeds based on how the audience
receives the satire.
Your satire will be evaluated on the following:
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Humor: satire without humor is mere criticism.
Attack: satire without attack is mere comedy.
Suitability: satire of an undeserving object is mean or just plain dumb. Further, suitability
also applies to the form you choose: think outside of the box of the five-paragraph essay,
and think about other forms that might better serve your satire.
Clarity: satire that does not clearly present its argument is not effective (remember that
your object of satire must actually be the object you are sending up in the satire).
Efficacy: satire that does not change or unnerve an audience does not succeed as a satire.
An effective satire convinces the audience using ample and detailed evidence that
something needs to change, either back to the way it was or in a completely different
direction.
Creativity and presentation: make it a finished product. Include color if visual, detail if
written expression
Sources to consult if you are having trouble getting started:
http://www.bandersnatch.com/how_to_write_satire.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_2110939_write-satire-current-events.html
Your presentation of your satire will be held on December 18 and 19. Please bring your project
on a flash drive, disk, or email it to me. If an essay or short story, you will turn in a hard copy
and also read it to the class. You may also videotape yourself reading it if that makes you more
comfortable.
Satire Notes
Characteristics of Satire
Define each literary term:
1. irony:
2. paradox:
3. antithesis:
4. colloquialism:
5. anticlimax:
6. obscenity:
7. violence:
8. vividness:
9. exaggeration:
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The essential attitude in satire is the desire to use precisely clear
language to still an audience to protest.
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The satirist intends to describe painful or absurd situations or foolish
or 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.
Jonathan Swift wrote, “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.” (Columbia World of Quotations,
http://www.bartleby.com/66/93/56793.html)
Structure of Satire: Three Main “Shapes”
Monologue The satirist usually is speaking from behind a thinly veiled mask. He
states his view of a problem, cites examples, and endeavors to impose his views on
the reader/listener.
Parody The satirist takes an existing work of literature that was created with a
serious purpose, or a literary form in which some reputable books and poems have
been written. He then makes the work look ridiculous by infusing it with
incongruous ideas; he makes the ideas look foolish by putting them into an
inappropriate form.
Narrative Here the author does not appear. (Fiction speaks for him/her.)
http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/west/teachers/gerding/satire.pdf
The following techniques can be used to make a comment or criticism about a
particular subject or character:
Exaggeration To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal
bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen. Caricature is the
exaggeration of a physical feature or trait. Cartoons, especially political
cartoons, provide extensive examples of caricature. Burlesque is the ridiculous
exaggeration of language. For instance, when a character who should use
formal, intelligent language speaks like a fool or a character who is portrayed as
uneducated uses highly sophisticated, intelligent language.
Incongruity To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to
its surroundings. Particular techniques include oxymoron, metaphor, and irony.
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.
Reversal To present the opposite of the normal order. Reversal can focus on
the the order of events, such as serving dessert before the main dish or having
breakfast for 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.
An analysis of Twain’s use of satire:
Mark Twain utilized his first use of satire in regard to Romanticism fairly quickly. This
was when Huck discovered the ship called the Walter Scott. One of the most famous
books of Romanticism is Ivanhoe, which was written by none other than, Walter Scott
(Briden 9). Twain mocks Scott and his book by having a ship, named the Walter Scott,
which wrecked on the banks of the Mississippi River. Twain did this because he
believed that books written in the Romantic period were written by those who did not
understand the real world and the people in it. A second example of satire in relation to
Romanticism was when Twain compared the plans of Huck and Tom to release Jim.
Huck’s plan is straightforward and swift. Tom’s plan on the other hand is quite lengthy
and over the top. Tom believed that Jim’s escape must be like the escapes he read
about in his Romantic-style books. Twain uses this to poke fun at Romantic-style books
and call them exaggerated and ridiculous (Briden 9).
Read more: http://bookstove.com/classics/mark-twains-portrayal-of-society-throughsatire/#ixzz15jxOzdWw