Essays on Satire

When many people think of satire, they understand that it is a subversive approach to a certain social or political issue through the use of irony. Works like the Earl of Rochester’s “A Satire Against Reason and Mankind,” Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal or John Dryden’s MacFlecknoe all make fun of some perceived failing of its audience, whether it be the “Satire’s poking fun at rationalism and reason, Swift’s pointing out of the problems facing Ireland as a result of English ignorance, or Dryden’s ridiculing of his contemporaries’ inadequate literary criticism. However, to Continue reading...

Annotated Bibliography

Bohn, William E. “The Development of John Dryden’s Literary Criticism.” PMLA 22.1
(1907): 56-139.
In Bohn’s article, the author discusses Dryden’s critical essays, particularly in terms of his use of satire. Here, Bohn notes the way in which Dryden used a satire as its own form of criticism; “satire is itself but a sort of criticism; it has always been the form assumed by the highly trained, versifying prose-understanding” (118). Dryden was never one to give literary judgments one at a time, but rather to convey his ideas in a more abstract way, which is Continue reading...

Almost everyone likes to watch comedy television; there is a reason that there are so many comedy television shows on every day. Satire TV gave examples of shows that have grabbed the attention of many viewers, drawing them to their screens night after night. Some of the shows were Da Ali G Show, The Colbert Report, The Boondocks, and Saturday Night Out, among others. These shows got people glued to their screen because of the satire that they brought with. Some scholars insist that it is the comical part of the political shows that attract the attention of the Continue reading...

Communication

1b. Satire is an influential form of art that has the power to highlight the insufficiencies and paucities in specific human behaviors as well as the social issues that are eventual outcomes of these in a manner in which they transform into ridiculous, often hysterical, which is thus humorous and engaging, and finally reach a wide range of audience. Satire also has the capacity to safeguard its creator from guilt and accountability for the criticism, as it is implicitly expressed instead of being overtly expressed; and eventually, it develops into a powerful tool for dissidents in challenging or domineering Continue reading...

“Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift is considered one of greatest satirical literary works in the world literature heritage. To the great extent “Candide” ranks Voltaire on the same level of significance as one of the greatest satirists in the world literature.
Satire is “a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule”. (Literary Devices) The goal of satire is improving humanity by means of criticizing and mocking its foolishness and weakness. In satire a writer uses fictional characters, which actually hint at Continue reading...

- Dr. Atomic
The opera focuses on the stress and anxiety that the residents of Los Alamos were subjected to when the first atomic bomb was being tested. The opera has postmodern aspects as it evokes human emotions and depicts the struggle that people face. Although it is based on the events that resulted from the world war, acting of the opera encompasses modern art. The lyrics and music that is played along is of a postmodern nature. Postmodernism seeks to departure from the dominant modern approaches. Adams achieves this by giving the various characters in the film a Continue reading...

Should the physical, social and emotional differences between Gods own creatures create a great rift between the creatures? The Butter Battle a book by Dr. Seuss elucidates the story of two different races, Yook and Zook, that are in conflict over which side to batter the bread. This conflict rises to greater heights that it creates tension between the two races and each keeps arming themselves ready for any possible attack. Gulliver's Travels a short story by Jonathan Swift explains how Gulliver a surgeon from Nottinghamshire, England traveled to the Lilliputians islands a place where he finds tiny people Continue reading...

Mark Twain is a well known American novelist who effectively utilized his amusing personality in creating humor and satire in his writings. Twain authored a number of excellent books during his lifetime. The works done by author are recognized for irony, dialect, mockery, satire and humor. Majority of his work establishes him as a humorist. This effective powerful writing style makes him standing apart from other writers. Twain uses satire and humor to mock and depict human weaknesses. Twain utilized various literary elements with a focus on satire to display various critical issues related to politics, religion and society. Continue reading...

Introduction

Satire is essentially used in a number of literature works to show vice or foolishness in organizations, humans, or even governments. Satire uses ridicule, irony, or sarcasm. For instance, it is used to effect social or political change, or to prevent it. A satiric can actually direct satire toward a person, a whole nation, or even the world. Sometimes it is serious, acting to expose or as a protest, or can be comical once used in poking fun at someone or something. For this reason, there are various faces of satire including satire in literature and political satire. This Continue reading...

Modern culture is so saturated in satire that it is difficult to find works that pursue the authentic and the sincere. Once works like 1984 and Brave New World opened the floodgates of cynicism and skepticism that the events of the two World Wars made to seem the proper perspective. Today, works like The Onion make satire a part of the culture. Popular programs such as Saturday Night Live and Conan live off satire, which means that members of modern culture look at life with a half-satiric eye. In the time of the first modern satirists, such as Voltaire Continue reading...

‘Name’

‘Instructor’s Name’
‘The Modest Proposal’ written by Jonathan Swift in the year 1729, is a straight faced satire, whereby the author employs motifs and symbols to enlighten the reader about the plight of the impoverished people of his land. In this pamphlet the narrator urges people to sell young children of the Ireland for hard cash, so that they can be served as a food to the upper class people. In this way, he proposes to lighten the economic burden of taking care of young children, and what more earn some profit out of them. Obviously, the author Continue reading...

As a dramaturge in seventeenth-century France, Molière effectively uses a number of literary techniques to criticize religious hypocrites. Under the strict regime of absolutist Louis XIV, Molière wrote plays primarily for the king. However, being a natural dissident, he disguised critique through satire. The play, Le Tartuffe, has become a household name, and the word “tartuffe” has become a common word in French, meaning “hypocrite”. In this play, Orgon, the head of a noble household, is blinded and swindled by a religious hypocrite, named Tartuffe. Tartuffe manages to treat Orgon’s family with disdain, and disrespect, even Continue reading...

Introduction

This is a speech where the speaker persuasively requests the citizens to elect him. After reading it, we realize that it qualifies to be rhetoric hence we can analyze it rhetorically. Concerning the rhetorical situation, the occasion that leads to the opportunity or need for persuasion in this speech is campaign. Therefore, the historical occasion is the campaign by various politicians hence Roversi’s objective in this speech is to persuade citizens to elect him as their country representative. He establishes his personal credibility, confidence, and character in a convincing manner. This is what is termed as ethos. In Continue reading...

Use of satire to validate the story

Use of satire to validate the story

Introduction

Some stories seem to fictional but there is a deeper understanding and reflection of reality in those, represented through various characters and plots. ‘Moscow to the End of the Line’ is a similar pseudo-autobiographical prose poem written by Venedikt Erofeev which tells the story of an alcoholic cable-fitter who just got fired from his job. It is a hilarious story; the reader is kept entertained from the beginning till the end due to the ‘drunken’ narrator and his jokes. But it is in fact, a reflection of the social and political scenario Continue reading...

The political cartoon is a very effective way of driving home a message to the public in general as it exposes the vicissitudes and inherent weaknesses of politicians. The first cartoon features a congressman running after the elephant which is the Republican Party on the sequester issue but threatening to decapitate himself with a huge scissors called ‘Sequester Scissors’. The text says ‘Running with Sequester Scissors can be Hazardous to Your Health’ and is a clear example that the decapitation is imminent, a self-decapitation so to speak. The cartoon is partisan political satire as it attempts to ridicule the Continue reading...

The political cartoon is a very effective way of driving home a message to the public in general as it exposes the vicissitudes and inherent weaknesses of politicians. The first cartoon features a congressman running after the elephant which is the Republican Party on the sequester issue but threatening to decapitate himself with a huge scissors called ‘Sequester Scissors’. The text says ‘Running with Sequester Scissors can be Hazardous to Your Health’ and is a clear example that the decapitation is imminent, a self-decapitation so to speak. The cartoon is partisan political satire as it attempts to ridicule the Continue reading...

The poet combines satire with various stylistic elements to explore the moral divide that reflected within the estates of the fourteenth century English society. For instance, the tower of truth is contrasted with the dungeon of immorality to provide a symbolic distinction between good and evil. The poet illustrates the satirical element in the lives of the different classes of people in this dream. For instance, the tramps and beggars are represented as pretenders whose bellies and bags are crammed with bread (Langland, 13). They are also described as gluttons who still aspire to a false sense of godliness. Continue reading...

Introduction:

‘Suburban by John Ciardi’ and ‘The Secretary Chant’ by Mage Piercy are poems which are full of life experiences and are also replete with satire. This analysis attempts to convey certain messages and subtle lines which demonstrate that they are truly poems of the world.
"Suburban" by John Ciardi ,

“Yesterday Mrs. Friar phoned."Mr. Ciardi,

how do you do?" she said. "I am sorry to say
this isn't exactly a social call. The fact is
a large repulsive object in my petunias."

John Ciardi’s poem focuses on some intriguing aspects especially with regard to some sexual orientations especially with the parallel between a girl Continue reading...

In the story Candide by Voltaire, satire has been largely used. Satire is mainly used by authors to criticize members of the society such as leaders and other prominent people. In the book Candide, Voltaire uses satire to criticize other philosophers. Voltaire had a different view about life as compared to other philosophers and this is why he uses satire to argue against the arguments of other philosophers (Frautschi, 43). The other philosophers claimed that the society has no problems and therefore people from different society live a good life. However, candied argues that the society is not perfect Continue reading...

Many writers have found themselves writing about society in an indirect way through the features and attributes they reflect in their writings. The same can be said about The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay which was a representation of class boundaries and therefore had an impact on the consciousness of the public. The conventions that Gay uses continue to influence society today as it satirizes and mocks what society creates as societal stereotypes. Class boundaries in London at the time had caused major disintegration that became inevitable because of the nature of the problems that the disintegration caused. Continue reading...

Jonathan Swift’s powerful satire offers a misanthropist’s perspective of the world, one who has lost faith in and has succumbed to the disillusionment in humankind. Gulliver’s Travels is a glimpse into the real state of the human race, with most salient attacks on the social aspect of it: politics, religion, governmental structure and finally, the essence of what it means to be human. However, at the very end of the novel, it becomes clear that only a person who profoundly cares about the state of humanity could have written a work that touches upon all these Continue reading...

Satire is an important part and parcel of our everyday lives and in the media this is also crucial. The news can also be seen as sature in the sense that occasionally it does make fun of political personalities who think they are important and who don’t know how stupid they can be sometimes.
A typical example would be a minister who inauguartes some school exhibition and who enjoys seeing himself photographed with children in some sort of God given pose. The news item could feature the minister in compromising situations which could riducule his self importance and Continue reading...

One of the most famous satirical pieces of all time is Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Although the issues contained within the text are aimed specifically at the political and economic situation in Ireland and England during the early eighteenth century, the thematic ideas that Swift develops so effectively in his work remain important to this day. Swift utilizes satire and wordplay to underscore the oppression of the Irish by the English, and in doing so, creates one of the longest-lived pieces of social and political satire and sustained irony of all time.
Religion in England, Ireland, and Continue reading...

The article High Scientists Insist Earth is Depicted Upside Down Maybe by SatireWire.com is a satire where a group of acclaimed scientists are depicted as proposing theories that the earth is upside down and that everything humans know to be true is actually the opposite. Set in a cannabis café in Amsterdam’s De Wallen district, the scientists are portrayed as behaving in ways that would be atypical of well-known scientists.

The satire makes fun of how scientists discovered that all of the findings and discoveries they’ve made up to now are all untrue. Continue reading...

Abstract

Products of the Enlightenment, Voltaire and William Hogarth were pioneers and masters of satire, a comic form with a long venerable history reaching back to Ancient Greece and Rome. Both were apt observers of a society adrift in a sea of moral aimlessness, rotten with greed, ambition and cynicism. Voltaire’s Candide and Hogarth’s great paintings and engravings both entertain and inform, using exaggeration to ridicule the behavioral excesses of rich and poor alike.

As products of the Enlightenment, Voltaire and William Hogarth expressed their contempt for Continue reading...

1). Plato would agree to Winston Churchill’s famous proclamation because Plato had already witnessed ignorance and irrationality of the demos, or voters, during the Peloponnesian War, who had voted for disastrous campaigns and for the execution of Socrates. According to Plato, democracy cannot work because of the demos. Knowledge and understanding to an ample extent is necessary for a good government, and competent demos are necessary for democracy. Based on his agreements, Plato would argue that demos rarely make rational decisions, that most ordinary people are just not capable of governing themselves by pursuing serious education. Plato believed Continue reading...

Television can be and has always been a powerful tool for social change. It provides a channel for the transfer of ideas and also acts as a source of entertainment. Politics and religion have been advanced quite successfully through the use of television and as technological advancements are made, so does television advance, with the developments now on 3D television and intelligent televisions, which offer the highest quality of viewer experience. Television is used for a wide range of purposes, from educative to Continue reading...

Introduction

“Animal Farm” was written by George Orwell. It is a satire and political literature. The original title of the novel is “Animal Farm: A Fairy Story” that proves it as a fable written with a purpose. However, the author did a wonderful attempt to present the political crisis and tyrannical government through a story of animals in a farm. It is a dystopian and allegorical novel. Orwell’s intention is to reflect Russian Revolution and reign of Stalin in Soviet Union. The novel is about the life of animals in a farm. They wanted to rebel and save themselves Continue reading...

1 . Socrates suddenly awakes and finds himself in medieval France. At a bookstore he buys a copy of Montaigne and reads “Of Cannibals” and “Of Coaches.” Would he agree with Montaigne’s ideas? If so, with what would he agree? With what would he disagree? In writing your answer, be sure to describe Socrates’ (or Greek) philosophy and what was different in Montaigne’s time.
Despite the disparity between the early modern Europe and the ancient Athens, it is possible to find some affinities underlying the ideas of Socrates and Montaigne. However, if Socrates suddenly awoke and found himself Continue reading...

Whether or not a film remains as true to the novel as possible or far it deviates from the original has been argued by critics and audiences for a century now. There are many major differences between Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice and the 2005 film adaptation that starred Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet. The book, published in 1813, was intended as a satire and a comedy of manners. The film released in 2005 was a full-blown romance. The time period is different. Much of the dialog is different. In fact, aside from the names and some Continue reading...

English Literature

The play, The Importance of Being Earnest is amongst the most famous in the world of literature. It tells the tale of two young men, both of whom adopt of the moniker ‘Ernest’, in the pursuit of two young women. It is the original farcical tale which sees the two young men become ever-more embroiled in the lies and tales that they’ve spun. The play is heavy in themes which help to further the comical circumstances within which the plot unfolds. These themes include the satire of society and triviality within Victorian society.

Wilde is well known for Continue reading...

English Literature

The play, The Importance of Being Earnest is amongst the most famous in the world of literature. It tells the tale of two young men, both of whom adopt of the moniker ‘Ernest’, in the pursuit of two young women. It is the original farcical tale which sees the two young men become ever-more embroiled in the lies and tales that they’ve spun. The play is heavy in themes which help to further the comical circumstances within which the plot unfolds. These themes include the satire of society and triviality within Victorian society.

Wilde is well known for Continue reading...

The middle-English fabliau, Dame Sirith, tells the tale of Wilekin, a rich, young clerk who is desperate to procure the love of Margery who is married to a merchant. He attempts to seduce her but she refutes his actions in loyalty to her husband. Keen to alleviate this, Wilekin goes to Dame Sirith – a match maker – who makes her dog’s eyes water by feeding it spices and takes it to Margery where she tells her that the dog is actually Margery’s daughter transformed by Continue reading...

In Voltaire’s Candide, we see an incredibly prescient bit of satire, as the titular character, Candide, experiences an episodic, darkly comedic, eerily satirical breakdown of all the things he thinks he knows about the world. Over the course of the book, everything from war to love to polite society itself is lampooned, broken down and exposed for the farce that it is. Candide comes to understand that, contrary to what he believed in the beginning, he is not living in “the best of all possible worlds.”

Candide has a lot of fun lampooning the tenets of polite European Continue reading...

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Man That Was Used Up” is an astounding dramatic farce involving the search for truth of an unnamed narrator to discern the true secret of a distinguished war hero, General John A.B.C. Smith. Along the way, Poe illustrates a Civil War-era society that brims with a very specific type of cultural revisionism and American exceptionalism that belies the true ugliness of the nation’s atrocities underneath. Looking at this story in the context of the Jacksonian era, in which Indian removal was a very prevalent cultural practice and the upper class lionized Continue reading...

Question 1

John Adam’s opera Dr. Atomic is about the history of Robert Oppenheimer and others who participated in the famous 1940’s Manhattan project, to create the atomic bomb. Dr. Atomic is set in Los Amos in New Mexico hours before the test-firing of the first atomic bomb. Postmodernism is the movement in literature, visual arts, music and drama which rejected the Victorian standards of how art should be made, consumed and meant (Heartney 1). Dr. Atomic has different aspects of opera that have differed from the Victorian standards making it postmodern. A key characteristic of postmodernism is that Continue reading...

Plot Summary

The Great Gatsby is a book that focuses and tries to give the events of a fictional town and characters. The plot is focused on Nick a former graduate scholar and a war veteran who is the narrator of the story that the novel aims at putting across. Nick takes up employment as a salesperson in the City of New York, where he settles and takes up residence in long island near the exclusive mansion of the rich mysterious jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is known in the town due to the exclusive and huge parties that he holds in Continue reading...

The May fourth causes and happenings

The May fourth movement is a period in China’s history that was characterized by political unrest and demonstration in streets mainly caused by students in protest of the nature of political instability and governmental failure towards protection of China’s sovereignty and its people. These protests took place in the year 1919 and were China’s movement towards democracy and change in political system that saw control brought to the masses and away from a few people in power. It also saw the abolishment of traditional systems that had influenced the negative political situations and resulted to the Continue reading...

Fiction and satire characterizes the two literature works; the modest proposal by Jonathan Swift and the Ones Who Walks Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin. Satire is a stylistic device that is used to communicate a serious issue in an indirect manner; fiction also serves the same meaning because it presents as issue to the audience in a similar manner. In essence, the two stylistic devices are critical in literature as they offer the audience a chance to inquire and interrogate the narrator’s statements in a more detailed manner. The Modest Proposal and the Ones Who Walks Continue reading...

Introduction

Orthodox Jews in Denver are similar in their nature and characteristics. They have their own sets of values and traditions unique to their historical origins. Being familiar with other cultures and subcultures helps us in becoming culturally sensitive and globalized individuals. Extensive research and exposure are required in order to gain such familiarities. One of the most popular Judaism institutions in Colorado is the Denver Academy of Torah. Jews may differ in the way they worship from other religious denominations since their beliefs differ from one community to the other.
The institution aims to teach Orthodox Jew in Denver Continue reading...