Characteristics of Satire Examples
Characteristics of Satire
Literary Terms Examples for Kids
Remember that satire is a type of literature that seeks to point out human vice and foolishness by using humor. It takes a very serious issue and "pokes fun" at it to ridicule society.
Examples of Characteristics of Satire:
Most satire has the following characteristics in common:
- Satire relies on humor to bring about social change. When our vices are made humorous, the idea is that it will encourage us to change.
- Satire is most often implied. The reader has to pick up on the humor or he/she will miss the satirical nature of the writing.
- Satire, most often, does not go over individual people. Instead, satire is directed at society as a whole, or types of people in society-the politician, the adulterer, the prideful, etc.
- The wit and irony of the satire are exaggerated-it is in the exaggeration that people are made aware of their foolishness.
Satire relies on the following literary elements:
Humor
Irony
Comic Juxtaposition
Understatement and Diminution
Inflation
Grotesque
Parody
Examples of Irony:
Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
"A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift
Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
The Daily Show
Animal Farm, George Orwell
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