The Uses of Satire

The main point of modern satire is to expose new ideas about issues in real life. However, the real good thing about satire is that it does not have to be serious. It can actually consider having crazy ways to present a topic and introduce ideas to the viewers. Satire presents real life situations and events. It can discuss people, places and cultures. The topics are a little serious and are usually simple. However, it needs to be presented in an absurd and funny way. A satire is a discussion or an expression of new point of views towards relatively simple and serious events. Satire can even present funny and radical explanations for the readers to understand the topic.

The real characteristics of satire are to make fun of the topic or to entertain readers. Satire includes both concepts of entertainment and seriousness. Satire is most often found in the performing arts, but it is also found as a genre in writing.  Satire makes fun of real life situations for the purposes of irony and humor with the intent of bringing about shame and change of that behavior.  Although satire is usually funny it can still serve its purpose by displaying a strong sense of wit.  Pieces are saturated by noting the stand out features which make it unique.  A satirical piece about a politician or celebrity starts by selecting the one thing that stands out about that person and then exaggerate it. They exaggerate the feature by drawing particular attention to it.  For instance, in a play or movie, they repeat the turn of phrase loudly or obviously, or for a story they use a signature phrase excessively, to the point of ridicule.  For a public feature they might use a sign-off phrase or focus on a physical aspect, but keep it humorous.

Many satires end by turning the usual ending upside down.  For instance if the hero always saves everyone at the end, in a satire they have their specific trait cause everyone’s demise, or if people usually live “happily ever after”, they have an add-on section which starts “until…” and have something comical such as “she had triplets…” or “he lost his job and started to drink…”

There are many examples of satirical Television shows, such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Onion News, Saturday Night Live (Satires on the News & Politics). Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a good example of satire which basically satirizes everything from religion to science to environmentalism to war. Look in any of the major newspapers in the country and the political cartoon will probably be a satirical look at some current event of the day.  When friends get together to honor a colleague they will often have a “roast” of that person where friends give short speeches which satirize the person’s life in a comical way.  Satire then can be a useful tool to draw attention to particular situations while at the same time entertaining in a light-hearted way.

            Finally, satire can also be used to teach.  Writing satire requires looking at a topic from a

different point of view, and similarly those at whom it is directed are forced to view themselves

from a new perspective also.  However if satire is not written with clear thought, it can also be

seen with ridicule and harm. Satire is generally used for its comedic value though when properly

and thoughtfully applied it can be a powerful tool for change.

Satire is so greatly effective because it points out the stupidity of things. When things are said by

a credible news source, many times people don’t question what they hear. However not

everything they say completely makes sense, and by using satire, it is able to point out

how ridiculous some things are. Satire is also very popular because it is usually quite

entertaining. Satire can be very funny and is used on most comedy shows. Satire is able to be

used to inform people, and to entertain people. Another great effect of satire is that many people

think watching the news or reading the newspaper is boring. However by watching satirical

shows, like the Daily Show, they are able to witness news report, and then see an opinion that is

presented in a satirical way. This entertains the viewers and enlightens them. The main

component of satire, especially in the Daily Show, is the level of seriousness that is displayed

while presenting ridiculous statements. For example when reading A Modest Proposal, anyone

that didn’t understand satire would be disgusted. Throughout the essay it talks about all of

Ireland’s problems, and that a solution to their problem could be to eat babies. This would solve

food problems, abortion problems, money problems and many others. Throughout the essay the

author uses a completely serious tone making it seem like she is serious. However, by using

satire, she is able to describe how bad the conditions are in satire, and even compare the

conditions to be bad enough to start eating babies. Most satirical events are presented in a

completely serious tone. That is what makes them so funny and so informative. By using

a serious tone, the viewer is able to get a laugh, and realize how bad things actually are. In the

Daily Show, John Stewart constantly provides his own solutions that are completely

ridiculous, but he never acts like he is joking. However, his ridiculous decisions, sometimes

actually make sense, which serves in telling the viewer how bad an event actually is. Also John

Stewart is constantly wearing a suit. This helps add to his level of seriousness, and increases the

enjoyment of his satirical skits. Satire is able to bring enjoyment into people’s lives, but can also

serve as a call to action. Since satire is able to point out the problems within a country, or

state, people will help go out and try to make a difference to fix the problem. Since satire can be

presented in many different forms, people can constantly be informed through satirical pieces like

newspaper articles or TV shows. 

Blog 3 A Modest Proposal

A modest proposal by Swift is purely satire. Swift try’s to fix Ireland’s problem in a very satiric way. Swift announces his plan to fix Ireland, which is to stop abortions and to eat the babies instead. The babies would be eaten once they are one year old. This would fix the hunger problem and the over population problem. Also they wouldn’t have to waste money on getting the abortion in the first place. Of course the plan is ridiculous, but Swift presents the plan in such a serious tone, he seems to be very serious. If the reader did not know Swift wrote very satirically, they would probably believe that Swift truly wanted to eat babies. Swift never once acknowledges  that he is joking. He keeps his serious tone throughout the whole essay. He even presents his argument with many facts about why babies should be eaten. He backs up his argument very well, and he may even be able to convince people that eating babies would solve Ireland’s problem. He even states that since the Ireland’s government is not doing anything to fix the problem, at least he is coming out with solutions. Even if his only solution is to eat babies.

                Swift may be very satirical, but it is very hard for the reader to tell. Swift never drops his serious tone throughout the essay. He never once hints that he is joking about his proposal. However him pointing out how bad the problems are in Ireland, that it is almost ironic that eating babies almost makes sense, even though it is completely unethical. That is one of Swift’s main reasons of writing the essay. It was to point out that Ireland has a lot of problems, but no one is trying to fix them. The government is not coming up with any solutions. Also the citizens aren’t either. So Swift decides to just throw out a modest proposal, which is to eat babies to solve Ireland’s problems. I guess Swift decided that if no one else is trying to think of solutions, he can think of the craziest solution to Ireland’s problem. At least he is trying to think of a solution.  Swift is also making fun of Ireland that pointing out that it has gotten so bad that eating babies actually makes sense. Swift is trying to get the citizens and the government of Ireland to step up and make some serious changes, so the country can be saved.

                If I read the modest proposal without knowing that Swift is a very satiric writer, I would have believed that he truly believes that Ireland should eat babies, and that will solve all of their problems. Swift thought a lot about this solution, and seemed to think of every circumstance that his solution would affect. He even backed up his proposal with a lot of facts and evidence. He really thought a lot about his proposal and how to almost make it sound appealing to the audience. However he was not serious the whole time and was just using this as a joke to point out all of Ireland’s problems. He is trying to get them to change, and if no one is going to try to come up with a solution then he will think of the most farfetched solution he can think of. At least he is trying to help Ireland, while the government of Ireland is doing nothing. Even the citizens need to rise up and make a change.

                A modest proposal and be compared to many forms of satiric TV shows now days. For example the Daily Show is a very satiric show. John Stewart presents the news in a very satiric way. He even tries to present solutions that are so farfetched that no one would believe them. But he presents them very comically and it makes it funny to watch. John Stewart will present the actual news, but them throw his own twist on it that makes it funny and satirical. Sometimes John Stewart’s satire can actually point out how bad things are in the world and in the news. Another example is the Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert does pretty much the same thing as John Stewart. Colbert present the news, but then throws his own satirical twist on it to make it humorous. However our the Daily Show and a modest proposal are alike because they both point out how bad thing can be, even if they offer completely crazy solutions for the problem.