How to Write Satire

1
How to Write Satire

• World Literature India Unit

2
Satire Moods Targets

• Satirical Moods
• Gentle/Sympathetic- The humor is mild and the
  author sees the problem as more foolish than evil
• Biting/Angry- The ridicule is savage and the
  author sees the problem as urgent and severe,
  possibly evil
• Satirical Targets
• The Individual- One persons behavior or beliefs
• The Group- Political party, club, social class,
  or profession
• The System- Religion or human nature

3
Four Techniques of Satire

• Exaggeration
• To enlarge, increase, or represent something
  beyond normal bounds so that it becomes
  ridiculous and its faults can be seen
• Incongruity
• To present things that are out of place or are
  absurd in relation to its surroundings.
• Reversal
• To present the opposite of the normal order (for
  example, the order of events, hierarchical order)
• Parody
• To imitate the techniques and/or style of some
  person, place, or thing

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General Rules

• You need to know something about the person,
  thing, or group you are targeting.
• You may need to inform your audience of the
  person, thing, or group so that they understand
  the satire.
• Colbert does a good job of this by setting up his
  jokes with facts or information so you know why
  it is funny
• Your satire does not need to make people laugh
  until they cryjust make them smile understand
  the problem or issue you are addressing.

5
Identifying a Target

• Ask yourself
• What makes me mad with rules, religion, laws, or
  politics?
• When I watch TV what commercials make me shake
  my head and say, Who would buy that? or Who
  would do that?
• Who do you think is stupid in the celebrity
  world and WHY?
• What do people do that is often times
  hypocritical or counter productive to their lives
  (i.e. Working out then eating fast food)
• How have reality TV shows become staged reality?
• What humanitarian issues around the world are
  being overlooked due to political reasons?
• What taglines or slogans are ridiculous or
  misleading?

6
Discovering Purpose

• Now that you have your target ask
• What am I pointing out that is wrong or foolish
• Why do I want to expose this flaw or problem?
• What will be accomplished by addressing this
  issue?
• This is the important piece because with out
  purpose you are just making fun of something.
• You want to be proving a point or making others
  aware of the possible problems or harm of your
  target

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Choosing a Form

• This is entirely up to you here, but here are
  some tips
• Which form do you feel comfortable with?
• Try a few out, can you make them work with your
  topic?
• Does it make sense to combine forms?
• (parody exaggeration) or (Irony Reversal)
• What gets your purpose across most clearly?
• Ask a friend or the teacher for help

8
Parody of Products

• TV Hat
• http//www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-vi
  deos/404344/december-14-2011/tv-hat
• Taco Town
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/1447/saturday-night-live
  -taco-town
• Discover a product or company that you want to
  point out their flaws, ridiculous product, or
  crazy advertisement.
• Write a Parody of the product of company.
• Your Parody should resemble Colberts style or
  SNLs
• Length should be ONE to TWO handwritten pages
• Remember that you need to have a PURPOSE

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SNL Examples of Parody

• Pampers
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/55587/saturday-night-liv
  e-pampers
• Oops I crapped my pants
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/10308/saturday-night-liv
  e-oops-i-crapped-my-pants
• Tooter
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/126492/saturday-night-li
  ve-tooter

10
Colbert Report

• Tacocopter
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/344721/the-colbert-repor
  t-thought-for-food-tacocopter
• Bad News about Good Unemployment News
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/348075/the-colbert-repor
  t-bad-news-about-good-unemployment-news
• Gun Control
• http//www.hulu.com/watch/344107/the-colbert-repor
  t-mar-26-2012-part-2s-p19-sr-i1

11
Colbert Report

• iPad2
• http//www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-vi
  deos/380312/april-04-2011/stephen-shows-off-the-ip
  ad-2
• New Smell-Smell
• http//www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-vi
  deos/380313/april-04-2011/the-word---that-new-smel
  l-smell
• Buy and Cellulite
• http//www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-vi
  deos/381642/april-13-2011/the-word---buy-and-cellu
  lite

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Satirical Ads

• You a Partner will create an artistic version
  of Satire
• On the back of your image you need to
• Identify the Target, Purpose, and Form
• Have a 1-2 paragraph narrative to
• To set up background and Purpose
• Answer what about or why this target is a problem
• Explain your satire and image

13
Example

• Why is this Satire?
• What is the Target?
• What is the Purpose?
• Background necessary to understand
• Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. is telling dealers
  to suspend sales of eight models, and halting
  production of those models, after a recall to
  correct a problem that could cause the
  accelerator pedal to stick.
• (Ellis, Blake. Toyota's big recall halts sales,
  production of 8 models. CNN.com. Feb. 10, 2010.)

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Example

• Why is this Satire?
• What is the Target?
• What is the Purpose?
• Background
• Two-thirds, more than 190 million Americans are
  overweight or obese.
• Obesity-related diseases are a 147 billion
  dollar medical burden every year.
• Childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty
  years.
• (Doane, Seth. Battling Obesity in America. Jan.
  7, 2010. CBSNEWS.com)