How to Analyze the Rhetoric of Satire

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How to Analyze the Rhetoric of Satire
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Claims

• Are the claims believable? Are they exaggerated?
• In my essay Setting the Expectations, I
  ridicule the educational system by suggesting
  that we fault teachers for not setting thousands
  of clear expectations. This claim is clearly
  ridiculous and tongue-in-cheek
• In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift advocates
  eating the young as a solution to hunger problems
  caused by poverty.

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Evidence

• Is the evidence biased? Does it have a spin to
  it? Is it even credible?
• Colbert refers to Bushs 36 percent approval
  rating as a sign that 67 approve of the job
  hes not doing.
• In my article, I use mock interviews as evidence.
  Each interviewee provides a ludicrous
  explanation for the Columbine tragedy, blaming
  themselves and the educational system, but never
  the actual killers.

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Diction

• Look for loaded dictionwords with heavily
  positive or negative connotations that are
  clearly intended to persuade.
• Claims of evil or goodness and similar terms
  suggest conscious exaggeration and verbal irony.
• Check for biasare the connotations mostly
  positive or mostly negative?

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Syntax

• Short sentence structures cause the speaker (his
  or her persona, in actuality) to often appear
  thoughtless or simple-minded.
• Conversely, these types of sentences can,
  depending on the piece, cause the speaker
  (persona) to seem straightforward and truthful.
• Lengthy sentences either
• Cause the speaker to seem thoughtful and
  considerate
• OR
• Confusing, overly academic, and pedantic

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Imagery and Details

• Does the speaker attempt to evoke pathos through
  sensory details and description?
• Is the imagery humorous or exaggerated?
• Colbert describes drinking crude oil out of
  Keith Olbermans skull in Dowds preface to his
  column. This is a highly exaggerated image.

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Rhetorical Appeals

• Satire is basically a logical argument, because
  we are supposed to disagree with the
  ridiculousness of the idea under scrutiny.
• However, the logic often masquerades as pathos
• In my essay I use the fake interviews to
  ostensibly cause the reader to feel sorry for the
  Columbine killers and angry with the teachers and
  faculty.

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Jargon and Technical Language

• Is there a heavy use of highly specific
  terminology?
• Terminology can be a clue as to who or what is
  the targetthink who uses these terms in
  reality?
• I repeat expectations ad nauseum. Its a
  jargony educational term.
• Colbert coins mock terms like truthiness and
  factinista in his White House Press Corps
  speech.

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Persona

• Determine whether or not the speaker is taking on
  a persona
• Satirists often assume the personality and
  viewpoint opposite their own.
• Stephen Colbert takes the role of a highly
  conservative journalist to ridicule biased
  journalism, particularly right-wing biased
  journalism.
• In my essay, I take the viewpoint of a journalist
  who advocates setting thousands of excessively
  obvious, overly specific expectations that no
  faculty or student would even need.
• Swift certainly does not support eating children.
  

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Look For Symbolic Representations

• FROM THE INTRO TO The Simpsons
• Bart writing on the blackboard Public education
• Bart on his skateboard The riddles of childhood
• Homer leaving and driving home from work Plight
  of the working man
• Marge at the supermarket checkout Consumerism
  (Note Maggie costs 847.63)
• Lisa playing the saxophone Restrictions of
  public education and free thought
• The family racing for the couch in front of the
  television Impact of television on the modern
  family

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Tone

• What is the tone of the piece?
• Use a tone word list for help (theres one on my
  websiteput it in your binder!)
• Satire is usually critical in some waylook for
  tone words that indicate this.

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Finally

• Decide who/what is being mocked/ridiculed
• A person, type of person, and/or idea or
  viewpoint is the target
• Specify who or what is being targeted and for
  what reasons.
• Link the previous elements (diction, etc. ) to
  the argumenthow does the satirist (speaker or
  writer) create the humor and ridicule?
• Ex. Stephen Colbert demonstrates the bias and
  foolish partisanship of news media pundits by
  assuming a hyperbolically conservative persona.