Political Satire: An Analysis

Satire is the use of humor to poke fun at human institutions, in hopes of bringing about change. It brings attention to the issues, so that people will better understand the problem. There are two main types of satire that authors use often: Juvenalian and

The Impact of Humor As Leo Rosten, an American humorist and author states, “Humor is the affectionate communication of insight” Humor is an intelligent way to enforce an argument to your audience. With the employment of humor, the authors are able to persuade their readers into understanding, and sometimes agreeing with their opinions. Humor allows authors to have the insight about their topic thus, giving the author credibility and zealousness. In Laura Fraser's essay, “Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian”, she employs the element of humor to strengthen her essay in a myriad of ways.

The ability to parse through bullshit from politicians can be difficult, and it is not made easier by the news networks. The news has become notorious for being untrustworthy according to all sides of the political spectrum, with each point of view criticizing different networks for different reasons. This has led to an industry of satire calling out the news’ handling of stories, which includes popular programs like South Park and The Daily Show. Analyzing South Park’s and Jon Stewart’s satire shows how the news media utilizes bullshit to benefit a certain narrative and not the viewer. To begin, one episode of South Park that deals extensively in bullshit from the news is “Quest for Ratings”, which shows the boys trying to earn high ratings

I had never thought of comedy and satire being effective political commentary until I saw Stewart. He wasn’t just making jokes and cracking funny, he used comedy (and the occasional rant) to sculpt a new way to view the situation. He used absurdity to liberate the narrative from the biases of the traditional media, laying all the cards on the table. He was the smart ass sitting in the back of the class delivering sharp insights cleverly disguised as wisecracks. He was the one pointing at the Emperor and laughing at the absence of clothes while the rest of the world nodded along obediently, complimenting the Emperor on his fashion

William Hogarth, an english painter, used satire in most of his works, including Beer Street, The Distrest Poet, and A Midnight Modern Conversation. Satire is the use of humor, exaggeration, and ridicule, which is used to effect social or political change, or to prevent social or political change. In Beer Street, The Distrest Poet, and A Midnight Modern Conversation, William Hogarth uses satire to convey a message to the person viewing his work of art. In the painting Beer Street, the streets are thriving with people who have just finished their hard days work of labor, sipping on England 's national brew.

“We do however liscence them and their owners, restrict their use to Wyly 3 presumably sane and sober adults, and keep them, and keep track of who sells to whom. At the minimum, we should do the same with guns” ( line 9). The use of these two devices make her argument very persuasive in her criticism. The points she brings up along with the rhetorical devices that she uses makes the satire effective.

Some examples “Don’t forget to thank Satan for the baby Alive he gave you last year”. Even though they used the name Satan it was actually implied to be for Santa. Satire is the use of humor to overly exaggerate the critical purpose and to also mock other’s weaknesses.

For example, one way he shows satire is in the beginning of the prompt he says “country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism”(Twain). Twain is showing how the soldiers were ready for war that even their chest was on fire because of how much patriotism they had. When soldiers go to war I don't think there breast burned them for feeling patriotic. This shows how ironic he is because that didn't really happen. Twain trys to explain to the people how the soilders were so happy to go fight and knew they were going to win

Satire was chosen in order to showcase the idea that people (especially nobility) often

“Satire is traditionally the powerless against the powerful.” – Molly Ivins. Satire is a style of criticism that can be used in many ways and in many different situations. Occasionally satire is easy to find, other times it may be disguised. Most of the time satire is found in literature.

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, satire is a “way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, or bad”. Satire shocks its reader into awareness of the situation through the use of sarcasm, blunt and harsh words, and/or exaggeration of the issue. The two types of satire utilize these

Satire is used by many famous writers to create humor and to criticize people’s unwise, and senseless actions. As George Orwell once said, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." (Orwell, 1945). People will always be greedy and think they are smarter than others but this is untrue. The one who thinks he is smarter or better than the other will always end up losing in life.

By taking away the seriousness out of these topics through humor, allows readers to take their focus away from the negativity to

Satire was used to talk about controversial things, but to be approached indirectly through humor, which made people more comfortable while discussing it because it was not extremely serious. Chaucer knew that and exploited it throughout his story, which made it such a marvel. He truly was able to get his position of most Catholic Church 's clergy members to be deceitful in their deeds and in their vows across to a gigantic network of people, which was

Another positive for freedom of speech for comedians is that the jokes made can lighten the mood of the subject. A comedians function in society is to challenge authority, and talk about subjects that may be unacceptable (Hartsell). Comedians are expected to go too far, but when they do, they are disapproved for it. Although, the audiences may only laugh at a joke because of how awkward it is going to be if no one did. “People like to mask their feelings due to not wanting others to really know how they feel—so people may laugh in times of nervousness because they are trying to balance their anxious feelings” (Kaminski).