ipl-logo

George Gladwell: The Use Of Satire In American History

305 Words2 Pages

Satire holds the opportunity to encourage discussions, including to those who may not necessarily agree with the context. As an author and host, Gladwell has always shown the willingness to share unpopular opinions and upend expectations in numerous occasions. On his 10th podcast episode of The Revisionist History, Gladwell analyzed the elements of satire, which led him to coin the term known as “The Satire Paradox.” This episode examined the connections between laughter and social protest that coincide with satire. Does comedy contain truth? According to Gladwell, satire possesses the ability to convey the underlying truth of alleged crude behavior. But, others suspect that satire becomes toothless when that underlying truth of a message is …show more content…

Consequently, Gladwell further criticizes the use of satire when he directly targets Tina Fey on her Saturday Night Live (SNL) parody on the Republican politician Sarah Palin. Over the years, Fey’s impersonation has been considered an iconic performance, showcasing the epitome of well-constructed political satire. However Gladwell arguably claims that the sketch actually relayed the wrong outputs. Gladwell asks: “Who do you remember now? Sarah Palin or Tina Fey?” Why doesn’t the Palin satire work? Because Tina Fey is too funny being busy.” (Revisionist History). Although Gladwell asserts a plausible claim, he fails to further evaluate the absence of substantial liberal satire, focusing mainly on the pretense of right-wing satire. As a result, this dismisses the intellectual integrity of the entire episode leading to misinterpretations. Ultimately, satire is complex, ambiguous, and esoteric. The pleasure of laughter is deceptive, executing the tangible goal for entertained audiences; which leads satire to open discussions, but require thorough interpretation. Overall, satire works best by those who have the courage to not just go for the

Show More
Related
738 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
473 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
978 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

The definition of satire is a work that ridicules its subjects through the use of four techniques such as exaggeration, reversal, incongruity, and parody in order to make a comment or criticism about it. The book Cat’s Cradle is a great example of satire being portrayed. In Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, he creates his own religion “Bokononism” to satirize all of the other religions that are in the world. Bokononism is made from and built on lies (foma).

Read More
494 Words | 2 Pages

The humorous bit reveals the state of the presidential race as the mud-slinging, power grab it is, instead of a professional event based off merit. Stephen’s show transverses an ignorant silence to a knowledgeable conversation through satire and parody. Without the induction of entertaining comedy, a taboo subject, such as politics, would

Read More
1152 Words | 5 Pages

Writers use satire to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of society by using horatian and juvenalian satire. An example of horatian satire that relates to real life can be seen in episodes of the Family Guy, and Bolton’s The Onion Tips For Applying To College, while examples of

Read More
1446 Words | 6 Pages

Irony is often used in literature to illustrate certain situations to the audience. In some pieces of literature that might be pointing out an unjust system, in others that might be to add a comedic effect, but whatever situation the author wants to illustrate, irony is very beneficial. Through small and witty, one-liners, or a bigger dramatic irony situation contrasting two very different situations, irony can be very beneficial for the reader to understand the story. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins have a corrupt dystopian society. Through the use of irony, the author can portray the corruptness to the audience.

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

There are two types of satire; juvenalian satire is when someone is made fun of but they don’t find it amusing, when the satire is biting mean, and horatian satire is when the victum finds it funny as well, so more playful. A few famous writers have perfected the art of writing with satire, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift are two great examples. High School parking lots are the best parking lots in each town. First of all, high school parking lots have the smallest parking spaces which makes it so easy for each student to part properly. They are able to maneuver any vehicles, especially large trucks, into these spaces easily.

Read More
2259 Words | 10 Pages

A multiplicity of satirical pieces were created, just like the work of two college students of the University of Chicago, Alex Aciman and Emmett Rensin Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books

Read More
217 Words | 1 Pages

Surprisingly, satire and religion have been interconnected not only conceptually, but also within the practices of certain cultures throughout history. In Ancient Arabia, works of satire were revered for having powerful magical qualities because the satirists obtained “alliance with the spirits”, according to Robert C. Elliot, author of The Power of Satire: Magic, Ritual, Art. However, Elliot emphasizes that the most important function of the satirist was to “compose satire against the tribal enemy.” (Elliot) Ancient Arabic tribes would hold satire battles designed to attack the enemy’s honor as a preliminary to war. (Elliot)

Read More
1720 Words | 7 Pages

One of the most valuable aspects of personality is humor – we value one’s sense of humor and make friends often based on finding certain things funny. But how and why do we consider things to be funny at all? Human beings have strived to uncover fundamental truths about human nature for centuries – even millennia – but humor itself is still yet to be pinpointed. Henri Bergson is only one of many who has attempted this feat, and his essay Laughter: an essay on the meaning of the comic from 1911 breaks down comedy into what he believes to be its essential forms and origins. While Bergson makes many valid points, Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times that was brought to screens only twenty years later seems to contradict many of Bergson’s theories, while Bergson seems to contradict even himself over the course of his essay.

Read More
1472 Words | 6 Pages

Satire is used in literature to criticize and point out society’s flaws. The criticism is usually masked in humour. Irony is commonly used in satires to expose flaws, an effective example is John Smith’s A Modest Proposal, he effectively uses irony, to communicate his argument about the poverty in Ireland at the time. Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale she criticizes the society that women live in. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament, Cultural Revolution, Salem Witch Trials, and the Taliban to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social aspects.

Read More
3192 Words | 13 Pages

The purpose of my paper is to scrutinize closely the concept of social satire, revealing and thereby amending the society’s blight in relation to the novel, The Edible Woman by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The novel is unambiguously interested in the complex body truths in the Consumerist Society. In The Edible Woman, Atwood furnish a critique of North American consumer society in the 1960s from a feminist point of view. As a feminist social satire, it takes specific bend at the way society has customised the methods of marginalizing and preventing women from having power, authority and influence.

Read More
1181 Words | 5 Pages

This is typical of burlesque comedies. This makes this diary full of elements of political satire and the notes of sarcasm are toned down through an exceptional use of drollness and hilarity

Read More
817 Words | 4 Pages

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).

Read More

More about George Gladwell: The Use Of Satire In American History

Related Topics

Open Document