Satire is a literary device that is used frequently in the modern day. In “Advice to Youth”, Mark Twain uses satire to criticize authority and general advice given to children. Mark Twain was known to be a humorist and entertainer, so it should have been no surprise that he took such a tone with his speech (Quirk). The advice Twain gives the youth includes lying, firearm safety, and education, each told with a satirical tone. In the section on lying, Twain uses satire to teach children how to lie. In the second line, Twain states, “You want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught” (Twain). Twain strongly cautions against crafting weak lies and encourages children to create solid lies. This part of the speech is obvious satire, but some genuine advice for children is to be honest. Though, Twain does state that children ought to lie but sparingly. When speaking about how some adults say young people should not lie, Twain states, “That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still, while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am …show more content…
Although, Twain does put a cheeky spin on this nugget of wisdom. Twain writes, “Therefore be careful in your selection, my young friends; be very careful; confine yourselves exclusively to Robertson’s Sermons, Baxter’s Saint’s Rest, The Innocents Abroad, and works of that kind” (Twain). In this section, Twain explains the importance of reading but adds the twist that only certain books are appropriate to read and any other books should be ignored. Though this part is satire like the rest of the speech, it is especially true in today’s world as more and more books become banned in schools and libraries. Young people need to be mindful of what they are reading. It is still important for books written from different walks of life to be readily available for everyone to