Do Not Take Every-Twain You Read Seriously
In Advice to Youth, Twain satirizes violence and lying by using juvenalian satire. What is satire? Satire is a literary term that refers to the use of reversal, exaggeration, humor, incongruity, irony, or parody to criticize an issue or person. Twain’s style of writing in this reading is indicated as juvenalian satire. He uses irony in a humorous way to give advice to the youth about lying, violence(including the use of firearms), obeying authority, going to bed early, and reading books. Twain takes time in his speech to satirize the use of violence against others. He gives his advice to the youth about violence in an interesting but less serious way. Twain explains, “If a person offend you, and
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He gives the reader his tips and tricks about lying. Twain states, “You should be careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught. Once caught, you can never be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before.” (Twain 1). He warns the reader that if someone lies, that person will not be seen as “good” or “pure” anymore. Twain seems to be serious about this topic until he professes his final piece of advice on this topic: “A final word: begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art early--begin now” (Twain 2). Everyone is told not to lie, but no Mark Twain. He refers to lying as something “gracious” and even a form of art. When the reader hears the word “art”, they may think of a painting or a form of dance. Twain tries to describe lying as a more innocent act rather than a bad act. In the first quote Twain implies that the reader should not lie because if the reader gets caught, there is a consequence. In the second quote, Twain tells the reader to lie because lying takes practice. In fact he encourages the reader to lie now, even though he is speaking to a group of younger people. He then goes on to reveal a regret that he has: “If i had begun earlier, I could have learned how” (Twain 2). Twain regrets not lying when he was younger because now he is not good at it. The reader may find this ironic because first he said lying gives a bad reputation. Then he tells the young audience that now is