English 10 / Unit 4: Theme, Symbol and Allegory
4.6 Irony and Satire
Notes
Irony is a gap between expectation and reality. Satire uses humor, irony and exaggeration to criticize people or society.
- Verbal irony: saying the opposite of what you mean ("Lovely weather," during a storm). Sarcasm is harsh verbal irony.
- Situational irony: the outcome is the opposite of what was expected.
- Dramatic irony: the audience knows something a character does not.
- Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" (1729) "suggests" that the poor of Ireland sell their babies as food, to attack the cruel treatment of the Irish poor.
- Horatian satire is gentle and playful; Juvenalian satire is bitter and angry.
Practice
A fire station burns down. This is an example of:
A building meant to fight fires being destroyed by one is the opposite of expectations.
What is Swift's real purpose in "A Modest Proposal"?
The absurd, horrifying proposal exposes real cruelty.
A TV comedy gently pokes fun at the habits of suburban parents. This is best described as:
Light, playful mockery is Horatian.
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