3.6 Reading a Satirical Passage

Notes

To analyze satire, move from the text to its meaning.

• Identify the surface claim (what the speaker says).
• Find the gap: where does the claim become unreasonable or unfair?
• Name the target and technique.
• State the real message in your own words and cite evidence.
• Example: A narrator calmly proposes fining people for being late to a party "to ensure that wealthy hosts are never inconvenienced by the poor." The gap is the unfair concern for the rich; the target is class privilege; the technique is deadpan irony.