The Purposes of Satire

Analyze how satire uses humor and exaggeration to criticize and to provoke reform.

Satire's purpose is critical: it uses humor, irony, exaggeration, and parody to expose foolishness or wrongdoing, usually in the hope of change. Satire is often divided into two broad tones, named after Roman poets. Horatian satire is gentle and amused, poking fun at human folly to encourage readers to laugh at themselves. Juvenalian satire is bitter and angry, attacking corruption or cruelty to provoke outrage. Consider two original examples. Horatian: a column describing a man who buys eleven productivity apps to save time and spends his weekend organizing them.

Juvenalian: a mock advertisement for a company that sells 'clean air subscriptions' to residents of the town it polluted. The first invites rueful recognition; the second invites anger at an injustice. When analyzing satire, identify the target, the method (exaggeration, irony, parody), and the tone, then ask what the satirist wants readers to see or do. The humor is the delivery mechanism; the criticism is the purpose.

• 1Satire criticizes through humor, irony, and exaggeration.
• 2Horatian satire is gentle; Juvenalian satire is bitter.
• 3Identify the target, method, tone, and goal.