Ruiqi Huang
“irony” and “satire” what's the difference between “irony” and “satire”
Nov 26, 2016 3:22 AM
Answers · 4
Hello The simple definition of irony is "the opposite of what is supposed to happen" most of the time it is used to make a joke or to be funny. Example: "The firetruck caught on fire." Satire is the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to make fun of something. or to mock something. The popular series Saturday Night Live has a lot of satire, because it makes fun of many political figures, or celebrities. But they do not actually mean anything they are saying.
November 26, 2016
This kind of question always leads to long discussions, and you might take the time to check a) a dictionary, and b) Wikipedia. I will give a quick answer off the top of my head. Irony and satire are not closely connected. "Irony" means saying the opposite of what is meant. A single short statement can be ironic. For example, "Oh, boy, a traffic jam. There's nothing I like better than getting stuck in traffic." "Irony" can also refer to some cruel cosmic joke involving some surprising reversal of expectation. For example, "Jack Dawson thought it was good luck when he won a ticket on the 'Titanic,' little knowing the irony that fate had in store for him." Satire is an art form. It usually refers to a whole story, novel, play, or at least a comedy sketch. In satire, a writer attacks something he hates by presenting it in a wildly exaggerated way. Satire is funny, but in a nasty, bitter way. Satire does not make you feel good. For example, Robert Southey's poem, "After Blenheim," is a satirical poem attacking the meaninglessness and uselessness of war. Two children dig up skulls in old Kaspar's garden, and he tells the children that the land had once been a battlefield where a "famous victory" had been won. He goes on and on telling the children detail after detail of horrors of war, repeating over and over again that it was a "famous victory:" "With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide, And many a childing mother then And newborn baby died: But things like that, you know, must be At every famous victory." Kasper insists that it was wonderful: "Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won, And our good Prince Eugene." The children cannot understand, and finally Peterkin asks the unanswerable question: "But what good came of it at last?" Quoth little Peterkin. "Why that I cannot tell," said he, "But 'twas a famous victory."
November 26, 2016
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