/Analyzing Satirical Sections of Huckleberry Finn
1. What are the underlying assumptions or unwritten attitudes in the section?
2. What foolish, flawed, or wrong human actions or aspect of society is being lampooned?
3. What would the author’s argument look like, stripped of its humor?
4. What resources of language does Twain use to skewer the target?
5. In what ways do these techniques disarm the intended target or sweeten the criticism to make it acceptable to its target?
6. What is the goal of the satirist? How does the satirist (Twain) wish society, the individual, the body politic, or an institution to change or amend itself?
7. How effective are Twain’s methods in this passage?
Handy Guide to Vices and Follies
Vice: Any kind of anti-social behavior from moral depravity and corruption (ex. Prostitution) to a habitual and moral defect or shortcoming (ex. nose-picking). Because it covers everything from outright wickedness to petty foibles, almost all humans suffer from some kind of vice; thus, the satirist is never at a loss for material.
Folly: a lack of common sense, prudence and foresight. “Folly” and “fool” come from the same French medieval root, fol. The good satirist knows everyone, even the satirist himself, in time will do something really stupid.
The Seven Deadly Sins
1. Pride / arrogance / hubris 2. Avarice (greed) 3. Wrath (anger, violence) 4. Sloth (laziness, sloppiness) 5. Lust 6. Envy 7. Gluttony
Other vices and follies: stupidity, gullibility, poor decision making, short sightedness, narrow-mindedness, intolerance, prejudice, pettiness, careless use of language, lack of self-control, vanity, apathy, wastefulness, hypocrisy, willful ignorance, rudeness
Techniques of Satire
Exaggeration/Hyperbole: making a blemish bigger or a vice larger in order to make it visible is one of the best ways to point out its existence to the audience.
Distortion: twisting or emphasizing some aspect of a condition, individual, or event tends to highlight it.
Diction: Use of silly words can enhance satire. Effective use of dialect can enhance the writer’s criticism of his own characters in fiction.
Invective: a speech that criticizes someone or something fluently and at length.(ranting)
Inuendo: a valuable tool for the satirist because it allows him to implicate a target by a completely indirect attack. Useful when the target is dangerous because it can be denied.
Malapropisms:Using the wrong word: (ex.) Alice said she couldn't eat crabs or any other crushed Asians. (crustaceans)
Puns, verbal irony