Satire

Satire is a literary composition in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, or ridicule. In simpler terms, it's sarcasm within a story or statement. There are many examples of this literary element in books and in places you wouldn't expect. Also, there are four different satirical techniques, exaggeration, incongruity, parody, and reversal. Exaggeration is an increase beyond the normal for effect. Most people would not have recognized this as a satirical technique. Incongruity is when you place two unlike people or objects together in a story. Parody, the third satirical technique, imitates (in a serious way) in order to make fun of something. Finally, reversal is a sudden observable reversal or switch of fortune in a story. Due to these techniques most people don't even know when it is being used. For example Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain uses satire to develop characters. Huck himself is developed by satire. An example in the book is when Huck is talking to his father at any point in the story he is usually very smart and sarcastic. Another example is Twain placing Huck and Jim together in the story; this is an example of incongruity. He also uses the satirical technique of parody. He does this by parodying the Hatfield's and the McCoy's, which happened in real life, by creating the feud between the Grangerford's and the Sheperdson's in the book. Condescending Wonka is an example of satire in today's society. Condescending Wonka takes certain situations or things that are disputed or made fun of a lot and makes fun of them through even more. The satirical techniques used to create the condescending Wonka, is exaggeration, and somewhat of a parody. Want to see some more examples of satire? No? Oh well, I'm going to have to tell you some anyway. The video below is yet more satire, it is strictly a parody unlike condescending Wonka which has two satirical techniques involved. This video is making fun of, or parodying Taylor Swift's song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.  It may be very humorous,
but it is making fun of something in a serious manner, just like any of those late night shows, such as Conan, or Jimmy Fallon. Here's an example of Conan on his show with Steve Carell making fun of things through different character voices. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKkbjXYzxXA.
 In conclusion, satire is used almost everyday in today’s odd society. People don’t even realize that they are using satire, or that the satirical techniques are what they are. Just as a reminder, the satirical techniques are exaggeration, incongruity, parody, and reversal. An example of the way satire was used in the era Mark Twain lived was his novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer. A few examples in today’s society are the late night talk shows, such as Conan or Late Night with Jay Leno, also many people like to make parodies and upload them to YouTube, so YouTube is a great place to find satire. Most social networks have people using sarcasm on them, which is basically what satire is, so you could find it there as well.