It Feels Miserable Without You…Almost Like Having You Here

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Satire. A trend of the ancient times, following America like a lost a puppy. But where did it come from? Why did it get started? To answer these questions take a look at satirical historians. They believe the starting point of satire most likely goes back to many ancient ethnic groups who used it in rituals. The people believed that their words were just as powerful as their swords, making satire a thing to be feared. In fact, satire was so extremely feared among the ethnic groups and the people that if someone was found using it, they would be put to death by fire (Roman). Among those who have strong influences, Jonathan Swift wrote a wonderful explanation of satire in his preface to The Battle of the Books. He describes satire as a type of glass; the people looking in typically discover all other personage’s face except their own (Swift). Although it has some of its own hidden satirical elements, Swift’s explanation is a wonderful example of what satire has to offer.

There is a probable assumption that in our unorganized lifestyles, people would have the hope to teach the rest of the world their ill manners through satire. However, it isn’t feasible to learn anything from a work of satire if people don’t make the changes in which satire is ridiculing. With that, satire is less likely to be a learning tool and more likely to be something used for cruelty and/or criticism (Harris). However, satire is more than criticism; because it can say so many things in a simple phrase or even a picture, satire has become more of method to express the way humans think. It doesn’t demonstrate the lifestyle of everyone, but it will generally appeal to the majority of a society.

Some people may wonder how or even if satire is truly effect...

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...ital to a story, movie, song, or anything for that matter. It can add relevance to it, however, by using the main focus as a mirror to reflect real life, in which some people hold to be the point of all fiction.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.

Handey, Jack. "Deep Thoughts by Jared Karol (and Jack Handey) | Aiming Low." Aiming Low |

Perfectly Mediocre. All Posts, Family, 23 May 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.

Harris, Robert. The Purpose and Method of Satire. VirtualSalt. 20 Aug. 1990. Web. 07 Nov.

2011.

Roman. "An Analysis on the Use of Satire." Associated Content from Yahoo! –

Associatedcontent.com. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.

Swift, Jonathan. “A modest proposal.” 1729. Quotidiana. Ed. Patrick Madden. 10 Nov. 2011.

Swift, Jonathan. "Quotes on Satire." Notable Quotes. JUVENAL, Satires. Web. 07 Nov. 2011.

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