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Use of satire in pride and prejudice
Use of satire in pride and prejudice
Use of satire in pride and prejudice
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Sedaris tells his story with a splash of humor in his personal narrative. He uses his first person thoughts, which are unfiltered and natural. Even though I, myself, have not smoked, I can relate to his story. I can put myself in his shoes. Irony and humor work together and if something is humorous, it is ironic. During the beginning of his narrative he talks about hating the smell of smoke and his action of driving "an embroidery needle" into his mother's pack of Winston's as if it were a "voodoo doll", but he turns around and ends up being a smoker himself. Even Sedaris sees the humor of the situation when he says, "Given my reputation as a strident non-smoker; it was funny how quick I took to cigarettes." The dialogue Sedaris uses aids
in the humor that is being displayed in this narrative and it also reiterates the point right before the dialogue. For example, "I had thirty-four cartons stockpiled in three different locations. "My inventory," as I called it, as in "The only thing standing between me and a complete nervous breakdown is my inventory"" The dialogue reiterates what he said, but at the same time made it funny. The description of his journey as a smoker and a non-smoker is so detailed that he makes it seem as though we are in the scenario with him, and it flows into the next paragraph. His description goes hand in hand with the structure , because there were no indentions and the "paragraphs" didn't have a defined shift. It flowed like enjambment. Alexie tells his story in terms of irony. His personal narrative wasn't funny, but it was profound nonetheless. The dialogue that is in the narrative are things that he said. His words. His uses of first person point of view furthers how personal this is. His word choices and descriptions are simple and easy to read, this could be symbolic of him telling his story about how he came to read starting with simple words, by allowing the reader to read simple words. His structure of his story were in basic paragraphs like the paragraphs he related everything to in his childhood. These two authors are similar because they took a part of their life and explained it in their own way and personality that they thought was the best way to reach their audience. They were different because Sedaris was carefree and wasn't trying to prove anything he was telling his story, vs. Alexie who seemed to be rubbing his success in the face of those who doubted him. For example, he writes, "As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world. Those who failed were ceremonially accepted by other Indians and appropriately pitied by non-Indians. I refused to fail." He is priding in his person successes and proving a point to the reader. I feel like Sedaris' narrative was more effective because of the humor that was put in place as well as the relatability of his narrative.
In David Sedaris’s story, “A Plague of Tics”, he effectively demonstrates vivid imagery by describing how “if he mashed the right amount of force, a blow to the nose can be positively narcotic. Touching objects satisfied a mental itch, but the task involved a great deal of movement; run upstairs, cross the room, remove a shoe” (365). His use of imagery through words such as “mashed” and “blow to the nose”, appealing to the sense of touch, paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind of the amount of force he uses in order to satisfy a mental itch. The imagery illustrates to the reader how much force is used instead of directly saying it in the text, allowing the reader to stay involved in interpreting the story. Also, Sedaris writes about his
As I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and thusly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with every sentence and by doing so, the characters within the story are infinitely real in my mind’s eye. As I consider these factors, the story focuses on two main characters; that of the grandmother, who comes across as self-centered and self-serving and The Misfit, a man, who quite ingeniously, also appears to be self-centered and self-serving. It is the story behind the grandmother, however, that evidence appears to demonstrate the extreme differences between her superficial self and the true character of her persona; as the story unfolds, and proof of my thought process becomes apparently clear.
“I’d Rather Smoke than Kiss.” is Florence King’s very astute retort to anti-smokers. In this writing she advocates for smoking as a simple enjoyable thing to do. To emphasize this she recalls her first smoking experience, which is for the most part very normal and unexciting. However, this inconsequential account is not indicative of the rest of the story. King quickly switches gears as she goes on the attack. In the first section she labels hatred of smokers as a form of misanthropy which she goes on to say is “the most popular form of closet misanthropy in America today” (King 32). This perspective is further augmented by the fact that she considers second-hand smoke an invention; a means for the “Passive Americans” (King 32), to justify prejudice towards smokers.
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger, an orphaned little girl living in Nazi Germany, evolves partly through her numerous literary thefts. At her younger brother’s gravesite, she steals her first book, The Grave Digger’s Handbook, which teaches her not only the method to physically bury her brother, but also lets her emotionally bury him and move on. The theft of her next book, The Shoulder Shrug, from a book burning marks the start of Liesel’s awareness and resistance to the Nazi regime. As a story with a Jewish protagonist “who [is] tired of letting life pass him by – what he refer[s] to as the shrugging of the shoulders to the problems and pleasures of a person’s time on earth,” this novel prepares her both for resisting the
To his luck, he arrived to the United States at the time cigarette smoking peaked at a high. All of his co-workers smoked constantly throughout the day. On the other hand, Samuel, keeping with his traditional beliefs on smoking, did not smoke cigarettes. During Samuel’s first week of work, his acquaintances constantly greeted him and offered tons of cigarettes but he took none. Eventually, all offers came to a halt and he earned the reputation of as an outcast in the office for not smoking. Although done unintentionally through his conservativeness and keeping with his traditional views, my uncle let himself become the social outcast in the
In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, irony is often used to convey information and contribute to the overall theme of the novel. Many parts of the book contain this irony because it works well for fueling either the main antagonist or protagonist actions. Fahrenheit 451 is a book based on the ideals of a “utopian society” where books are illegal and burned if they’re found. Firemen are ordered to burn books and all houses that contain them, versus putting out fires and protecting people. In communities people don’t think, they cannot be ‘intellectuals’, and they are forced become drones of the government’s ideals. In the novel Farenheit 451 irony is used to express the complex ideas of the society, but also gives the book more understanding and meaning by making us think differently, how characters are ironically told not to.
Sedaris changed from a non- smoker to a frequent smoker. In one incident, Sedaris used a cigarette to seem tough when he was faced with an individual who he described to be prison like. Sedaris reacted to this incident with, “I might have simply covered, but now I put a cigarette in my mouth [...] This man was going to rob me [...] but no, ‘give me one of those [cigarettes]’ he said” (2) .Sedaris uses this experience to show a sense that in society one looks tough while smoking, and that they won 't get bothered when they have a cigarette in their mouth. This also shows there is a bond between smokers. This perceived bond between a man who looked like a criminal and a man who puts a cigarette in his mouth made Sedaris feel tough about himself. Even though Sedaris may not admit that, he is an addict smoker, smoking controlled him, as when he states, “When New York banned smoking in the workplace I quit working. When banned in restaurants I stop eating out” (3). Sedaris here is not just a smoker, but a smoker who is so controlled by smoking that he puts smoking over his job and even eating. This definitely shows the negative effect that smoking has had over
Kurt Vonnegut uses a combination of dark humor and irony in Slaughterhouse-Five. As a result, the novel enables the reader to realize the horrors of war while simultaneously laughing at some of the absurd situations it can generate. Mostly, Vonnegut wants the reader to recognize the fact that one has to accept things as they happen because no one can change the inevitable.
After dinner the husband continues to test Robert and ask him if he would like some marijuana. The narrator is surprised when Robert accepts his offer to smoke. His first smoke was a little awkward because the narrator had to explain to Robert how to smoke it. After a couple puffs, the narrator is impressed on how well Robert smoked the marijuana. This is when the husband starts to see Robert as a person and not a blind man; he is starting to relate to Robert a little bit.
In literature, the significant themes of a story can sometimes be developed within dramatic death scenes. With that being said, Zora Neale Hurston 's presents an unappreciated housewife and her high-class husband 's sinful ways which ultimately lead to the husband 's unplanned death, in her short story “Sweat”. The concluding death scene can best be described as illustrating the theme as “what goes around comes around”. Sykes was abusive and tried plotting his wife, Delia 's, death by using a rattlesnake, but his plan backfired and it was Sykes that was killed in the end.
Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complicated situation called Bunburyism (as Algernon refers to it). They pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They lie to the women they admire, and eventually the truth is revealed.
The way that Kurt Vonnegut is portraying the story “Harrison Bergeron” is almost with a sense of mockery. Take Harrison for instance, he’s pretty much super man. Seven feet tall, strong as an ox, good looking, a genius, and an amazing dancer at only fourteen years old. He's also the only person unafraid of overthrowing the government. Harrison's own father wont even take one of the heavy balls he must lug around on his neck out, in fear of getting caught, fined, and thrown into jail. Harrison on the other hand has been thrown into jail for trying to overthrow the government once already. Once escaping prison he declares himself the emperor and then sets out to find his empress. Kurt Vonnegut was trying to portray the supreme man through Harrison.
"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston is filled with symbolism ranging from images that are easily captured to things that require a little bit more insight. Religion has apparently played a major role in Hurston's life, readily seen in "Sweat" with the references to a snake and Gethsemane. Symbolism plays a big part of this story and after analyzing these, they give the story a deeper meaning and can enlighten the reader as to the full meaning of "Sweat".
Using anecdotes from his life were very effective because he shows the stages he went through: the side of the non-smoker who is against smoking, to a smoker, to any individual trying to quit, and adds family examples along the way. This worked very well because the readers get to see how Sedaris has evolved throughout his life. Anecdotes were also effective because of how he addresses his audience. He reaches out to all types of audience, whether you are a non- smoker, or a smoker, or even a former smoker. Knowing that he was once faced with these stages makes Sedaris approachable because he has experienced it all .He has even lost family members along the way due to cigarettes. Sedaris does not say word for word that smoking is negative, but based on his essay we can tell he believes this even through him, himself was a smoker. Using anecdotes Sedaris expresses his understanding of the topic, since he knows what he is talking about because he has experienced himself. This approach of showing the negatives of smoking through anecdotes works better than having a doctor explain all the medical reason why not to smoke because the information is being given from a relatable source. Sedaris uses his own experience to allow induvials’ to take the message however they please. This essay is not written in a pressure some way. If a smoker were to read this essay they could
Irony can often be found in many literary works. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is masterfully written full of irony. The characters of the short story, Mrs. Mallard, Josephine, Richards, Mr. Brently Mallard, and the doctors all find their way into Chopin’s ironic twists. Chopin embodies various ironies in “The Story of an Hour” through representations of verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony.