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1. Define 'satire' and provide one example of personal or social satire that yoou have encountered. You may use any source for your example:TV, media, news editorials, movies, comedy, etc. Satire can be defined as any work in which a human vice or folly is attacked with irony or sarcasm. An example of satire can be found in the song "When the President Talks to God" by Bright Eyes. In this song, the lyrics lay out hypothetical conversations between the President and God, which mocks current President George W. Bush and his use of strong religious influence while in office. 2. In a well-developed p-graph, I.D. and explain at least one symbol vonnegut presents in the story. Explain how he uses the symbol and what the symbol represents some other entity in the story. In the story, Harrison Bergeron represents many symbols. A major symbolic moment occurs when Harrison breaks away from his chains. This represents Harrison's freedom. 3. In the story, what is the purpose of 'handicaps' and how do they keep people equal? Handicaps can be defined as a hinderance that gives a disadvantage. In the story Harrison Bergeron, handicaps are given to anyone considered to be pretty, smart, and out of the ordinary. Masks are worn so beauty is hidden, an ear piece prevents intelligent thought, and the extraordinary are chained up. 4. Explain the role Diana Moon Glampers plays in the story and describe the authority she possesses over the people. Diana Moon Glampers plays the Handicapper General. Basically, she is large and in charge. Diana has the power of to control the life and death of everyone in the story, and this is shown. 5. Explain why Hazel Bergeron is not plagued with frequent brain blasts like her husband. Hazel Bergeron does not need a handicap to prevent her from having intelligent thoughts like her husband simply because she is not as smart as he is. 6. In a p-graph, write a brief character sketch of Harrison Bergeron. Include not only his physical appearance, but the emotional characteristic which leads him to behave so bizarrely. Putting Harrison Bergeron's seven-foot stature asside, he appears to be what we would call normal today. 7. This story has a well-developed theme which Vonnegut parodies against certain American beliefs. In a paragraph or two, explain what you believe the theme of this story is.
"Satire - Definition and Examples | Literary Devices." Literary Devices. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar.
Satire is form of comedy in which flaws in people or society are chastised in order to prompt change in the objects of criticism. Regardless of how long ago comedy itself may have existed, the concept of satire was introduced by the Roman satirists, Juvenal and Horace. The tones conveyed in their writing characterize the main modes of satire, being Horatian and Juvenalian, and are still used in satire today. Presently, two popular forms of comedy that employ satirical elements include parody news sources and comedic performances. Although satirical writing has evolved throughout history, many aspects of satire are still apparent in both the articles of parody news sources, like The Onion, and the performances of professional comedians, like
Satire is a technique used in literature to criticize the faults of society. An excellent examle of contemporary satire is Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The author tells the life of Eliot Rosewater, a young and affluent man troubled by the plights of the poor. Eliot is the President of the Rosewater Foundation, a sum of money worth approximately $87 million. Using this position, he does everything he can to help the poor. This charity giving is socially unacceptable to the wealthy, particularly Eliot's father Senator Lister Ames Rosewater. Vonnegut uses caricature, irony, and tone to satirize the lack of care the rich have for those socially "beneath them."
An example of satire that Kurt Vonnegut uses is when he designs the government of San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo is a small island somewhere in the Caribbean. The people in San Lorenzo are doomed to failure no matter what leader they have, and they have always been this way. San Lorenzo, in the novel, is pictured as one of the most unsuccessful and useless places on earth. The people there are very poor, do not have much to eat, and do not have any motivation left at all, "Johnson and McCabe had failed to raise the people from the misery and muck" (Scholes 133). Thus, that is why they do not care anymore who there leader is going to be, because they know that they are going to fail anyway, "Everybody was bound to fail, for San Lorenzo was as unproductive as an equal area i...
The handicaps are to people as the cage is to the bird. This simile describes how Caged Bird and Harrison Bergeron are alike. Harrison Bergeron and Caged Bird are very alike in many reasons. They both reference limitations on freedom. In Caged Bird the limitation is that the bird is in the cage and cannot fly or go wherever it pleases. In Harrison Bergeron the limitations are all the handicaps. In Harrison Bergeron there are limitations to the citizens. These are called handicaps. When you are more capable at something then other people are then you receive handicaps that limit your abilities so that everyone is equal. Some handicaps are earpieces that stop you from thinking with a ringing sound, masks for those that have superior beauty, and
The satirical humor expresses the social criticism on issues about politics. “Satire features a heightened sense of irony, highlighting contradictions, inconsistencies, absurdities, mining them for their humor, and even highlighting flaws and fakeries to people (Day 256).” Satirical humor involved media about politics so it can gain the audience's attention.The satirical humor reveals everything about the hypocrisy and foolishness of
In this story everyone has specially designed gear which is used to equalize everyone's status. The main characters are a couple who have different abilities. One is smarter but athletically declined and the other is physically inclined but holds less intelligence. They are both watching a television show when a news broadcast comes on. During the broadcast, Harrison comes in and take off his handicapping gear. Wanting to overtake the government he decides to harass the news cast but in result he is killed by another handicapped individual. This makes the couple understand and realize the truth about the idea of equality and how it would be broken if handicapping wasn't used anymore. “we judge every difference we have onto one another.” “ First being an specific color, then gender, and even now financial stability.” These characters live in a world where they are forced to be equal. Equality in this story is portrayed as being unfair, forced, and
In the story of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut introduces a world ruled by the Handicapper General. To control the citizens the Handicapper General changes the amendments and creates a new one. In order to prevent any rebellion the Handicapper General enforces handicapes on the citizens. Handicaps prevent people from using their own talent and makes them equal. Ugly Masks, Ear pieces that scatter thoughts and Bags filled with lead balls are just a few of the Handicapes force people not to be unique. George and Harrison are a few examples of people who have been forced to wear Handicaps. The plot of the story is about being trapped in a word of equality. Harrison Bergeron son of George Bergeron is a main character of the story who realizes he has no freedom breaks into a T.V studio and announces that he the new ruler. Of course eventually in the end of the story he dies by the Handicapper General because of his actions. The citizens of course did not react to the event what so ever because of the ear piece that wiped their memories. The theme of the story is control being enforced by the Handicapper General. She enforces control by her influence on the citizens, and the handicapes are enforced upon the citizens.
The Handicap General, Diana Moon Glampers, made the handicaps that the mentally and physically advanced people were supposed to wear, which would restrict their intelligence or physical abilities. This didn't allow people to do things to their best abilities. The people didn't know what their natural bodies could do until Harrison showed them, This allowed the people to see how she was controlling them and might have even overused her power. This could have made the people question how their society was being ran. A real hero, like Harrison, should show how the citizens aren't being treated fairly by their leaders and should guide them to a world that has
The short story Harrison Bergeron has one main theme throughout its story. This theme is that most people think they want true equality but we really do not. We just think that we do, but instead we really want everyone to have equal opportunities. This can be seen through the handicaps that most people have to wear in order to have equality. When someone was too smart, beautiful, strong, or fast they had to have a handicap for it. These different handicaps symbolize equality because they are what makes everyone equal. This can be seen in the beginning of the story when it says “everybody was finally equal... Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General,” (Vonnegut 1). These handicaps develop the theme because they make everyone equal but they are also what causes Harrison to want to take control. When he sees how the system truly does not work the way everyone thinks that it does he wants to ...
In "Harrison Bergeron", Kurt Vonnegut investigates the topic of constrained balance in American culture not long from now. Vonnegut makes a world in which all living individuals are equivalent in all ways. He concentrates on making uniformity by changing excellence, quality, and knowledge rather than managing race, religion, and sex, the genuine issues of correspondence in the public eye. He composes this story to instruct the lesson that all individuals are not equivalent, but instead, they all have qualities and shortcomings making each exceptionally person.
concludes with a dismal event: Harrison and his “empress” ballerina being shot. They chose not to follow the laws instituted by their society and so were punished. Harrison’s mother, Hazel Bergeron, follows the equality rules and is satisfied with her average-intelligence life. Hazel reaps the benefits of being a conformist in her society: an average-intelligence, content life with a considerate husband and “having no mental handicap herself” (Vonnegut 1). For those who possess an unfair above-average-intelligence or physical trait, there are gadgets called “handicaps” which demote them to the same normalcy of everyone else. Technology in “Harrison Bergeron” is a patron to the peace. By regulating and curing divergent qualities, people are revolutionizing into a pacifist community. Vonnegut
This genre of satire has often been used with subversive purpose where political speech is forbidden by a regime. Megan Hill explains that political satire does not carry a political agenda or seeks to influence the political process, but its unplanned use and its often destructive feature can lead to protest or dissent against the political process. Besides that, Dustin Griffin argues that satire attempts to make a balance between the fictional and the real so as to amuse and educate in more or less equal measure. He
Satire is used in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen to show the deficiencies in morals and ethics of the characters that Austen disapproves of. Satire is used to "attack" characters and to bring about change. The different characters types she satirizes are "suck-ups," hierarchical, and/or ignorant.
Have you ever wanted things to become equal? The story “Harrison Bergeron” makes up a fictional world in the year 2081 where everyone in society is equal. If somebody was above average, they would give that person handicaps to make everyone just as equal as them. However, I believe that everyone in the story wasn’t all truly equal. Not everyone is wearing a handicap and not everyone get to show off their talents.