5 Ways to Write a Satire Essay
Not all essays are meant to be sound serious and forbidding. At times, essays can be quite fun to read. Satire essay is one best example of a highly entertaining essay. Certain websites such as The Onion, The Satirist, or The Private Eye are widely known for their satirical essays. But first let us determine what is satire and what is a satire essay.
What is Satire and Satirical Essay?
Merriam-Webster defines satire as a literary work that uses wit, irony, or sarcasm to expose and ridicule human vices or foolishness. Satire is most prevalent in literary works like books, poems, essays, songs, and even in films. Using satire in a literary piece is one way of showing one’s humor creatively.
It is also one way of putting a subtle constructive criticism to the shortcomings of a certain topic that an author is discussing (may it be related to politics, social change, celebrities, etc). Satirical essays are meant to write factual information about a certain topic but twists it to make it appear comical. Your readers will be more engrossed in reading satire essay since not only they will be entertained they will also gain more knowledge about a certain topic. Examples of satire present in literature include:
- Jonathan Swift’s essay called “A Modest Proposal” talks about the societal and political issue in Ireland. The Irish are suffering from famine and the government is unable to solve this problem. Swift then cheekily suggested that in order to resolve the famine, a new form of human breeding is the solution for the economic recovery in Ireland. When deliberating his essay, Swift’s suggestion may seem horrendous but his point is to sarcastically suggest an impossible suggestion to make fun of the shortcoming of the Ireland’s government.
- The Rape of Lock by Alexander Pope satirized the upper middle class of the 18th century England. Most people who belonged in this class were vain and narcissistic. Most young men and women were fashionable, self-absorbed, and superficial.
- “Whether the nymph shall break Diana’s law, or some frail china jar receive a flaw, or stain her honor, or her new brocade…”. An excerpt from Pope’s poem describes a young woman called Belinda who lost a lock of her hair seemed to her that she lost a valuable virtue of their class in this particular era. The lost lock of hair is almost similar like a precious frail china jar that cracked.
Other Forms of Satire
Parodies
Satirizing politicians, celebrities, or other prominent people are most commonly spoofed in the media. Parodies are used to make fun of these people by exaggerating their chosen subject’s behavior or characteristics. Some even impersonate these people and exaggerate their looks. Parodies are prevalent in films, television, and music.
One example is the parody band called the Rutles. Established in the late 70’s, this band satirizes the Beatles and their avid supporters. They dressed up like the Beatles and poked fun of their songs by making a similar songs by the Beatles.
One example is the song “Get Up and Go” by the Rutles which is a parody from the song “Get Back” by the Beatles. Here is an excerpt of “Get Up and Go”:
Cruising down the highway doing sixty-five
in the middle of the double white line
His foot down on the gas and his head in the clouds
He didn’t see the one-way sign
Get up and go
Get up and go
Get up and go back home
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is of course prevalent in satire. It is what makes satire engaging and entertaining. Sarcasm as defined in Cambridge dictionary is making remarks that means the opposite of what the person is supposed to say in order to criticize something or someone in a humorous way. Some examples of sarcastic quotes are:
“We are all both ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” Benjamin Franklin
“Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.” Mark Twain
“All men are the same. They have different faces so that women differentiate them.” Marilyn Monroe
But what makes satire important?
Basically, satire exists to point out the shortcomings in the society or within ourselves and to inspire change from these flaws. Through satire writing, readers will be aware of the changes they need to do in order to make a better version of themselves or in the society.
Now comes the part on how to write a satire essay efficiently.
How to Write a Satire Essay?
1. Familiarize first how to write a satire essay
When writing a satire essay, it is important to know that you have a strong motive to address your own views and opinion over a specific issue to you care about. Even if it is opinionated in its form, you can put your own perspective of this certain issue and spin it to make it funny, don’t forget to always provide the factual information of the topic you are writing about.
2. Choose the right topic to write
In choosing a topic to write, it’s best to know what topic are you want to write about. It must be something that you are highly interested in. Otherwise, if you choose a topic you are not really into it or not familiar to, you get bored in writing halfway to it. Other key points to consider is to choose a topic or an issue that is relevant to society and is relatable to everyone.
The best examples of topics to choose from are:
- politics
- current events
- health or environmental issues
- celebrities
- human vices
- holiday celebrations
- social media
It is also helpful to familiarize yourself with these topics by watching or reading the news. These kinds of topics are what people mostly have their own stand, so it’s best to choose it as you will get reactions from your readers. Don’t forget the point of writing essays is for the readers to read it. Getting reactions, whether favorable or not, means you have successfully done your job.
3. Get to the point
Finally, after poring and musing and deciding the topic you want to discuss, it’s time to figure out, what is the point of this essay I am writing about? The things you want to consider are: What is your stand in this certain topic? Do you rule favor or not?, How can you make this topic ironic? Once you have figured out your point, you have a clear and strong idea on what will you write about.
4. Know your audience
It’s crucial for you as a writer to know who is the audience you are writing to. Are you writing for the professional readers? Or the students? These different groups of people have their own preference or style of writing. The professionals might want a formal style of writing or the students might want a casual style. The point is, by identifying your readers, it’s better to be more relatable towards them. To help you adjust your style of writing to your specific audience, here are the questions you need to answer: How do you write in casual or formal style of writing? How do you write this essay if you are writing for young people?
5. Now it’s time to write
Now you already have a gist on writing a satire essay. You already know what topic you will discuss and what will be your main point, and you already identified who will be your audience. Now it’s time to write down your outstanding essay. Of course, in order for it to be outstanding, you need some tips in order to make your essay interesting to read. Familiarize yourself with the figures of speech to use when writing a satire essay to make it more engaging to your readers. Examples of figures of speech you can use are:
Hyperbole: The use of exaggerated words for heightened effect on the reader.
My high heeled shoes are killing me!
Irony: It is the use of words used to convey the opposite of its literal meaning.
A person looking out at his window while it was raining hard. He exclaims, “What a beautiful weather we are having today.”
Metaphor: A figure of speech that implied a comparison between two dissimilar things that have something in common.
You have a heart of stone.
Pun: Is described as ‘a play on words’. It’s structure can be on different senses of the same word or sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
“Now is the winter or our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York…” an excerpt from William Shakespeare Richard III (Act 1 scene 1). The context of this statement by the character Richard III is that he was the son of the Duke of York.
Understatement: This type of figure of speech is when a speaker intentionally makes a situation or a person less important that it is.
“It was rather a serious evening, you know.” Shipwreck survivor Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, as he described the sinking of the Titanic.
You may also look up some hyperbole examples, and irony examples to familiarize yourself to these figures of speech.
Now that you have mastered on writing a satire essay, don’t forget to have some fun while writing it. In fact, it is more enjoyable to write since you are allowed to put your own creativity and your personal views in your essay. However don’t forget to cite facts to make your essay credible. But don’t forget that the main essence of satire essay is to persuade your readers to agree with your opinion. So be persuasive, be creative and showcase your talent in comedy in your satire essay.
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