Writing a satirical essay

Satire stands in one row with humor, irony and sarcasm. All of these concepts are connected with laughter and entertaining, however, they vary depending on character of it. If humor brings kind jokes satire has a philippic function, which means that it is aimed on showing the drawbacks of different issues and uses tools of burlesque, parody and irony for that. Typically, satire touches upon different taboo questions, such as religion or politics. Also, there is a satire of manners that deals with people’s everyday life. Here are some basic rules of writing a satirical essay.

Step 1. Select a topic.

• Selecting an appropriate topic is quite important for successful essay completion. We recommend you to choose the one which is ridiculous or ironic so you will need to spend less efforts on it.
• Consider such topics as politics, everyday life, people’s weak siders, such as greediness, jealousity, laziness and so on.
• Remember that your aim is to make the topic slightly (or largely) close to absurdity – this is how you will be able to fulfill your task.

Step 2. Satirical writing tools.

• One of the tools is hyperbole, which means exaggerating or making some things seem bigger than they really are. Your hyperbole should be creative and close to the facts that you are writing about.
• You may use irony for demonstrating your ideas, which means presenting them in controversial way than they really are. Irony will definitely help you to create sarcastic tone for your satirical essay.
• Point out the things that are funny. Although satire has not only entertaining function be sure that having fun is exactly the thing, which the reader is looking for.
• Be selective regarding your language. Satire is, to a large extent, mixing different styles. Therefore, you can use high language for describing small or things or low language when talking about high-flown matters.
• Consider that satirical writing is usually opinionated. Thus, do not hesitate to state your subjective position, even though it may seem unusual.
• Note that satire is different to teasing. It should not look like making evil jokes but showing some drawbacks in a sarcastic manner in order to draw attention to them and get those things fixed.
• Sometimes satire is associated with black humor. This tool can really be working but do not exaggerate its role if you are writing a school or college paper. Make sure that your essay is still written with good taste.

Step 3. Considering your audience.

• In order to make your satire successful you should know who your reader will be. Therefore, before you start writing you should learn, at least, in general what kind of people will be reading your essay.
• Learn about your reader’s interests and what they find funny. Note that satire is opinionated and your position may differ from your reader’s ones. Therefore, if your task is, mainly, to satisfy the reader, check his or her preferences regarding the issue.
• Remember that different people have different sense of humor. The things which school or college students consider funny cannot seem the same to the tutors and professors. Be careful with what you are writing about.