Satire

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This article is about the genre. For the mythological character, see satyr.

"Satires" redirects here. For other uses, see Satires (disambiguation).

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement.^[1] Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon.
A common feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"^[2]—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.
Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, and media such as lyrics.

Purpose of Satire 

from virtualsalt.com

satire need have no moral lesson or didactic purpose, for the essence of satire is aggression or criticism, and criticism (previous to the era of existentialistic nihilism) has always implied a systematic measure of good and bad. An object is criticized because it falls short of some standard which the critic desires that it should reach. Inseparable from any definition of satire is its corrective purpose, expressed through a critical mode which ridicules or otherwise attacks those conditions needing reformation in the opinion of the satirist.

The best satire does not seek to do harm or damage by its ridicule, unless we speak of damage to the structure of vice, but rather it seeks to create a shock of recognition and to make vice repulsive so that the vice will be expunged from the person or society under attack or from the person or society intended to benefit by the attack (regardless of who is the immediate object of attack); whenever possible this shock of recognition is to be conveyed through laughter or wit: the formula for satire is one of honey and medicine.



I was just searching through the Onion and found some really silly funny video clips. Maybe I could use one of these as my essay topic.

http://www.theonion.com/video/in-the-know-are-tests-biased-against-students-who,17966/

http://www.theonion.com/video/poll-happy-healthy-obamas-out-of-touch-with-misera,14372/

http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/

http://www.theonion.com/video/today-now-how-to-thrust-your-fat-into-a-more-appea,18030/

The first one and the last one did strike me. Both were closely related to my life; about today's education system and diet.

I would like to write about:

1. Korean Education System is...

     goal oriented - The purpose of education is to get into good college; once accepted to a good college, people do not study anymore. Also, school teachers only teach something that is directly related to the "test". In school, students need to learn how to make relationship with others and how to adopt in the society; they should be learning moral values. However, thesedays it is hard to expect teachers to teach something that is unrelated to the entrance examination.

     academical sectarianism - Going to good college should not be one's final goals; it should just be a stage to reach one's dream. Whether one goes to a good college or not, it should not be a serious factor that determines their life. Even without going to a good college one can have a happy life. However, the sectarianism makes teenagers to only focus on studying for college. Plus, people do not accept diversity. There are tons of occupations that does not require a high level of education. There are many people who are good at something else than solving KSAT problems. However, parents and teachers do not accept students who do not study. They can succeed as a singer but adults are against it.
+ the stress that students get is also something to criticize. Their probelm is not something disastrous, but they think it as too serious one and even commit suicide.


OR

2. Diet

     People are too obsessed about their appearance. They get stressed out, and sometimes it is shown as a form of mental illness. The mass media is establishing a social status about one's appearance. The "Miss something something Contest" held annually through out the world, celebrities with nicely shaped body, and all the advertisements for diet forces people to get on a diet. Also, people nowadays consider woman who is chubby, as a person who can't control herself and give a pitty look. People always prefer who is slimmer and prettier. Even the chance of getting a job is higher for people who look good. Of course obesity is bad for individuals' health; however, we do not have to be so obsessed with diet. Not all women need to be someone like Jessica Alba or other celebrities. Each person has their own beauty even though they are not slim enough.

Chain Writing

         I don’t know why I am stuck in here. Actually I don’t even know where this place is; I woke up this morning and I figured out that this was not my bed. A small room, all four walls covered up with white paint, with no window is where I woke up today. Was it today? I can’t even tell if it is day or night. I remember that I was running through the hallway. What hallway was it? Maybe I bumped into a wall or something while running; I just can’t remember anything. Oh my god. What was my name? Hmmm… Branny, Branny Brown, yes, this is my name. I got up from the squeaky bed and searched around the room. I found nothing special in the room; only a bed and a drawer with a bible in it. Okay, I just sat down on the bed again.

The room got noisy, I heard this human voice. I opened my eyes. I had fallen asleep without noticing that I had. There were people with white clothes standing around me. One of them was putting some intravenous fluids through this long needle stuck inside my left wrist. What is happening here? I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. My voice was okay, but it was just that I felt so drooped. Maybe the fluid was a tranquilizer or a sleeping pill. I fell into sleep again.

Was it a dream or just my memory? I found myself in the court. A court? Why was I standing on the court podium? Oh yes, I remember, I was a student of Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA). It is the student court held every Thursday to penalize students who have violated school regulations.

I’m not sure but, maybe it was because I did not put enough effort in cleaning; I came to court today. Coming to court is not a special event for me, since I come here every week. On Monday, I just putted all my mess inside the closet, and Mr. Kim found that out. I was okay to live in a dirty environment, but the dorm parent hated it. Last week I came to court for violating self-study regulation, since I was sleeping after playing basketball with my friends. This weekly routine, coming to court, is harmful getting high quiz score in AP US History class. My average score of the quizzes are 7 out of 10.

     I realized that everything was going wrong; everything has been wrong since I entered KMLA. My life is so abysmal, hopeless, and disastrous. My tragic life began from this one incident: learning how to play Starcraft.

I gradually became the master of Starcraft; no one in the school could beat me. As I got better and better, I played Starcraft with more and more passion. Maybe, Mr. Kim should have caught me computer violation before I got addicted to the game. That would have been much better… At that moment, I was happy that Mr. Kim never entered my room. I always played the game; Starcraft was my life.

It was finally the day of Starcraft competition during Minjok Festival. It was so easy for me to beat every single person who joined the competition up. In a few minutes, I was already playing the final game. I was about to win; except that I made a huge mistake. Well, it was no more than just a mistake, but it was something big. To play more comfortable, I moved my chair. Unfortunately, the wheel ran over my toe. That accident was not serious, no damage to my bone, but sharply painful enough to make me shout out in agony and anger. With my scream, the air resonated. The resonation hit the closed door, lingered for a moment and amplified into the corridor with greater intensity. It turned the corner and went down the stairs, step by step into the careful ears of the dorm parent. I imagine his closed eyes snapped open, and suddenly he was right there next to me – all of a sudden.

So shocked by the sudden advent, my body froze. My pupil dilated and my mind became blank. I ran out through door, to find a safe place to get out of Mr. Kim’s reach. “Relax” said the dorm parent. He was no more a human; he was in a shape of devil. His eye turned red and hissed, “You can do that anytime you like but you can never escape.” The dorm hallway was not that long; I bumped into the wall. “B.A.N.G!”

Oh, that must have hurt. Now I remember, yes, I was trying to escape from the devilish dorm parent. Or was he really a Satan? Anyways what is this place here? I am pretty sure that I had a short term memory loss because of the bump; because of that I cannot remember what happened next. I am just sitting in this place with white cloth on. Huh? White pants? I don’t recognize myself wearing white clothes. Maybe I should ask when the guys who gave me a shot come in again.

“So, is Branny okay, doctor?”

“Well, sorry to say this, but he is…… not okay. Well, not a serious problem, but he is schizophrenia. Addicted to game, he started to make up his own fantasy world and characters. He has hard time differentiating the fantasy world from the real world. He will need to be treated for weeks.”

“Please, please, oh doctor, please……”

“Don’t worry ma’am. We are going to try our best to cure Branny Brown.”

Romantic Comedy 2nd draft

      One trivial day during the winter break, I was lying on my bed reading a book (I cannot actually remember what book I was reading. Was it Romeo and Juliet or Emma?). Everything was so peaceful that day; the weather was sunny, my bed was cozy, and the only thing that I could hear was me flipping through the pages. Everything was so quiet that I was about to fall asleep. But before I could drift off, my little brother burst into my room yelling out my name.

     “Hey Jiyeon, you know what? One of my friends asked a girl out!”

     This was such a trivial subject to discuss on a trivial day.

     “He also gave her an 18K golden ring and asked her to marry him.”

     “Okay… What’s the big deal there?”

     “Duh, we are only 12 years old. We are still in elementary school! Do you seriously think this situation makes sense? You think he truly ‘loves’ her? You think a 12 year old boy knows anything about love and marriage?”

     “Well, the golden ring part, that is sort of funny. Where did he get the money to buy the ring?”

     “Jiyeon! That is not the big issue! 6^th grader, who knows nothing about love, proposed to a girl giving 18K golden ring!”

     “Then, what’s the big issue? I don’t get it. Even babies know about love.”

     “What? Babies? Yeah whatever! Of course they love their mother. Never mind… Never mind! It’s me who’s dumb trying to talk with you! Oh god, she’s driving me crazy!”

     Maybe it was the weather that made me react so dully. I, however, was not fooling around joking with my brother. Romeo and Juliet, they were 14 years old, only two years older than my brother. I thought the proposal was bit funny, but the action itself was the boy’s pure, sincere love. I closed my book and searched through a box where I keep all the letters I’ve been receiving since I was a baby. It took me a while to find the letter that I was looking for; a Valentine’s Day card from a boy whom I’d had a crush on.

     When I first went to America in the winter of 1999, I was only 5 years old. I knew nothing about English or the American culture. All the kids in my class were friendly enough to let me in to their own little society. But, the problem was that I could not talk with any of them. They started to look at me as if I were a weird person from outer space. I felt like a monkey in a zoo. I was a weird stupid Asian girl who only knew how to say “hello” and “yes”. I hated going to school; I fought with mother almost every morning. The fights, however, soon ended when I met this boy named Louis.

     One morning, I got on the school bus as usual. I used to sit in the second row of, but that day, the bus was too crowded, so I had to go to the back. There, I saw a boy sitting alone, shining because of the sunlight coming through the back window. I do not know where the courage came from, but I and sat next to him. It was too obvious that I could not say a word to him for the next 20 minutes on the bus. I could not even figure out what his name was, but that boy mysteriously slid into the school with the other bunch of other kids as soon as the bus arrived at school.

     It was during Spanish class that I figured out the boy was in class 2, sharing the same period and class with my own. Unfortunately, I had to take the ESL course instead with two other Asian kids. I asked my ESL teacher if I could move to the Spanish class. She said if I finished the ESL course, which would take a whole full year, I could. I asked again if I could finish the course earlier and go to the Spanish class. The teacher said it would still take about six to eight months. I could not think of anything else but taking the same class with that boy I’d met on the bus.

     I studied hard. The last thing that I wanted was to do so, but I tried my best. After my hard work, I finished the one year course in only 4 months. I memorized 500 essential vocab in a week and solved all the practice question in our work book in a month. I also memorized all the lines in the Disney animation movies; such as, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Tarzan. In few months, I was able to have a good command of English. I was as fluent as the other students. I was so eager to talk to the boy that I had fallen in love with.

     The first day I attended the Spanish class, I got to sit next to the boy. That was when I got to know his name, Louis. Every Spanish class we sat together and had some meaningless nonversations. I felt sorry to my Spanish teacher; her words did not actually reach my ears. I was too busy talking with Louis. I was motivated by his existence; I wanted to show him that a stupid Asian girl, who did not even know about English, could do something.

     At last, we were dating. Looking back at the time, what we did was just child’s play, but at that time I was very serious. We played in the playground together pushing each other on the swing. We made snowman together when it snowed. We were always together during school field trips to: Johnny Appleseeds Park, Goodell Family Farm, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Sea World, and Six Flags. We made chocolates together on the next Valentine’s Day. I was too excited to go to school every day. I was too happy to cry while watching a sad movie.

     On Valentine’s Day I received a card from Louis, the card that I still keep in my letter box:

     “Dear Jiyeon, I like your Corean? like things. You are pretty. I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day! From Louis”

     These short sentences took up all the space of the tiny card; Louis’s handwriting was humongous. The alphabet “J” was written right-side-left. It might have been too difficult for a 6-year-old boy to use the word “atmosphere” instead of “things”. He did not know the spelling of “Korean” he spelled it “Corean”.

     I remember how I just laughed crazily after receiving this card. I studied so hard to satisfy the standard of American kids to get the title “smart girl”. My boyfriend, however, was not that smart; he did not even pay attention to his or my grades and processes. He liked me because I was “Jiyeon Kim”, not because I was a super smart Asian kid who had overcome her difficulties. He did not care if I mastered the ESL course in just four months or could memorize all the lines in Disney animations. I just laughed and laughed and laughed reading the card over and over.

     Even now, after more than 10 years have passed, I sometimes read this card and laugh at how foolish I was. Children, especially younger ones, do have the feeling of love and their love is more sincere that of adult’s. They do not have any reason for liking someone. They just like others because it is the other him or herself. Adults care about a person’s social and political status, but children only care if they truly like one another in their heart.

     I had to come back to Korea and that was the end of our relationship, but this relationship between Louis and I would last forever as a good memory.

     I closed the card that I’ve been reading. It folded into a shape of heart. I smiled. I was about to put that Valentine’s Day card back into the box. But before I could place it back, my little brother burst into my room yelling out my name.

     “Jiyeon, sorry that I lost my temper. I didn't mean it.”

     I did not care if he apologized to me or not; I was not mad at him. I thanked him that he burst into my room right at the moment, because I was ready to tell how little children love each other.

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To Mr. Garrioch

I couldn't find Louis on Facebook since I do not know his last name (a tragedy) T,,T

And the Valentine's Day card is in my home not in my dorm, so I couldn't take a picture of it