Satire_Authorial_Choices.pptx. This explains how authors use satire to convey tough messages

Just Satire

1. Authorial Choices in Satire Texts: Let Them Eat Dog (Foer) & A Modest Proposal (Swift)

2. Lesson Objectives Explore how authors use satire to provoke thought and critique society. Identify and analyze authorial choices (tone, diction, structure, exaggeration, irony). Practice framing analysis in IBDP Paper 1 style.

3. What is Satire? Literary technique using humor, irony, or exaggeration to expose flaws or social problems. Aim: Not just to entertain, but to provoke reflection and change. Q: Is satire more effective when it shocks or when it entertains?

4. Authorial Choices in Satire Irony & Sarcasm – saying the opposite of what is meant. Exaggeration/Hyperbole – pushing ideas to extremes. Juxtaposition – pairing shocking ideas with calm, logical tone. Diction & Register – choice of words (formal, clinical, absurd). Structure & Argument – how the satire builds.

5. Example: A Modest Proposal Swift proposes eating Irish babies to solve famine. Authorial choice: formal, logical tone → makes absurd idea sound reasonable. Effect: intensifies shock, highlights inhuman attitudes of ruling class.

6. Example: Let Them Eat Dog Foer proposes eating dogs to address sustainability. Authorial choice: moral reasoning + statistics + humor. Effect: challenges hypocrisy about meat consumption.

7. Comparative Thinking Target of critique: famine policy vs. meat industry. Tone: serious & detached vs. humorous & provocative. Strategy: logical absurdity vs. ethical provocation. Q: Which strategy feels more persuasive to a modern reader? Why?

8. Practice Task (IBDP-style) Prompt: How do Swift and Foer use authorial choices to engage readers with uncomfortable truths? Identify 2–3 authorial choices in either text. Explain their effect on meaning and on the reader. Write one paragraph in Paper 1 style.

9. Tips for Paper 1 Analysis Always link choice → effect → purpose. Avoid just identifying; analyze impact on reader. Satire is not random humor—it has a social or political goal.

10. Reflection / TOK Link Can humor be as powerful as evidence in changing minds? Is shock value a legitimate tool for serious argument?