After our short study of the Grammar of Satire, it’s time to have a go at writing a satirical piece in your own right. Here are some suggestions as to how you might get going:
- Read more satire – be inspired by the work of others, and explore the technical frameworks the satirists have employed to achieve their best effects.
- Play with some satirist’s techniques. Explore the use of the linguistic, grammatical and figurative techniques that are prevalent in satire:
- Hyperbole, understatement, litotes, metaphor, incongruity.
- Complex sentences, periodic structures, run-on sentences
- Develop an authorial ‘voice’, use features typical of speech
- Subvert a known form – like a newspaper article, technical report or advertisement, using the features typical of these to undermine the reader’s expectations.
The intention of this piece is to give you to opportunity to take control of your reader’s perceptions. With focussed attention on the grammar, structure, language and form of your writing you can subtly influence your reader and their view on a subject of importance to you.
