Life of Pi Comparative Text Study

1. How does Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" compare to Yann Martel's Life of Pi in terms of their views on the nature of humanity?

2. In what ways does Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" differ from Yann Martel's Life of Pi in their portrayal of animals and their relationship with humans?

3. How do the themes of survival and adaptation differ between Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" and Yann Martel's Life of Pi?

4. How do Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" and Yann Martel's Life of Pi differ in their approach to questioning and critiquing societal norms and conventions?

5. How do Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" and Yann Martel's Life of Pi address the role of religion and spirituality in shaping human behavior and actions?

6. In what ways do Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" and Yann Martel's Life of Pi challenge the idea of human exceptionalism and the superiority of humans over animals?

7. How does Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" and Yann Martel's Life of Pi address the ethical considerations surrounding the treatment of animals in human society?

8. How do Mark Twain's "The Lowest Animal" and Yann Martel's Life of Pi challenge readers' perspectives on the relationship between humans and the natural world?

Satire

Techniques of Satire 

• Irony- all three 

• Exaggeration/Hyperbole: making a small blemish bigger or a hidden vice or folly larger in order to make it visible is one of the best ways to point out its existence to the audience or to the target itself. Some specific types of exaggeration include the outrageous suggestions and proposals which often characterize satirical pieces and the writer’s exaggeration of the customary diction and syntax of an individual, an agency, a text, or a publication. 

• Distortion: twisting or emphasizing some aspect of a condition, individual, or event tends to highlight it. A type of distortion may include the juxtaposition of inappropriate or incongruous ideas or things. 

• Understatement and anti-climax: when the folly or evil is so great that further exaggeration is impossible, understatement shows its true extent. 

• Innuendo: a valuable tool for the satirist because it allows him to implicate a target by a completely indirect attack. This is especially useful when the target is dangerous, for it is often possible to deny the insinuation. 

• Taboo subjects 

• Diction: Use of silly or inherently funny words like “newt” and “nostril” can enhance satire. Even bawdy language- Oscentity, slang, 

• Invective: a speech that criticizes someone or something fluently and at length. This technique may also be called a diatribe or rant. For example:

  • “A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking, whoreson, glassgazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir to a mongrel [female dog]: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining if thou deni’st the least syllable of thy addition.” (William Shakespeare, King Lear)

  • “I see. Well, of course, this is just the sort of blinkered philistine pig-ignorance I’ve come to expect from you non-creative garbage. You sit there on your loathsome spotty behinds squeezing blackheads, not caring a tinker’s cuss for the struggling artist. You excrement, you whining hypocritical toadies with your colour TV sets and your Tony Jacklin golf clubs and your bleeding Masonic secret handshakes.” (John Cleese in Monty Python’s “Architect Sketch”) 

• Pun/ Paranomasia/Malapropism: Any construction capable of conveying a double meaning is likely to be employed in satire, since multiple meanings form the basis of much of satire. 

• The list: something highly important or even sacred may be included in a long list of mundane and ordinary objects in order to highlight the fact that an individual, institution, or society has lost its sense of proportion. 

• Oxymoron/ and paradox and antithesis used satirically makes for a pointed emphasis on some contradiction in the target's philosophy. 

• Parable/ parody/ and allegory have the same benefits as simile and metaphor, for they can conduct a prolonged discussion on two levels of meaning while at the same time inherently comparing and contrasting those levels without further comment. They also provide the author with some defense if the subject is dangerous, for the satirist can protest that he/she was writing only on the literal level. 

  • Famous examples of this technique are Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift and Animal Farm by George Orwell. 

• Sarcasm and verbal irony are often employed as tools of satire, as well. 

Writing about Satire 

To analyze a satirical piece, employ the following questions: 

1. What are the underlying assumptions or unwritten attitudes in the piece? 

2. What foolish, flawed, or wrong human action or aspect of society is being lampooned? AKA Target 

3. What would the author’s argument look like stripped of its humor? 

4. What resources of language does the satirist use to skewer the target? Weapons or tools. 

5. In what ways do these techniques disarm the intended target or sweeten the criticism to make it acceptable to its target? 

6. What is the goal of the satirist (i.e., how does the satirist wish society, the individual, the body politic, or an institution to change or amend itself)? 

7. How effective are the methods of this particular satirist? 

To write an analysis of a satirical piece, employ the following method: 

Write an opening paragraph identifying the vice, folly, or flaw targeted by the author, naming the target of the piece, outlining the characteristics of the audience of the satire, and explaining what effect the writer hopes to bring about through his or her use of satirical techniques. 

In your body paragraphs, address the specific techniques of language employed by the author to make the audience laugh (the honey) while criticizing something about an individual, an institution, or a society for the purpose of changing it for the better (the medicine). 

In your conclusion, predict the probable effect of the satire on its audience and/or evaluate how effectively the author has used the techniques of satire to produce a needed change.