Stars for Sarcasm!

Satire is a form of literary genre or form. When you use satire vices, follies, or abuses are held up to ridicule. Satire isn't just to create humor in writing but to also create social criticism using wit as a weapon.
Satire isn't something that has come out recently, its been around for an extremely long time. One of the earliest examples of satire is The Satire of the Trades. It is an Egyptian writing from the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C. The readers of this text were students, tired of studying. It argues that their lot as scribes is useful, and their lot far superior to that of ordinary men. Some scholars thought the text was supposed to be serious but this was the beginning of satire.
In Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, he uses his satirical writing style to discuss the issue in his home country of Ireland in the early 1700s of famine, poverty, and too many people. His audience is mainly the people of Ireland, but mostly the government that is not oblivious to the issue, but choosing not to oblige the problem. He proposes many different resolutions in his writing, trying to persuade the government to make a call to action to help solve the problem of starvation and help reduce the oversized population of the homeless. Nobody seems to be trying to help the problem in Ireland, so in a sarcastic and satirical tone, Swift writes an essay, trying to get people to realize something needs to be fixed. In his essay he proposes that in order to reduce the population, people should start to eat their babies ranging from one to two years old. The proposal is absurd and disturbing, but it’s just drastic enough to catch the attention of the government and might actually make them do something about the situation. Swift makes this proposal because even though it is wrong on many levels to eat a baby, the child would provide food for those who are hungry and also limit the number of mouths that will later on become hungry and want to be fed.
One of the satirical political minds of today has also swept a nation with addressing the serious matters at hand as well as laugh in their faces. Bill Maher: Real Time is the epitome of political satire for the reason of having reason behind his sarcasm. The shows panel of speakers are some of the most educated people in America, talking about real issues, however Maher is able to reach the average Americans through a way that we can understand best, sarcasm. Not only is Maher getting a point across but one can also learn something in the hour-long HBO process.
The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are two very similar shows. They talk about politics and what all is going on the in world today. They discuss idiotic issues that our country as well as other nations believe to be extremely important when in reality, they are minor issues compared to everything else going on in the world. Their sense of humor is similar, it could be described as dry, sarcastic, or satirical. On air, they take light of the issues that need to be resolved not to be offensive, just to provide some comedic relief when tension rises. I like watching this show because they always make fun of Sarah Palin and they used to always make fun of George Bush, not like it’s hard to do either of those. I just love how they recognized how idiotic both politicians were and how stupid they sounded when they spoke. They made fun of the fact that Sarah Palin’s daughter became pregnant by the age of 16, is that really what we want to look up to as a nation? I highly doubt it.

A good example or a parody is the song “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” by Weird Al Yankovic, which is a parody of the song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper. Following is an excerpt of Al’s song:
Some girls like to buy new shoes
And others like drivin' trucks and wearing tattoos
There's only one thing that they all like a bunch
Oh, girls, they want to have lunch...
I know how to keep a woman satisfied
When I whip out my Diner's Card their eyes get so wide
They're always in the mood for something to munch
Oh, girls, they want to have lunch...
Satire can also be used to teach. Writing satire requires looking at a topic from a different point of view, and similarly those at whom it is directed are forced to view themselves from a new perspective also. We must be vigilant however because while it can be a valid and powerful tool for levity and change, if it is not written with clear thought, it can also ridicule and harm. However, this latter use often backfires, and is easily seen through as cheap sensationalism. Good satire then is generally used for its comedic value though when properly and thoughtfully applied it can be a powerful tool for change. The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club. It claims a national print circulation of 690,000 and says 61 percent of its web site readers are between 18 and 44 years old.[ Since 2007, the organization has been publishing satirical news audios and videos online, as the "Onion News Network".

The Onion's articles comment on current events, both real and fictional. It parodies such traditional newspaper features as editorials, man-on-the-street interviews, and stock quotes on a traditional newspaper layout with an AP-style editorial voice. Much of its humor depends on presenting everyday events as newsworthy and by playing on commonly used phrases, as in the headline, "Drugs Win Drug War."

A parody is also called a spoof, and is used to make fun or mock someone or something by imitating them in a funny or satirical way. Parody is found in literature, movies, and song.