The Use of Satire in Du Bois' "A Mild Suggestion"

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English Essay
Find two academic sources devoted to "satire" then use this research to analyze how satire
functions in Du Bois "A Mild Suggestion." Why might this use of satire be an effective
rhetorical strategy in Dubois essay?
Introduction
The discussion analyses the use of satire in Du Bois essay "A Mild Suggestion." Different
authors have argued differently on the aspect of satire when writing a story (Connell, 78). Some
authors describe satire as a form of making humor while others acknowledge satire as a mode of
criticizing a particular issue in society. The two academic sources describing on satire are;
Miller, Stuart S., et al. "Savage or satire: Individual differences in perceptions of disparaging and
subversive racial humor." Personality and Individual Differences 142 (2019): 28-41. The second
source is Caron, James E. "Satire Today: An Introduction to the Special Issue." Studies in
American Humor 5.1 (2019): 6-12.
Basically, satire is the technique which is used by writers to either expose or criticize
foolishness and corruption of a society or even an individual. Most writers use satire inform of
humor, irony and exaggeration and ridicule so as to criticize foolish and foibles when writing. In
"A Mild Suggestion" Du Bois uses fictional characters to pass information to the audience. As

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usual, writers tend to point satire towards the person, a country and even the entire world (Bones,
120).Therefore, the issue of satire one can argue that it is a comical piece of writing which
employs an aspect of the fun of a person or even society so as to expose the issue of stupidity and
shortcomings experienced. The aim of satire is to ensure those who have been affected by the
criticism will improve their weaknesses or try as much as possible to overcome. The discussion
on "A Mild Suggestion" will account all these features and the reasons why satire is being
identified as the rhetorical strategy in Dubois work (Singh, 12).
In addition satire is used in different fields .There is political satire whereby the writer can direct
the satire to different individuals within the country and even outside the country (Connell, 178).
The aspect of political satire is common and it’s of much significant. For example, the use of
modern graphics of cartoons to represent a certain ideology in a nation is a form of satire in
political arena. The other type of satire is found in literature. All the contents available for
readers are full of satire. For example the Shakespeare comedy is full of satire .Also, authors
such as the Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett used satire in their work such as in tropes of
science fiction that was connected to the modern satire (Connell, 200). In addition, the current
films and television employs the issue of satire when communicating to the audiences. This
shows that films and television are controlled by the experts who have masterly of satire. There
are all comedy in all kinds of programs offered in the television which have passages constructed
through the satire (Holbert, 12). For example, the classic films such as the Dr.Strangelove and
some concepts in modern work like the Birdman we can notice how they address contemporary
issues like the celebrity culture and racism by the use of satire all the way in their discussion.
The last area full of satire is the online work. The internet users loves to use the satire when

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communicating to the targeted individuals. Some of the most technical issue in the online always
uses satire. For example, most of videos in YouTube Series uses satire.
Discussion
Generally, Du Bois narrative "A Mild Suggestion" basically attempts to ensure a certain response
to the audience. The inclusion of passenger's reactions to the colored man's story to some degree
indicates the aspect of satire. The writer generally affects the total understanding of the reader to
the story. Without description on the final part of the narrative one may not get the intended
message (Holbert, 18).The message is categorical in the sense that if one interprets the content
wrongly then the purpose of colored man's story will be of no benefits and the message will be
misconstrued. Du Bois includes satire to ensure he leads the audience and structures reactions
more thoroughly in the story.
Satire in “A Mild Suggestion “story is explained in different ways. At first, by establishing the
reactions of characters in the final part of the essay it's clear that Du Bois purpose in
characterization was to boost the apparent reaction to the reader. The Little Old Lady impacts the
audience in satire form. At the beginning of the story, we can see that the Little Old Lady is not
much concerned about sitting beside the "colored man" in the story (Harrington, 19). The Little
Old Lady at first she condemns the "bad habits" of the colored man but we can see her sitting
beside her. At this point, the Little Old Lady mentions an aspect of stupidity and foolishness
whereby her behavior has been explained in a satirical manner. This means that the lady is
presented as prejudice towards the colored man in a satirical manner. After this, there is an
established context which helps in interpreting the final reaction in a satirical way. The Little Old
Lady also illustrates the aspect of satire in the final essay when he went silently to her cabin
having tears in her eyes (Hill, 290). The satirical part is that the Little Old lady is not angry with