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Satire The four examples I have token up were, at first, difficult to comprehend. However, with some research and aid from notes, I have been able to figure out and decipher the real meanings behind these satirical articles and drawings. With the knowledge of comedy and humor, I analyzed each example given to me with precision, however, my knowledge of financial undertakings are not vast, thus, I might not have succeeded in expectations for information on finance and firms. Moreover, I confide my completion of the four examples and their meanings to be true and with correct, therefore I present to you my understandings of the elements and faulty logic behind each example. In the first example: Bic Crystal Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point, Black, the type of humor I found it to be was epigram humor. This is because it is a satire about mankind; the author is referring to the Bic pen as the materialization in the world today. This quote, I couldnt contain my excitement and went around finding things to write on, is one proof of this epigram humor, it translates to I couldnt contain my excitement and went around telling people about my new things. This article is directed at the consumers of today, the people whom buy, just for the pleasure of holding what is the best in a new craze. As the audience of this specific example, we are being reminded of the mindless consuming we do every day, and of how we cherish the items we buy. If you let the ink dry for a few seconds you can avoid the smudging that sometimes happens if you rub the ink immediately after writing. This shows how when we buy a new object of technology, or clothing, or accessory, we tend to rub the ink in, showing that we only care about what others think, that we value our possessions too much, and that we do not care what we ourselves deserve or really need. In this article, the author is mocking the

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human kind today in a clever saying, putting the Bic pen in specific settings and cases. An example of this is: but I neednt have worried, this isnt some temperamental ink pen that leaks when you store it at the wrong angle. In this example, the author is criticizing how we treat our possessions, like how we treat our cloths with the greatest prestige, and how we treat our cars better than anything else we possess. This author would like us to think about how we treat our things, he wants us to stop and think about the actual worth of objects like video games and cellular phones. As example one is making fun of humanity today, it is not intending to hurt anyone, however, it is advising us to think differently and advise our materialization and the value of our possessions. Thus, I say that this article is horational comedy, since it is playfully amusing & seeks to correct foolishness with gentle understanding, as well as it is an epigram humor. The second example: Study: Abstinence-Only Lunch Programs Ineffective at Combating Teen Obesity, was portrayed to be blue humor. Blue humor is a type of humor that is not appropriate for the public speaker, and is based on easily offensive subjects. The reason I chose blue humor is because this article talks of and easily offensive subject to most people, teen sex. This article is also a violation of societal taboo, matter that should be discussed seriously, however, is discussed in a satirical matter. A proof of this is the title of the example, Abstinence-Only Lunch Programs Ineffective at Combating Teen Obesity, which translates to Abstinence-Only Program Ineffective at Battling Teen Pregnancy. Another proof of blue humor is an excerpt from the article, After all, theyre teenagers, Sebelius continued. Eating is practically the only thing on their minds. Here the author of the article is ridiculing eating as having sexual intercourse, he is creating an article full of double entendres. In this quote, he is

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also proposing that Kathleen Sebelius (secretary of health and human services) is harsh and ignorant about the topic. However, the issue is that, Kathleen Sebelius initially launched a funding for the support of pregnant and parenting teens and women (HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces the Availability of Funding for the Support of Pregnant and Parenting Teens and Women." United States Department of Health and Human Services). This articles target is the people whom think that teen sex is not occurring, and those who are working toward stopping it, like the advertising campaign Just Say No, that was part of the United States War on Drugs (Evans, R.I. Encyclopedia of Public Health p. 1354). The audience of this article is mainly directed to people whom reside in the United States of America, I know this because the report is from Washington. As part of the audience, the author is giving out the message that abstinence only sex education is ineffective in present day America. In this article, the author is mocking teen sex in a specific way, he is talking about it, hypothetically, in obvious matters, and even at the end of the article he writes Its really hard, though, Holmes added. I get so hungry sometimes. Especially after hours and hours of unprotected sex. He ridicules the fact that he himself is writing the satire, and adds in intended humor too. Also, as I said before, he specifically mocks his target by creating double entendres and humoring his audience. Like the first example, the second example is a horational comedy, since it is has gentle as well as blue humor. The third and fourth examples are not similar to the first two, instead of written satires; they are drawn satires, political cartoons. For example three, I noticed the Goldman Sachs tag on the mans desk, thus, I researched the topic and found that Goldman Sachs is a global investment banking and securities firm which engages in investment banking, securities, investment

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management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients ("History and Growth". Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.). I then concluded that the target of this satire was Goldman Sachs. In this cartoon, the artist is criticizing the Goldman Sachs firm, because they were blamed of causing the destruction of the global economy ("Another Lobbyist Headed Into Obama Administration", Justin Rood and Emma Schwartz). Taking advantage of this, the artist wrote inept terrorist fails to blow up New York City, suspect claimed to work on wall St, then he drew the character at the desk saying What an amateur! He shouldve used derivatives..! Which I think mocks Wall Street in general, because Bernard Madoff, a former stock broker who created the largest Ponzi scheme in history, cheated numerous people of their money by selling derivatives that on Wall Street, all the big companies like Goldman Sachs are being blamed for working with him ("The List: The World's Largest Hedge Funds". Foreign Policy). The audience of this satirical cartoon, is the political and financial leaders that strongly understand what is taking place in the financial world. This political drawing, as well as the next one, is juvenalian humor, because it is directed at someone to create madness, and not happiness within them. The second cartoon depicts a large pen and the sentence too big to fail, except fail is crossed out and replaced with jail. This, once again, is directed at Goldman Sachs, for it the name is imprinted in the pen. The artist is referring to April of this year, when the SEC, or security and exchange commissions, for the government of the United States charged the Goldman Sachs with fraud in structuring and marketing of mortgages (Goldman Sachs. "Goldman Sachs Makes Further Comments on SEC Complaint").The reason fail is crossed out is because the lawsuit did not progress, and Goldman Sachs was not put down, or not jail-ed. The artist is ridiculing the firm for their amount of vein, for this is not the first time they have been charged of fraud and got away with it. Personally, I did not understand this cartoon to my full potential; however a

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more appropriate audience would be, once again, political and financial leaders that strongly understand the situation of Goldman Sachs. My knowledge of satire and of its different types have improved and increased throughout the reading and annotation of these four examples. I feel confident when approaching a satirical essay, article, or even drawing after analyzing and expressing my understanding. I now know the true meaning of satire: the sarcastic ridicule of anything, it can be harsh or nice, or funny or strange, as long as it has humorous intensions.

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Bibliography HHS. "HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces the Availability of Funding for the Support of Pregnant and Parenting Teens and Women." United States Department of Health and Human Services. HHS, 6 Nov. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2010 Evans, R.I. (in press). Just say no. In Breslow, L., Encyclopedia of Public Health (p. 1354). New York: Macmillan. Reisner, Lorin L. "SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud in Structuring and Marketing of CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages; 2010-59; April 16, 2010." U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Home Page). SEC, 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. "History and Growth". Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Retrieved March 10, 2010. "Another Lobbyist Headed Into Obama Administration", Justin Rood and Emma Schwartz, ABCNews.com, January 27, 2009 "The List: The World's Largest Hedge Funds". Foreign Policy. September, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008. Goldman Sachs (April 16, 2010). "Goldman Sachs Makes Further Comments on SEC Complaint". Retrieved April 27, 2010. "Derivatives | Define Derivatives at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2010.