General

@stivik007: I never said I personally had the opinion that it was misused. The point was to say that depending on whatever side you look at it, one could make the case that it could be misused, or you could say it wasn't. This, however, as @burning said, goes more towards the political and religious side of things. It's just an example that I provided to OP.

But then again, we don't know the details of the assignment, so maybe you should address those comments towards the OP and not me.

@burning: Well, this is OP's essay, and this was the topic OP selected, so without further details I can't say any more on the issue. All I can do is give suggestions. OP can either take these suggestions or not do so, it doesn't matter. The only way I can see that would make sense, if OP wanted to construct anything that was noteworthy involving the "misuse" of satire, was to go from that angle (unless OP has better ideas). Given what the assignment may entail, I already suggested to OP to flesh out their thesis first and foremost before continuing. Get clear on what it is they want to write about.

Open communication can lead to well-written essays. There isn't some formula that you plug in that can determine what is a "well-written" essay. But once again that depends on the professor and that depends on OP's assignment and the requirements involved.

Investigate the intended purpose for satire (the genre) in general and cross-investigate it being used in an unintended purpose of the genre as a whole.

Popular examples in my opinion: and . Although on the surface the purpose is met in one way to expose the bias in , once you look at the context of the movement as a whole, you will see that is falls short of the intended purpose of a satire and exposes the bias and misinformation within its own movement. A more appropriate satiric handle would be eyouunderstandthiswithoutmeexplainingthecontext

You should find your own example which you can explain in the way you want.

@readers: "Satire that was intended one way may serve to offend others." Newsflash: that IS the dictionary definition of satire. Charlie Hebdo was free speech, and just because you don't like it doesn't mean you are now the arbiter of "misused" and "correctly used" satire. There's no such thing as "misused" satire.

@readers: An open prompt is an invitation to communicate comfortably and confidently. English professors care more that an essay is well written.

I also fail to see how the Charlie Hebdo shooting is relevant. It's more a discussion of politics and religion than of literature and language.

@burning: There are ways in which that can be circumvented. For example, OP should try to look at the bigger picture, rather than assuming one side of the issue (for example, by also claiming offense to the satire at hand alongside another group of people who do). Look at the broader contexts of how satire can affect both sides - in this case, both the ones who are satirizing and the ones satirized - and also consider how others outside of that context may also be affected.

To OP, while you can list some examples (I'll just give you it - Charlie Hebdo was what I was referring to), be sure that you are able to explain those examples well and show how that ties into your overall argument. Don't list off random examples for the sake of doing so. Having a good thesis statement is always important.

I don't like the topic you've chosen for yourself. Bad satire comes off as universally offensive. You're going to be writing how an example failed to be funny and ended being in bad taste. If not written well, that dangerously moves into off-topic territory.

@readers: Yes, it can be satire outside of reading.

I mean, depends on how you look at it. I'm just asking for some specific examples.

I did find one example, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough.

Is this an assignment that is focused specifically on the reading itself or can you provide examples of satire outside of that reading?

Are you also asking us to do your homework?

I'll just say that if you look, you can find many examples. Satire that was intended one way may serve to offend others (look at some recent events that have happened in the news the past few years - I'll give a hint, something happened in France, that's all I'll say). Or poorly done satire. Or come up with your own categories to explain how it can be misused.