Essay --

Satire is a balanced combination of sarcasm, irony, humor, and rhetorical thingumabobs that each focus on mocking or ridiculing certain works. In The state of contendfare Prayer by Mark Twain and The date of the Ants by enthalpy David Thoreau, both short works satire the glorification of war. In comparison, The contend Prayer revolves around jingoism by displaying traces of shock, hyperbole and a juxtaposing shadowiness whereas The Battle of the Ants exhibits a historical background through sarcasm, verisimilitude, and a mock-heroic woodland. The fight Prayer by Mark Twain satirizes through jingoism, one satirical device is shown through shock I come from the Throne-bearing a pith from Almighty deity (Twain 5. 53) as citizens listen in on a church service in a country that is going to war the soldiers are being granted triumph and safety by paragons messenger however a stranger interrupts and claims he is Gods messenger, Twain used outrageous details to startle and clutch the readers attention showing a stranger demanding he is the messenger when instead someone else is, thus plotting a twist in the passage. Another satiric device that was used in Twains passage is hyperbole in every breast burned the set apart fire of patriotism (Twain 5. 2) the exaggeration was given its purpose to give the readers the throw of the time of great and exalting excitement (Twain. 5. 1) that was happening in the anon. town that was in the beginning of bloodshed. One more satirical device that was used in the The War Prayer is its juxtaposing tone Twain contrasts the praising and celebratory tone to the bitter tone at the end of the passage. At the beginning of the passage the tone is described as giddy and please The country was up in arms, the war was on, in ... ...nts battle-cry was Conquer or die.(Thoreau 3. 22). Thoreau uses level and elevated diction to persuade the reader that this crusade is not meaningless but glorifies the actual fierceness of warriors in combat, resembling actual wars. In conclusion, the satirical pieces discussed share common satirical techniques and differ in them as well. The War Prayer juggled around jingoism by using shock, hyperbole, and juxtaposing tone to give the passage multiple turnouts, resulting in a bathetic ending. The Battle of the Ants displayed its work through historical context using the satirical elements of sarcasm, verisimilitude, and a mock-heroic tone, thus resulting Thoreaus pompous writing to mocking historians who glorify war with detailed notes. Both accomplish the glorification of war by word picture hyper-patriotism and elevated diction in unique ways as well.