Satire Essay AP Language
AP English Language & Composition
A satire is a work that is intended to ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events or doctrines, or to make fun of human faults or weaknesses. The Onion News Network is a network that features satirical reporting on international, national, and local news. The Onion created an article called MagnaSoles, and this is a satire. It speaks about this so-called “MagnaSole product” and really tries to advertise and sell it. Many rhetorical strategies and appeals show up in this piece of writing. Some appeals shown are false ethos, false logos and technical language, or jargon.
False ethos would be making it seem like a person or a product has credibility and authority when it really does not even exist. This shows up multiple times throughout this satire. The Onion uses credible people to sell the product such as “Dr. Arthur Bluni” This is false ethos because he is not a real doctor, yet some people might believe what he is saying because his title is “Dr.” (Line 9). It also has statements from another man that has the title of “Dr.” named “Dr. Wayne Frankel” (Line 41), which gives the product false ethos appeal as well. Then the Onion uses reviews from different “costumers” that have “used” the MagnaSole product and uses their good reviews on the product as an ethos appeal. Some of the reviews stated “’ I twisted my ankle something awful a few months ago, and the pain was so bad, I could barely walk a single step,’ said Helene Kuhn of Edison, NJ. ‘But after wearing MagnaSoles for seven weeks, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in pain and can now walk comfortably. Just try to prove that MagnaSoles didn’t heal me!’” (Line 56). This “review” is meant for ethos because it shows that this so called product actually works and that actual people have used it. The author added where this woman was from to make it seem more real and it worked. But the issue is that with a twisted ankle, that usually heels within a few weeks so she said she wore
A satire is a work that is intended to ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events or doctrines, or to make fun of human faults or weaknesses. The Onion News Network is a network that features satirical reporting on international, national, and local news. The Onion created an article called MagnaSoles, and this is a satire. It speaks about this so-called “MagnaSole product” and really tries to advertise and sell it. Many rhetorical strategies and appeals show up in this piece of writing. Some appeals shown are false ethos, false logos and technical language, or jargon.
False ethos would be making it seem like a person or a product has credibility and authority when it really does not even exist. This shows up multiple times throughout this satire. The Onion uses credible people to sell the product such as “Dr. Arthur Bluni” This is false ethos because he is not a real doctor, yet some people might believe what he is saying because his title is “Dr.” (Line 9). It also has statements from another man that has the title of “Dr.” named “Dr. Wayne Frankel” (Line 41), which gives the product false ethos appeal as well. Then the Onion uses reviews from different “costumers” that have “used” the MagnaSole product and uses their good reviews on the product as an ethos appeal. Some of the reviews stated “’ I twisted my ankle something awful a few months ago, and the pain was so bad, I could barely walk a single step,’ said Helene Kuhn of Edison, NJ. ‘But after wearing MagnaSoles for seven weeks, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in pain and can now walk comfortably. Just try to prove that MagnaSoles didn’t heal me!’” (Line 56). This “review” is meant for ethos because it shows that this so called product actually works and that actual people have used it. The author added where this woman was from to make it seem more real and it worked. But the issue is that with a twisted ankle, that usually heels within a few weeks so she said she wore