Dryden's Satire

1. According to the first paragraph of "Of Satire," what is the purpose of satire? Dryden's claims that satire is used to chastise and condemn wicked men. It is also used to steer those wicked men away from committing worse crimes and actions.

2. What does Dryden say in the second paragraph is the type of satire he admires most, and to what does he attribute one's ability to use this type of satire successfully? He admires fine raillery. He says that it takes a great amount of skill to make a man appear to be incompetent and foolish without resorting to the use of slanderous names and titles. Dryden makes it seem like its an art to be able to use fine raillery effectively.

3. What words does he use to show his disapproval of harsher forms of satire? He uses the word "easy" to make it seem like using harsh and obvious forms of satire requires no skill. Other words like "grossness" and "slovenly" also gives the reader the idea that using harsher satire takes no skill. Those two words also show how a little amount of thought is used and applied to harsh satire. By using the word, "opprobrious", Dryden makes harsher satire something the write should be ashamed of using. Calling someone outright stupid is not classy.

Work Cited

Dryden, John. "Of Satire." British Literature. Ed. Ronald A. Horton. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1999. Print.