Essay on Satires in We and Master and Margarita

The main social group portrayed in the cartoon “On Satire” by Joe Sacco, published in The Guardian, is the cartoonists. “On Satire” portrays other cartoonists as obnoxious, insensitive cavemen who often cross the line between satire and just outright offensive mockery of the religious beliefs of Muslims. The purpose of the cartoon is to ridicule the black and white way of representation/depiction of all Muslims as terrorists. Also he is aiming to get governments and news outlets to consider ways in which to stop terrorism by understanding where they are coming from instead of just eradicating all Muslims and hoping that terrorism dies with them.

“How to poison the earth” by Linnea Saukko can be seen in two different aspects. The first one would be by looking at it in a literal way, in which it will make it a very harsh, inhumane and cold text. On the other hand, it could be seen as a satire, sarcastic and ironic text in which Saukko expects to catch the reader’s attention. Saukko exaggerates the sarcasm, and satire in her writing in order to make the readers realize and understand the main purpose of her essay, which is to warn readers about threats to the future of our planet.

Coco Fusco and Gomez-Pena’s satirical piece was designed to exhibit “[the] Western concept of the exotic, primitive Other[s]” and even implicitly demean how Westerners view the “Others”(143) . While Fusco’s live performance was the actual reactions of the audience, but Fusco’s video “The Couple in the Cage” had other factors that gave the watchers a different view of the satirical piece. But, Fusco does not examine the role of her editorial decisions which leading the watchers into her own bias views. Fusco could have used different editorial methods or even forgo any edits of her live performance avoiding any biases when viewers watch “The Couple in the Cage.”

The first section of Fitzpatrick’s essay discusses how Marxism was such an important part to creating classes during the Bolsheviks rule in the beginning of the 20th Century. She notes that this western belief system was popular with Russian intellectuals, especially on revolutionary left. (173) However, around the 1890’s industrialization was starting to catch up with the Marxist dreams, and the first soviets were founded in Moscow and Petersburg in 1905 helped bring down the tsarist regime in February 1917 (Suny 173).

The USSR showed great educational progress as it is shown in the statistics , the literacy was twenty-five percent in 1915 and it grew to ninety-nine in 1980. Another example of Russia’s social condition is the massive instability and genocides during 1937 and 1938. In Document C it states “According to declassified Soviet archives, during 1937 and 1938, the NKVD detained 1,548,366 victims , of whom 681,692 were shot -an average of 1,000 executions a day ( in comparison, the Tsarists executed 3,932 persons for political crimes 1825 to 1910-an average of less than 1 execution per week).” (Document C) it shows how the NKVD, the police force that carried out Stalin’s orders to keep his people from rebelling and having freedom of speech

Aleksandar Nikitenko was among one of the serfs who served in Russia during the early 1800s. He was born from Ukraininan parents in Voronezh Province. His parents, soon along with Aleksandar, were serfs of the immensely wealthy Sheremetev family. Nikitenko’s father was chosen at a very early age to go to Moscow to sing in Count Sheremetev’s choir. While there, he received an education that allowed him to pursue intellectual interests. Nikitenko looked up to his father and believed that having to be kept in bondage despite his knowledge was entirely unfair. Throughout his life, Nikitenko is accepted by intelligent teachers for being quite knowledgeable. However, he is time and time again held inferior because of his social status. His family, had it not been for serfdom, would have probably been a part of a provincial middle class because of their associations with nobles and merchants.

This was the policy of the Russian General Tsitsianov, whose brutal policy of ruling the Caucasus through fear was a major cause in the mountaineers’ rebellion.

My understanding of the culture and the contextual considerations was deepened from the discussions and certain articles presented in class. The subjects brought to light were the unjust conditions and punishments of the 20th Century Soviet Russia under the oppressive Gulag system, the struggles for human dignity and the importance of faith. These articles explained the ways of the Gulag System in the early 19th century and the unjust mindsets of people prevailing in the society.

Set in a dystopian future, where juvenile delinquency rules the streets during the nights, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange is known worldwide for being a controversial piece of literature advocating violence, sex, and extreme terror. Alex, the main protagonist in Burgess’ narrative, and his droogs* are part of a youth subculture in this dystopian universe. The gangs within this fictitious subculture are highly reminiscent of the British Teddy Boys and the Mods, and Rockers movement. However, though many still ponder, it is yet to be known what Anthony Burgess’ true purpose was when writing this monstrous narrative.

During the Age of Enlightenment, people began believing in and relying upon rational thought instead of religious dogma to explain the world. This newfound emphasis on rationality promoted a breadth of freedom in speech that was previously unknown, a fact which was utilized by philosophers such as John Locke, Rousseau, and Sir Isaac Newton. In addition, the Age of Enlightenment produced famous writers who didn’t agree with the irrational politics and old traditions of their respective countries, and instead relied upon wit and satire to expose the corruption and poor human condition existing around them. These Enlightenment writers use irony in their satires to get their interpretations regarding the human condition across.

Effectively ushering change in society or pointing out faults that have existed and gone unnoticed can be a daunting task for any social commentator. Often, blandly protesting grievances or concerns can fall upon deaf ears and change can be slow or non-existent. However some social commentators, such as Jonathan Swift in his pamphlet A Modest Proposal, use clever, targeted, and ironic criticism to bring the social state of Ireland to the attention of indolent aristocrats. He accomplishes such criticism through satire, specifically Juvenanlian satire. Swift’s A Modest Proposal stands as a perfect example of the type of satire that plays upon the audience’s emotion by creating anger concerning the indifference of the voice created. He

The article “Anarchism and Anti-Intellectualism in Russia.” by Paul Avrich seeks to address the reasons why the Anarchist movement of the 20th century developed a distrust of rational institutions and intellectuals. The author looks into doctrines held by prominent Anarchist leaders such as Mikhail Bakunin, who rejected the belief that education who help lead the revolution. Avrich concludes with a short summary of where the Anarchist movement ended.

     Don Quijote was a tall, skinny “wanna-be” who found himself morally obligated to involve himself in other people’s business for the sole purpose of acting as a proper knight errant would. Although he believes that his “battles” help solve situations (though the results is usually the opposite), what it comes down to is that he wants to be famous, to be in love with his woman, to be accomplished, recognized, and adored. Therefore, Don Quijote’s motives are self-serving, and not “by-the-book” as a knight errant should be. “As much for the sake of his own greater honor as for his duty to the nation, he decided to turn himself into a knight errant...” (p. 15) The thing was, this was how knights generally were - a

Joseph Stalin’s three decade long dictatorship rule that ended in 1953, left a lasting, yet damaging imprint on the Soviet Union in political, economic and social terms. “Under his inspiration Russia has modernised her society and educated her masses…Stalin found Russia working with a wooden plough and left her equipped with nuclear power” (Jamieson, 1971). Although his policies of collectivisation and industrialisation placed the nation as a leading superpower on the global stage and significantly ahead of its economic position during the Romanov rule, this was not without huge sacrifices. Devastating living and working standards for the proletariat, widespread famine, the Purges, and labour camps had crippling impacts on Russia’s social

As two countries that have different cultures, economics, and politics, Russia and United Kingdom have developed their own education systems respectively, which have their differences and in certain circumstances similarities. In the paragraphs that follow, some major aspect of these will be covered. This essay will present the main structures of the education systems in both countries and will compare and contrast the two systems in terms of number of taught subjects, the structure of educational institutes and the ability to pursue higher education at the universities. I will consider both paid and free education.