a billion people, two-thirds of them women, will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or write their names,” warns UNICEF in a new report, “The State of the World’s Children 1999.”
UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, points out that the illiterate “live in more desperate poverty and poorer health” than those who can read and write. The shocking number — 1 billion people illiterate — generated frightening headlines in major newspapers.
Poverty in the poorest countries is indeed something that ought to concern all of us, especially in a season when we pause to remember the less fortunate. But as usual, there’s more to this striking statistic than UNICEF tells us. Consider three points.
The Good News. Bad news sells, news watchers tell us. And 1 billion people unable to read and write — about 16 percent of world population — is certainly bad news. But let’s deconstruct the news.
First, UNICEF’s actual number is 855 million, a figure that did not appear in major newspapers. That’s still a large number, but it is 15 percent less than 1 billion.
Satire is the use of humor, exaggeration and irony to express human vices or foolishness. It is often used in the political arena or as a way to criticize government policy. There are two main types of satire: Horatian and Juvenalian.
- Horatian satire is more tolerant and humorous; its main purpose is to amuse. Juvenalian tends to be more serious.
- Horatian satire tends to be more witty.
- Juvenalian satire focuses on personal anger, and attacks vices such as hypocrisy and corruption.
- The language in a Juvenalian satire, while funny, can also be bitter and pessimistic.
Two works that are well-known examples of satire are:
- "The R a p e of the Lock" by Alexander Pope. This is an example of Horatian satire. This narrative poem tells the story of a woman who gets a lock of hair stolen from her. However, the story is told as a Greek epic, contrasting the absurdity of the event with its exaggerated style. It is humorous, while slightly critical of the social behaviour of the upper classes.
- "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is a satire that argues that the problems of Irish poverty would be solved if Irish parents sold their children as food for the rich classes. The language is a lot more poignant and reprobatory, and its hidden message is one of indignation. It is an example of a Juvenalian satire.
