Sedaris vs Swift

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The Delivery Humor is an emotion that can differ among audiences. A joke as simple as a knock-knock joke can be outrageously funny to one individual but be seemingly stupid to another. Perhaps it’s not the joke itself rather the delivery. A good writer is not that different from a good comedian. It’s all in the delivery. Two very distinguished writers David Sedaris and Jonathan Swift are well known for their impeccable delivery. This delivery can be seen in Sedaris’s works Turkeys in the Kitchen and Plague of Tics, as well as Swifts A Modest Proposal. When engaging in their writing there is a golden thread that weaves there works together, but at the same time there are elements that set them apart. For example both Sedaris and Swift use satire, however their satire defers in Swift use the satire towards others while Sedaris uses it to poke fun at himself. Sedaris uses the element of details to add to humor just as Swift uses details to add to his. There are differences in the humor as well such as Swifts appeal to utilitarianism opposed to Sedaris appeal to practicality. Swift and Sedaris are great writers who are similar as well as different in using humor, satire and irony in their delivery of their writing. Sedaris and Swift share multiple similarities in their writing such as the element of details to add humor. Engaging the reader with exact numbers or details paints a picture of how observed an action or idea can be. In the case of Swift his uses of exact details cause the reader to pounder on how outlandish his ideas really are in A Modest Proposal. When discussing the benefits of selling the poor children as meat Swift goes in to disturbing detail “ in the art of making good bacon so much wanted among us by the great destruction of pigs , too frequent at our table ; which are no way comparable in taste of magnificence to a well-grown , fat, yearling
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