"Advice to Youth" by Mark Twain: Satire

*Satire-the use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule, to attack the vices and follies of humankind

The advice Mark gives to the youth:

-"Always obey your parents." This is the first peice of advice Mark gives. However its the words that follows these that is satirical. "When they are present." Twain is say only to obey your parents only when they are around. So when you're on your own, at school, outside, where ever, you don't have to obey your parents.

-"Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others." An example Twain uses is, if a person offends you and you're not sure whether they did it intentionaly or not, don't resort to extreme measures trying to get back at them. Just simply watch them and wait for the best chance to get them back.

-"Go to bed early, wake up early." Twain says this is wise, some authorities say to wake up with the sun rise, and some say other things, but Twain says that the best way to get up is with a lark, and if you find the right one, you'll get a good reputation.

-The fourth peice of advice Twain gives is about lying. "You want to be very careful about lying" Twain says. Instead of saying that lying is bad and don't do it. He says to be careful, otherwise you will get caught.

-"Never handle firearms carelessly." This one is funny. Twain is saying that is ok to handle a gun, jus be careful.

-The last peice of advice that Twain gives is about reading. He says that the best books to read are that ones that young people read. Implying that we dont have to waste our time with these huge chapter books and their fancy vocabulary. The simplified ones are better.