Unit 8 Humour and Satire Exercise & Grammar - Class 11 English

Unit 8 Humour and Satire

A Few Kind Words for Superstition

Class 11 English – Notes, Summary, and Exercise are very important for perfect preparation.

Summary of “A Few Kind Words For Superstition”

Fadiman’s essay “A Few Kind Words for Superstition” is a satiric essay that exposes a bunch of superstitions which deeply embeds in the human experience. The author humorously notes that the educated and the uneducated both follow nonsense. Like it or not, superstitions can be found in all layers of society – well-off or not, literate or not.

The essay implies that science and modern education have advanced but most are still attached to old beliefs, that hardly make any logical sense. Whether you avoid black cats and broken mirrors or you have a thing for unlucky dates or numbers, the essay lightheartedly reflects how these superstitions manage to burrow into even our modern brains.

Purpose of the Essay

The essay seeks to achieve two objectives:

• To amuse – It is a picaresque novel in which it caricaturizes superstitions and ridiculousness in stereotypes using its satire and humor to make butts of these.
• To inform – It makes us to think about what we believe in and how important it is to be able to think critically and have available to us an education so that we are not overcome with such nonsense.

Main Ideas

• Every culture's got its superstitions, and nobody questions the mind that follows them.
• Irrational beliefs capture even the educated.
• The following line is used to make you realize how stupidly people follow what they've been told.
• Superstition is hard to break and education goes a long way in breaking the superstition.
• Awareness, strong logical thinking and mass education is the only cure to eradicate superstitions.

What Makes It Satirical?

• The tone is playful but acicular, poking fun at those who adhere to superstitions.
• “The essay is taking these everyday beliefs and blowing them out of all proportion because they’re so absurd.”
• Even the educated modern class that the author condescends to, is not spared ridicule at its blind faith.
• The writer is making you know that he is doing so, and then again you know that you are being made to learn it.

Message of the Essay

The author makes the point that the pursuit of a good educational system is the key to a release from superstition. By encouraging logic, reason, and skeptical thinking, people can escape the indoctrination of generational myths. In a secular world those things may get in the way of progress.

Conclusion

“A Few Kind Words for Superstition” remains entertaining and thought-provoking. It demonstrates how social reform and education need to work together to wipe out superstitions. The essay acts as a reminder to question irrational norms and make choices on the basis of facts, not fear.