Swift was outraged at the dire conditions present in Ireland. However, rather than writing angrily about the Irish famine, Swift instead wrote a Modest Proposal, suggesting that the Irish should eat their own children to solve both hunger and overpopulation. Another example of hyperbole is found in the character of Dr. Pangloss in Voltaire's Candide. In Candide, Voltaire satirizes idealistic philosophy. Dr. Pangloss is such an absurdly idealistic philosopher, he insists that everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds, even when the characters confront horrific fates, like being nearly burnt to death by the Spanish Inquisition.

Another common technique used in satire is irony, where the author says one thing but means another, particularly as a method of making people laugh at their follies. In Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock," Pope uses an epic style to describe a minor society incident, in which...
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