When & How to Write Sardonically

How to Write Sardonically

Sardonic humor arises from your attitude towards life and people and you can’t fake it. You need to have sardonic
perceptions in order to say sardonic things! If you want to try to develop a sardonic style, you may be able to learn by
reading and watching sardonic authors and characters and imitating their style. You can start with the classics: Mark Twain,
Oscar Wilde, and P.G. Wodehouse (see section 7). Or watch more BBC television—such as John Cleese in Fawlty Towers,
Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock Holmes, or Rowan Atkinson in Black Adder. The British are generally much more sardonic
than Americans because understatement has a high value in British culture, whereas American humor tends to be loud,
extreme, and obvious.

Along the way, you’ll notice a few things about sardonicism:

1. It’s dry. Sardonic lines aren’t over-the-top. They don’t call attention to themselves; they’re more like needles than
hammers. This is why sardonicism is more typically British than American.
2. It’s short. A sardonic comment shouldn’t be long. The idea of “rapier wit” should be your guide here. Use only as many
words as you need, and not one more.

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 3. It’s harsh, but not necessarily mean. While it’s certainly possible to use sardonic comments in a mean-spirited way,
they should usually be funnier than they are mean. Close friends in movies often tease each other with sardonic
comments for fun.

When to Use Sardonicism

Sardonic characters appear often in popular movies and TV shows. A comedy, for example, can consist mainly of sardonic
exchanges between characters. In a more serious story, you can still bring in humor from time to time with a sardonic
character.

It may be tempting to use sardonic lines in essays as well, because they are witty and make you sound smart. But this is a
mistake; snarky comments in a formal essay don’t make you seem smart. They just make it seem like you’re focusing too
much on being witty and not enough on solid arguments and research. It can give the impression that you’re not taking the
assignment seriously. Besides, your goal in a paper is not to show how smart you are; it’s to make a good argument about a
specific topic. So it’s best to avoid sardonicism in essays for school.

List of Terms

Action Ad Hominem

Adage Adventure

Allegory Alliteration

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 Allusion Alter Ego

Ambiguity Amplification

Anachronism Anagram

Analogy Anaphora

Anecdote Antagonist

Anthimeria Anthropomorphism

Antithesis Antonomasia

APA Citation Aphorism

Aphorismus Apologia

Apologue Aporia

Aposiopesis Appositive

Archaism Archetype

Argument Assonance

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 Asyndeton Atmosphere

Autobiography Ballad

Bathos Bildungsroman

Burlesque Buzzword

Cacophony Caesura

Catharsis Character

Characterization Chiasmus

Chronicle Chronology

Circumlocution Cliché

Cliffhanger Climax

Coherence Comedy

Comic Relief Connotation

Consonance Contrast

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 Conundrum Cynicism

Denotation Denouement

Deus ex machina Deuteragonist

Diacope Dialect

Dialogue Diction

Dilemma Doppelganger

Double Entendre Drama

Dramatic irony Dystopia

Elegy Ellipsis

Encomium Enjambment

Enthymeme Epigram

Epilogue Epiphany

Epistrophe Epitaph

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 Epithet Eponym

Equivocation Essay

Etymology Euphemism

Excursus Exemplum

Exposition Extended Metaphor

Fable Fairy Tale

Fantasy Farce

Figures of Speech Flash-forward

Flashback Folklore

Foreshadowing Foreword

Genre Haiku

Hamartia Harangue

Homage Homograph

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 Homophone Horror

Hubris Hyperbaton

Hyperbole Idiom

Imagery Inference

Innuendo Intertextuality

Invective Irony

Jargon Juxtaposition

Kairos Legend

Limerick Lingo

Literary Device Litotes

Malapropism Maxim

Melodrama Memoir

Metanoia Metaphor

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 Metonymy Mnemonic

Monologue Montage

Motif Motto

Mystery Myth

Narrative Narrator

Nemesis Neologism

Nostalgia Ode

Onomatopoeia Oxymoron

Palindrome Parable

Paradox Parallelism

Paraphrase Parody

Pastiche Pathetic Fallacy

Pejorative Peripeteia

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 Persona Personification

Plagiarism Platitude

Pleonasm Plot

Plot Twist Poetry

Point of View Polemic

Polyptoton Polysyndeton

Premise Prologue

Propaganda Prose

Protagonist Proverb

Pseudonym Pun

Quest Rebus

Red Herring Repetition

Resolution Rhetoric

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 Rhetorical Device Rhetorical Question

Rhyme Riddle

Romance Sarcasm

Sardonic Satire

Science Fiction Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Setting Simile

Soliloquy Sonnet

Stanza Stereotype

Story Style

Subtext Surrealism

Symbol Synecdoche

Synesthesia Synonym

Synopsis Tautology

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 Theme Thesis

Thriller Tone

Tragedy Trope

Truism Turning Point

Understatement Urban Legend

Utopia Verisimilitude

Vernacular Vignette

Villain Voice

Wit Wordplay

Zeugma

© Copyright Literary Terms

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