Social Commentary

Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice. Social commentary can be practiced through all forms of communication, from printed form, to conversations to computerized communication.

Two examples of strong and bitter social commentary are the writings of Jonathan Swift and Martin Luther. Swift exposed and decried the appalling poverty in Ireland at the time, which was viewed as the fault of the British government. Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation against practices of the Catholic Church. Examples of social commentators from the are Charles Dickens and Will Rogers.

Read more about Social Commentary:  Forms of Social Commentary, Monologists, Discussion Shows, Talk Shows (call-in), Famous Social Commentators

Famous quotes containing the words social and/or commentary:

    Women have a hard time of it in this world. They are oppressed by man-made laws, man-made social customs, masculine egoism, the delusion of masculine superiority. Their one comfort is the assurance that, even though it may be impossible to prevail against man, it is always possible to enslave and torture a man.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    Lonely people keep up a ceaseless flow of commentary on themselves.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)