Menippean satire

Menippean satire is like a funny story that makes fun of important people or things. It's named after a guy named Menippus, who wrote stories like this a long time ago.

Imagine you have a big brother who always tells you what to do. You might make up a story where your big brother is bossed around by a tiny ant. That's kind of like menippean satire.

It's not just making fun of someone. Menippean satire is a way of pointing out the silly or strange things about society or people in power. It's like making a joke to show that something isn't quite right.

For example, there's a famous book called "Gulliver's Travels" where a guy named Gulliver visits strange lands where things are very different from what he's used to. But the way the book is written makes fun of how the powerful people in his own society act, too.

So menippean satire is like telling a funny story to make a point about how we act or think or treat each other.