Here is a very clear definition of satire by Robert Harris (Vanguard University of Southern California) from his Glossary of Literary Terms at http://www.sccu.edu/faculty/R_Harris/litterms.htm
 

Satire. A manner of writing that mixes a critical attitude with wit and humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and several other techniques are almost always present. The satirist may insert serious  statements of value or desired behavior, but most often he relies on an implicit moral code, understood by his audience and  paid lip service by them. The satirist's goal is to point out the hypocrisy of his target in the hope that either the target or the audience will return to a real following of the code. Thus, satire is inescapably moral even when no explicit values are promoted in the work, for the satirist works within the framework of a widely spread value system.

Study Questions on Donne's "Satire 3"
1.  What is the object of satire in this poem?  That is, what is the cause of the speaker's anger, scorn, and melancholy?  What is upsetting him?  What does he wish to accomplish through his "railing"?
2.  Who is the "we" of line 10?  The "Thee" of line 14 forward?
3.  Lines 15-32 criticize one kind of courage, calling the one who embraces it a "desperate coward," in order to urge a different kind of courage, which is the courage to "fear this" (15), i.e. to fear the scenario described in lines 11-15.  How do the two kinds of courage contrast?
4.  In lines 33-42, the speaker enumerates the three traditional enemies of God: the World, the Flesh, and the Devil.  (The baptismal rites of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England involve the new Christian's vow to reject these three).  How do these lines relate to the preceding discussion of courage?
5.  In line 5, the speaker refers to "our mistress, fair Religion."  ("Mistress" here means "lady love," in the chivalric or poetic sense, not "kept woman").  Consider the metaphor of Religion as Mistress in relation to the idea (stressed in the Book of Revelation and derived from Christian interpretations of the Old Testament Song of Solomon) that the Church is the Bride of Christ (see Chapter 4 of Song of Solomon for the beautiful erotic language used by the bridegroom to address his bride).  Consider also the relation between Donne's metaphor (of Religion as Mistress) and the idea (stressed in Protestant polemical writings of the period) that the Roman Catholic Church was the Whore of Babylon described in the Book of Revelation. (See  Chapter 17 of Revelation for a vivid description of this figure.)
6.  In lines 43-69, the speaker expands on the idea of religion as mistress by characterizing men of various philosophies and various religious denominations as lovers devoted to different types of mistress.  What sort of religion does Mirreus practice? Crantz?  Graius?  Phrygius?  Gracchus?
7.  Note that at lines 68-69, Donne makes a very dramatic enjambment, breaking the line in the middle of a word!  Why use such a striking distortion of form at this particular point in the poem?
8.  In lines 79-85, the speaker develops a metaphor in which the search for Truth is a laborious journey up a high hill.  How does this metaphor relate to the preceding section of the poem in which the speaker urges the addressee to "Seek true religion" only to ask himself "O, where?"  How is "true religion" related to "Truth" in the poem?
9.  The last part of the poem addresses the problem of people's resigning responsibility for their own spiritual and religious choice by relying on political and religious authorities.  Explain the stream metaphor in this section.
10.  To what extent is this a religious poem?  A  political one?  How are the religious and the political intertwined in the speaker's world?  What is his attitude toward the relation between the two?
11.  How does Donne's approach to "Truth" compare with Bacon's?

Here's a guide on the lyric form called the sonnet:
A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter, usually following a rhyme scheme corresponding to one of two basic patterns:

 1)  the Italian or Petrarchan rhyme scheme contains an octave rhyming ABBA ABBA and a sestet which may rhyme in any of a number of ways, including such patterns as CDDCEE, CDCCDC, CDCDCD, CDECDE, etc.  The Italian sonnet tends  to involve the development of an idea or theme through the eight lines of the octave, and then a rethinking or redirecting of that theme in the sestet.  The transition from octave to sestet is called the turn.
 2)  The English or Shakespearean rhyme scheme contains three quatrains and a couplet, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF  GG.  The poet using this sonnet form usually develops an idea or elaborate metaphor in the opening quatrain, then explores the same idea from different angles in the following two quatrains, and closes with a pithy commentary or reflection in the couplet.

Questions:
1.  The sonnet struggles with the same issues that give rise to "Satire 3"; how does it apply the sonnet form and aspects of the sonnet tradition to that struggle?
2.  How does the sonnet warp or rework aspects of Petrarchan tradition?
3.  How does the speaker interpret and apply the ideas of Bride and Whore discussed in Question 5 above?