A+Modest+Proposal

=__A Modest Proposal Questions (textbook) __= Jeremy Daoussis

1. A.How do you account for the confusion between swift writing a serious proposal, or the satirical piece it is? the confusion could stem from many ideas, the detail, the subject matter, even the title.

B. Does it have anything to do with Swifts great detail that can be a reason for the confusion? The graphic details could be the issue if the reader come into it with a very literal way of thinking. The extreme detail was on the contrary the way that the author presented his satire, without it, the effectiveness would have been minimal.

C. Why would the satire be less effective without these revolting details, this dwelling on the similarities between babies and animals raised for food and leather? Because of the fact that he put such great detail into something so revolting, it in a way was able to stretch the limits of what people were willing to do about the issue, and was able to prove satirical.

2. A. Does Swift plant clues about his speaker's intention? He hints before saying the full proposal when presenting the issue and the statistics, thats when we begin to see where this could be leading, but the hints were specific enough to lead us to that proposal.

B. Are there hints of the speaker's moral insensitivity in the paragraphs before the actual proposal is made? No, he comes talking about the proposal as a respectable person who is sincerely trying to solve an issue, but only when he proposes his thoughts do we see that this is an insensitive proposal.

C. What's different as you read this story a second time around when you know whats coming? Instead of feeling he's being sincere, but the second time around the tone has anger, disappointment, and condescending message.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">3. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. Where does this ambivalence show up in //A Modest Proposal//? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">While talking about the Irish in such a terrible way before his true thoughts come, and then at the moment he mentions the landlords you can tell that he's saying this maliciously because of his passion to help out the Irish.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">B. Can it be said that Swift communicates his contempt for the degraded Irish peasantry as much as his hatred for the English Oppressors? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">No, his anger towards the English isn't as strong as his passion for helping the Irish.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">4. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. When is the moment when the reality Swift claims for Ireland looks just as bad as the Cannibalism fantasy? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In Swift's last paragraphs he asks why anyone should reject his proposal unless they find why the Irish should be treated better, maybe cause it would look badly on the Kingdom? It was a wake up call to them that they have been leaving this issue unattended and that it's now reach extremely bad conditions. This is when the satire stops and he truly tries to communicate his real message.

//A Modest Proposal//

//- Douglas Scandrett//

**Author:** Jonathan Swift

**Genre/Influence:** Satire of proposals within the government

**Distinguishable Poetic Devices/Style:** Editorial. journalistic, educated style of writing. Parody of period newspaper articles and opinion pieces
 * Irony: Poor people of Britain should sell their babies to the rich to get rich
 * Hyperbole: Amount of exaggeration in the essay shows that it could in no way be serious
 * Situational Irony: The way in which Swift goes about his suggestion, he //recomends// the eating of Irish babies

**Historical Period/Influence:** Time of great famine and hardship for country, unwed mothers out of control, many beggars in the street. Set in the 1700’s during the romantics period.

**Characters/Relationships:** Author is the main character, Unnamed American is mentioned many times as the origin of the eating babies, the Irish

**Setting/Plot:** Written about people of Britain and Ireland during the 1700’s. It is a dark time with many hardships for the people, rampant food shortages and many poor people. It discusses the concept that people should eat babies from mothers that could no longer support them.

**Thematic Observations/underlined or target keywords**


 * Poem is designed to demonize the Americans in the eyes of the British due to their desertion of the Empire
 * Designed as a satire of current conditions within the country. Specifically written to shock the viewer, due to the incredible detail and the journalistic style the author uses
 * Supposed to show the British how it was OK to eat Irish babies

**Quotable-Memorizable “QTS”/Analysis:**

**“**...a young healthy child well nursed is at a yea; old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, weather baked or boiled; and I no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or ragout”- This quote shows the level of d and detail the author goes into while describing his plan. This is designed to provide a shock factor for the reader.