Read about "A Modest Proposal"
Class Discussion Questions:
- What is "modest" about this proposal? It would seem to be the very opposite, right? So how does the title orient us to the motivations of the author (and the motivations of the proposer)?
- What methods does Swift use to make sure we read this proposal on a figurative level, instead of a literal level? On the other hand, why be figurative when he could have been more literal?
- Identify some of the advantages put forth by the proposer. Are these advantages part of the satire (of the author), or are we meant to see them as good things, apart from the actual proposal that they are offered to support?
- Judging from the second to last paragraph, what is the real message of this proposal, assuming as we should that Swift does not actually want his readers to eat one year olds?
