...at hand. He also appeals to logic by asking why it is the public’s responsibility to take care of these needy families. Swift appeals to pathos and ethos through the diction he uses when describing the problem. He wants the situation to change but he wants it to change for every party. 4. Explain the irony in Swift’s title, "A Modest Proposal." The title is ironic because the proposal is anything but modest. Swift presets an outrageous solution to an ongoing problem. His proposal calls attention to this problem in an extremely eye-catching way. He seems very sincere, but at some point it is clear that he is being satirical. 5. Where does this essay fit on the continuum (Horatian to Juvenalian)? Explain/support your position. I believe that this essay is more Juvenalian (bitter). Swift sees the targets of his satire as harmful to society. He criticizes the Irish masses for not taking care of themselves. He also sheds some light on the...
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...1. What elements of satire did you notice upon your first read of the article? The Onion uses a satirical tone to draw attention to the public’s gullibility and the advertising industry’s power. There is a touch of humor throughout the article that mocks the exaggerated diction advertisers use in real life. The article even goes as far as to make up its own scientific diction including the change of neutrons into “comfortrons” and nuclei to “pain-nuclei.” 2. What rhetorical strategies contribute to the satire? How are they effectively used? The use of numerous hyperboles throughout article brings awareness to the fact that advertisements do the same thing, over-exaggerations. The article in its entirety is ironic, it is an advertisement making fun of advertisements, which adds some humor to the criticism. 3. What are the key differences between student response 2A and student response 2B? How do you account for the three point difference in scores? The difference between 2A and 2B is that essay 2A provided evidence and explained in detail the rhetoric devices and how they were used effectively; 2B on the other hand simply just answered the prompt. 4. Explain the score received by the writer of 2C. Where do you think this writer might have missed an opportunity to craft a much stronger essay? Where are the opportunities for improvement? I believe the writer could’ve crafted a much stronger essay if they thoroughly understood what the prompt was asking. It seemed...
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...A Modest Proposal Essay Sheila Wolfe HUM112041VA016-1152-001: World Cultures II Dr. Sue Lafferty 01/31/2015 I chose to do my essay on Jonathon Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”. Swift’s Essay is a style called satire (the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. – Dictionary.com). When you first start to read the essay Swift describes the horrible conditions of the poor and the burden on the parents to try and feed their children. As you read on Swift starts to talk about the poor innocent babes being murdered by their mothers or the voluntary abortions running rapid in the Kingdom – “……Women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expense than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breast.” After swift goes through a lengthy description of the deplorable state that the poor are in and running the numbers of children by the poor he then purpose his thoughts on how to deal with the children. His plan for helping the poor sell and eat their children. WHAT?? Swift wrote “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragoust.” When I first read those...
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...English 1010-22 Seminar in Academic Writing: Satire Spring 2009, Tu/Th 11:00am-12:45pm BCH 443 Instructor: Brandon Hawk Office: CLAS 151 Office Phone: 860-486-3706 Mailbox: CLAS 210 E-mail: brandon.hawk@uconn.edu Office Hours: Tu 10:00-11:00am (I am also available by appointment--I will be on campus most weekdays, so feel free to contact me to schedule another time.) "Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow." -- Lawrence Clark Powell Required Texts (Prices are approximations based on Amazon.com listings) Henderson, Bobby, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (New York: Villard, 2006). ISBN: 0812976568. $11.16. Strunk, William, and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed. (Needham Heights: Pearson). ISBN: 020530902X. $9.95. Swift, Jonathan, A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (Mineola: Dover, 1996). ISBN: 0486287599. $2.00. Course Packet (provided on first day of class--but which will expand throughout the course). Various supplemental handouts I will give you throughout the semester (all of which you must keep through the whole of the semester). An email address that you check daily. This will be my primary out-of-class form of communication, so be sure to stay vigilant for any and all emails I will send to you. You are responsible for reading all email correspondences and acting accordingly. Course Overview This course is a four-credit, semester-long writing seminar...
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...Science And Satire: A Critical Lens Essay Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Defined by the Merriam- Webster Dictionary as “a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn,” satire is generally used to mock one’s society. Jonathan Swift’s quote, “Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own,” conveys that when one is being satirical and making general comments about society, the focus is on everyone else’s actions and flaws, rather than our own. Swift’s work, Gulliver's Travels, in its entirety, is a satire on the scientific...
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...The topic for my research project will be how a middle school eighth-grade classroom can learn about everyday satire through the study of songs such as “Three Cord Song” and “Repeat Stuff”. These two songs work to satirize everyday features in the form they appear, in particular, they satirize pop songs. This project will be composed of two main sections. There will be a lesson plan with resources that will demonstrate how the students will be learning the material and how they will be engaging with the songs. The other part will be an essay detailing the relationship between these songs, their form, and how they create an everyday type of satire. The essay will mainly be working with “Three Cord Song”, “Repeat Stuff”, “The Grammar of Motives”, The United States of Banana, The Colbert Report, and Attitudes to History. Other texts may be used infrequently to fully demonstrate or explain a point....
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...Very “Modest” Irony and Satire Jonathan Swift was born in Ireland in the 18th century during an era that has come to be known as the Golden Age of Satire. As a writer, he was profoundly influenced by the political climate of his times, especially the plight of the Irish poor, which spurred him to write the satirical, social commentary “A Modest Proposal.” The satirical essay addresses the issue of inequality and poverty experienced by the Irish through an outlandish solution that is “beneficial” to everyone. Verbal is present throughout the essay and even in the title. The proposal is far from modest and is rather shocking which Swift does to grab the attention of the reader. He satirically recommends commoditizing Irish babies to improve the economic outlook by selling poor Irish babies to the rich as a delicious food item. Swift’s proposal in his essay is a technique used to highlight a real issue and bring awareness to it by ridiculing the public (reader) through satire. The definition of satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, and ridicule to expose and criticize people’s vices. In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift does exactly that through clever social commentary on the issue of poverty among the poor in Ireland through the various forms of satire. Swift differentiates the social classes in his writing through imagery, detailing the differences between the rich and the poor. He states, “Prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their...
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...1. Introduction: The event that shooked the world 2015 has started very tragic in France, but also in journalistic and political satire profession. On January 7th two armed men entered the famous political satire newsroom Charlie Hebdo in center of french capital and killed twelve people. Reason was simple drawings of prophet Muhammad A week later come another editorial which was sold in five million copies. The second example happened Ten years earlier in Denmark police avert attack on another newsrooom. At that time target was Jyllands Posten . In both cases, the authors have joked with the extremity of the Muslim faith, joking with the Prophet Muhammad. As is known, they (Muslims) appear his appear not even in the Koran. But what is actually political satire in this topic and why is important? Acording to Oxford dictonary political satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggetion or ridicule to expose and criticitze people stupidaty in the context political. Political satire is usually connected with social commentary. It is has been a spoken or written act of rebellion toward an individual or group; commentary on social issues or society. Political satire is allround us. It can be usually be found in popular culture like books, movies, web pages , cartoons, television shows, caricature, foto montages ect. One of good example of it is famous book Animal Farm by George Orwell, where author critisise political system and moral values begin to fail . On the other...
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...Margaret Hazell ENG 2850 9 April 2013 What is satire, satire is a particular genre of literature that sometimes makes use of graphic and performing arts with the intent of ridiculing society into self-improvement. With social criticism being its main goal, it utilizes wit and dark sarcasm as its main tools to illustrate its point. Satire influences individuals to reevaluate themselves in order to modify senseless thoughts and behaviors. Various techniques are used in order to deliver a satirist effect, those of which house wit as their main weapon. These methods harmonize the mastering of coexisting trivial and serious matters as one sarcasm, showing praise but meaning the contrary to demonstrate irony, and asking questions rhetorically. Additionally, the author might understate an issue in order to maneuver the audience towards the true importance of the topic, adversely; exaggeration is used to lower the impact of an issue to its lesser value. Collectively, these techniques are exercised to bring out the human follies and vices in society. In Molière’s Tartuffe and Jonathan Swift’s essay A Modest Proposal, that both obliquely criticize and burlesque human behavior and the perception we have towards others. Through a satirist delivery, these authors offer an insight past the seemingly obvious, and aim to improve this faulty custom of one sidedness rather than eliminating it. Although these pair of literary pieces illustrates satire, it is Molière’s play Tartuffe that generates...
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...Alejandro Delgado Professor Wolf British Literature February 23, 2012 A Flawed Justice System When a society has a problem and it needs to be dealt with in a fair manner, the society turns to its judicial system, which lays down the rules of how to go about the case and determine the punishment. There were many different societies that enforced a law system according to their needs and population, and this goes the same for the era. Ben Jonson and Jonathan Swift are two very popular and well respected authors of satire, who have made stories that made society question the judicial system that they carried. Ben Jonson satirizes the judicial system in his play Volpone, a story of an old but sneaky man who manipulated people into giving him things for the possibility of becoming the heir of his grand fortune. Jonathan Swift mocks the way England is carried out politically in Gulliver’s Travels, the story of Lemuel Gulliver who travels by sea to four different lands and learns of their habits whilst comparing them to England and opening his eyes to the flaws of England. One of the most crucial points in the story of Volpone would be the case of Bonario and Celia, who are being falsely accused by Corvino, Voltore and Corbaccio, who are currently competing for the position of becoming Volpone’s heir. Jonson mocks the system by simply giving full control to the men of power and portraying the avocatores as very gullible men. Before entering the court, the...
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...and did not want to be under England’s control. Legislation was enacted by England that severely limited the rights of the Irish to hold government office, purchase real estate, get an education, and advance themselves in other ways. As a result, many Irish fled to foreign lands, including America. Most of those who remained in Ireland lived in poverty, facing disease, starvation, and prejudice. By the 1720’s, Ireland was overly occupied and a majority were the poor lower class. In Jonathon Swift’s essay, “A Modest Proposal”, Swift uses the literary devices satire, persona, and logos to emphasize the poor quality of living and overpopulation of the inhabitants of Ireland, and calls for a renovation of the current system through the cooperation of the classes thus showing that one voice, can be a loud one. Swift uses many rhetorical devices throughout the work to demonstrate the necessity of change to the current lifestyle of the lower class. This essay is well known for its’ satire, which Swift uses throughout the whole composition, trivializing the poor conditions of the low Irish class. “A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricase, or a ragoust.” (672) The satirical statement that people should begin selling their own children to be eaten emphasizes the extent the economic and population crisis has come to in Ireland...
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...Assignment 1: Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” Dr. Anthony McCormack Strayer University World Culture II Gladys A. Reyes July 25, 2015 In the satire “A Modest Proposal’, Jonathan Swift expresses his feelings of frustration with regard to the aggravation and political issues in Ireland. He describes being frustrated with the indifference of Ireland politicians, the wealthy, the English tyranny, and the degradation and poor conditions in which many poor, Irish women and children have been forced to live in. Swift is embarrassed for those that come to the towns and travel the country, only to see the streets full and crowded with beggars. Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” satire is a reality called for the politician, the wealthy, and the people of Ireland to look for way to improve the lives of the poor, to stop the English social oppression, and to ultimately end the indifferences and life inequalities in Ireland (Levine, 1995). Jonathan Swift was born of Protestant, English parents in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667. He was a man that was immersed in the secular world of men and woman, of politics and political intrigue. He was a devoted friend to those he loved as he was an implacable enemy to those he disliked. He lived in London most of his life, but after the death of Queen Anne in 1714, he was offered a position as Dean of St. Patrick’s in Dublin. He held his position until his death in 1745 at the age of seventy eight. He was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Glendinning...
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...Satire Throughout “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest satire writers of all time. He demonstrates satire through mathematical proposals and multiple quotations throughout a “A Modest Proposal” to focus on the deplorable situation in Ireland that is caused by the English all while engaging the reader with his own barbaric proposal that he makes seem realistic through description. The readers must understand that Jonathan Swift is using satire because through his satire, Swift illustrates issues in society and announces blame to the rightful owners rather than just the obviously bizarre proposal he is making. Swift’s modest proposal is created “for Preventing the Children of poor People in Ireland, from being a Burden to their Parents or Country; and for making them beneficial to the Publick,” (2028). More simply put, he introduces the idea of cannibalism to the Irish people. He suggests that the lower class Irish citizens sell their one year old children to the upper class so they can have them for meals. Swift explains the advantages to his proposal as being that the Irish will have property of their own, it will help bring an end to the overpopulation problem, and that his proposal will solve the food shortage problem. Swift lays the framework for his satire to be effective through his unnamed narrator. The unmanned narrator is important because he seems to be sensible and well educated. Yet, he is removed from the situation because he does not...
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...Humorists Essay Alain de Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not only to entertain, but to state the messages that might be dangerous to say directly. Satire such as Jonathan Smith’s A Modest Proposal helps to exemplify the fact that joking about a taboo subject humorously, will allow it to become more of an acceptable thing to say. Comedians also tend to exemplify this statement by humorously discussing controversial topics through their comedy routines. Satire such as Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal uses humor to “convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly”. He talks about a world where unwanted and malnourished children can be cooked and served to the higher ranked, wealthier people. Swift suggests that this could be the solution to the overpopulation and poverty problems the country is facing. By proposing this “plan” in a humorous, satirical way, it is seen as humorous comedy and not a socially unacceptable ideal. The way the satire is effectively used evokes conversation about the topic through a humorous proposal. This thought-evoking Davis 2 satire brings to light the actual problems that are plaguing the country (in this case, poverty and the separation between the rich and the poor). Another type of comedy that brings out the actual problems being faced by the world is the television show “The Colbert Report”. This popular TV show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, is a parody of a newscast. He incorporates...
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...Example of a thesis and partial outline for Ben Button essay. Assignment: Select one of the topics satirized in the short story, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” to analyze in an argument essay. Among some of the topics that we discussed in class are aging-vanity, social climbing and appearances, the medical profession, marriage, and school rivalry. In your essay, use and explain quotes that illustrate the satire you are analyzing. Explain the satire in terms of when the time the story was written (around 1922) and if the satire is still relevant today. THESIS: Fitzgerald, who attended Princeton University, satirizes Ivy League schools, Yale and Harvard universities, for their emphasis on maintaining a proper appearance and revered reputation, and the school rivalry between them, manifested by sports. I. Button is refused admittance to Yale after he had passed his exam because of his unacceptable appearance and how that could hurt the school’s reputation. A. The registrar is outraged at Button, who does not appear to an acceptable Yale freshman, and throws him out of the office and school. B. Fitzgerald further criticizes the school’s attitude by using irony when he named the registrar, Mr. Hart, who appears heartless, calling Button a lunatic. C. To show just how extreme the school revered its reputation, Fitzgerald has nearly everyone in the university, from freshman, the football team to professors’ wives, run him off the campus. 1. To...
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