Most scholars consider Jonathan Swift’s  “A Modest Proposal 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 Public” (1729)  to be the most brilliant satire ever written, addressing as it does the injustices the English had heaped upon the poor Irish — in particular, poor Irish catholics — for centuries. In the nearly 300 years since its publication, “A Modest Proposal” has inspired countless films (including this short offering out of Norway, numerous rock songs and a rap version) and, quite recently, served as the subject of a BBC podcast that should listen to at least the first 10 or so minutes of before you engage in your project work this week and next.

A complete and extremely effective Aristotelian argument, Swift’s satirical work still looms large, regularly making its way into modern-day political headlines — most notably, perhaps, a decade or so ago when Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that schools could save money by replacing their custodial staffs with their poorest students. The quintessential example of Juvenalian satire,  Swift’s hyperbolic essay suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies — in the process mocking heartless attitudes towards the poor as well as British policy toward the Irish in general. Published anonymously, “A Modest Proposal” sparked outrage in England and Ireland by readers who failed to appreciate his satiric intent — and at least one of his contemporaries turned the tables, suggesting that the proposal would be a way he could alleviate a debt he owed Swift.

Between now and the start of the Thanksgiving break, we’ll be working with satire generally and Swift’s essay specifically, collaborating in groups to identify all nine components of our classical, Aristotelian argumentative structure in his work as well as a late-breaking 10th component, digression;  we’ll examine the key elements of satire and examine a view brief video and printed satires to understand and hone our analytical vocabularies; and you’ll work — either solo or with a group of your choosing  — to make a commercial or advertising poster inspired by Swift’s classic essay.

Assignments for This AND Next Week

FIRST: Plan on attending class every day on Zoom — cameras on — for this week and next. There’s a lot to learn between now and the break, and it’s critical that you come. I’ll be taking grades on survey and groupwork in class, so DON”T MISS! We’ll start by reviewing this basic introduction to satire, then working our way together  through the materials in this unit to build our academic vocabulary for analyzing and writing about satire.

SECOND: Click through and read all the materials linked in this post, above. “A Modest Proposal” is an essential part of our Western canon of literature, so you’ll want to understand it completely. It WILL come up again in college English, history and economics classes. You may wish to add some of your learnings to your annotation of the text.

THIRD: Select a group of up to 4 partners — or opt to work alone if you prefer — on a video commercial  or electronic poster for a product, idea, or social concept inspired by Swift’s essay. Opt for the commercial, and you’ll need to upload your work to YouTube, make it viewable so I can take a look, and provide me with a link when you’re done; opt for an electronic poster, and you’ll create your work in Canva,then share it with me.

Some things to consider as you decide how you’ll work and who you’ll work with: 

• It’ll be challenging to get together for a video shoot — and there’s no need to include yourself or members of your group in the video you create; you can collaborate remotely using video shot separately, stock footage, stock sound, etc.
• Carefully consider your action plan. Make sure you can work with the people you choose to work with. Pick your unreliable friend, and you’ll be stuck with the lion’s share of the work. Elect to work alone, and you may end up feeling a bit overwhelmed.
• As you commit to a plan, IMMEDIATELY set up your systems for communicating and collaborating.

Your requirements for either deliverable:

1. In a comment at the bottom of this post (pro tip: everyone needs to comment individually to get credit), list the names — properly spelled and capitalized — of all members of your group, or tell me that you’ll be working alone. If you elect to work in a group, everyone in your group must participate equally and be able to explain their specific role in the project.
2. Your project must be CLEARLY inspired by Swift’s satire in an immediately obvious way.
3. Your submission MUST include every part of the Aristotelian argument — and every one of Townsel’s required writing elements — to persuade your audience to do something specific — for example, buy a product, support a cause, join a group. It’s up to you, but from exordium to peroration, appositive phrase to power sandwich, ethos to pathos, it all needs to be there.
4. If you use graphics, video, sound our sources that aren’t your own work, you need to credit every bit of what isn’t you or your group’s original work or brainwave.
5. You’ll submit the link to your group’s work in this week’s Accountability Check and Reflection form, linked below in Part 4.

FOURTH: When you’ve completed the project, a) go to Flipgrid and report back individually on what you’ve learned about satire, generally, and your role in completing your project, specifically, then b) hit this week’s Accountability google form and work your magic.

Complete the form, and you’re free to enjoy a worry-free Thanksgiving...unlike our small friend, below…