A Modest Proposalby Jonathan Swift (1729) suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. Swift goes to great lengths to support his argument, including a list of possible preparation styles for the children, and calculations showing the financial benefits of his suggestion. This essay is widely held to be one of the greatest examples of satire in the history of the English language. Much of its shock value derives from the fact that the first portion of the essay describes the plight of starving beggars in Ireland, so that the reader is unprepared for the surprise of Swift's solution when he states, "A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a Fricassee or a ragout." We live in a world and country of economic disparity. Professional athletes can make more on a single play than a policeman, nurse,or teacher will make in a year. The forty wealthiest people in the United States will make more in a year than 60% of the population combined. Over a billion people on this planet live on less than dollar a day. Discuss your experiences with poverty or wealth.
Policies:
1. Your literary response paper should give ample evidence that you have read and understood the literary work and have found a way to make it relevant to your life. Imagine your audience to be classmates who have not read the literary work. From your discussion they should be able to get a good idea of what the work is about-the general storyline, main characters and theme--perhaps information about the author. As stated in the syllabus, you need to have a minimum of four direct quotations, both short and long (over four lines in block format) from the literary work with appropriate Works Cited or References. These need to be formatted correctly in either MLA or APA style. "A" papers will probably exceed minimum requirements.
2. Occasional citations from sources other than the literary work are possible but unnecessary: stay focused on the literary work you have chosen.
3. Length: 1000 words or so.
4. Excessive major usage and MLA/APA formatting errors will limit the grade to a "C."