50 pages • 1 hour read
Jonathan SwiftA Modest Proposal
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1729A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Discussion/Analysis Prompt
While the proposal is absurd in its nature, the narrator discusses the option with a serious and realistic approach. How does the definition of irony apply to the text? How else does Swift use irony through the narrator in this essay?
Teaching Suggestion: This prompt supports the introduction of the term paralipsis as a literary device. In this vein, students should consider the hyperbolic nature of the narrator’s absurd suggestion and compare it to the realistic suggestions that Swift makes, which the narrator dismisses as alternatives.
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