“A Modest Proposal”
Objective:
To analyze a text using the chunking method
and various activities (discussion, text analysis,
note taking) in order to comprehend the
author's claim so I can respond, in writing, to a
prompt.
Quickwrite
• “Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do
generally discover everybody’s face but their
own; which is the chief reason for that kind
reception it meets with in the world, and that
so very few are offended with it.” ~Jonathan
Swift, 1667-1745
• Explain what this quote means in your own
words and if you agree or disagree.
Vocabulary
• Hyperbole:
– overstatement using exaggerated language
• Understatement:
– Presenting something as being smaller or less
important than what it is
• Humor:
– The quality of being amusing or comic (dark humor is
morbid or deals with taboo issues)
• Pun:
– exploiting the different possible meanings of a word
• Incongruity:
– not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking
harmony of parts:
What is Satire?
• satire
Paragraphs 1-6
• Collect 6-10 words that you need to clarify
• Define each word. Explain your connotations
of each word.
• What tone words would you use to describe
this type of diction
• What is the problem in Ireland?
SOAPSTone
• What is the speaker’s background – where is he
from? What is his social class? Is he Irish or
English? Is he rich or poor? What perspective
does he have?
• What kind of personality does the speaker seem
to have from the language he uses in paragraphs
1 -6? This is not the same person as Swift.
• What is Swift doing by creating this other
persona?
• What does Swift want the reader to think about
this speaker?
• O-occasion, A-audience, P-purpose, S-subject, Ttone
Paragraphs 7-9 (page 703)
• Swift’s essay turns from mildly ironic to darkly
satirical. What key phrases, in your opinion,
most indicative of this turn?
• Write a complex sentence in which you
describe the shift from mildly ironic to darkly
satirical using supporting details from the text.
• --You should create a compound/complex
sentence with a transition word and correct
punctuation.
Paragraphs 10-20
Process Analysis: explains HOW by describing
the process or the steps that will need to
happen to achieve a desired outcome
• Describe the process analysis that happens in
paragraphs 10-20
• Make a short note for each paragraph
Paragraphs 21-26
• Between paragraphs 21 – 26, Swift delineates
various arguments to support his proposal.
Identify three of the arguments and explain
the underlying premises that they rely on
(logical, emotional, credibility)
• What (DID) diction, imagery, detail supports
this appeal?
Paragraphs 27-30
• What is an expedient?
• What does Swift suggest as “other
expedients”?
Paragraph 31- 32
Transform paragraph 32 into the literal, serious
argument that Swift is making in this essay.
• It is possible to do this only by deleting certain
words, but you may want to add certain words
if the deletion task proves too challenging.
Paragraph 33
• The persona Swift creates builds his credibility
in the final paragraph by…
Satire
• Satire:
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule
to expose and criticize people's stupidity or
vices, particularly in the context of
contemporary politics and other topical issues.
Examples and Explanations
• Complete the graphic organizer
– Use paragraph numbers and first
SOAPSTone for Satire
• Speaker= usually a persona created to represent
the group being ridiculed
• Occasion= political or current issues that are not
just
• Audience= usually the political or social group
being ridiculed and humorous for the group who
sees through them
• Purpose= to shock or belittle society into making
a change
• Subject= unjust or unfair or prejudices
• Tone= sarcastic, humorous, facetious, ironic,
inane
Reminders
• Thesis statement/intro. Should include
elements of SOAPSTone but MUST include the
Purpose or Message
• In Satire, what is said is not always what is
literally meant (Think sarcasm. Often times it
is the very opposite)
• Work from the beginning to the end of the
passage rather than by chunking rhetorical
techniques