*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS and Ann Rudkin
Winston-Salem, NC.

Read “A Modest Proposal” for tomorrow.
Answer the following questions:
1. Who is Swift’s intended audience?
2. What problem does his essay attempt to
address?
 3. What rhetorical and persuasive devices
does he utilize to achieve that purpose?
(Answer ques. 1-12 under “Ques. for
Rhetoric and Style at the end of the essay.)
 4. What’s the “normal” or more traditional
approach most people use, who also
would like to address this problem?


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and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
LIST THE NUMBERS OF PARAGRAPHS FOR EACH OF THE FIVE SECTIONS OF THE
ESSAY:

Introduction
__________

Radical thesis—
__________

Support for radical thesis—
__________

Actual thesis to help the poor—
__________

Reiteration (repeating main points of the radical thesis)—
________
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
h
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8
M-KlV5cPUo
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
It is an argument (literary work) holding
up human vices and follies to ridicule
and scorn.
 It can have two moods:

› Bemused/Gentle (Horatian—where author
sees problem as more foolish than evil, mild
humor)
› Biting/Angry (Juvenalian)—where the author
sees the problem as urgent and severe,
possibly evil and involves savage ridicule
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.

It can be directed at several targets:
› The Individual
› The Group
› The “System”
› Topical (short-lived, current)
› Universal (long-lived)
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.


A Satire Continuum
Notes and chart adapted from Florida Virtual School’s AP Literature and Composition.



HORATIAN
(gentle)
-------------------------------------------------------------------- JUVENALIAN
(bitter)


ATTACK:



DIRECT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDIRECT
(little or no ironic diction)
(much ironic diction)


TARGET:


TOPICAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIVERSAL
(short-lived, current)
(long-lived)

(Ex. 1. “They dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake.”


*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
Alexander Pope)

Forms satirists use:
› Fantasy: setting is an imaginary world or time,
softens criticism by removing it from reality
(People are more willing to consider criticism if
finger isn’t pointing directly at them.)
› Mock Heroics: take the realistic problem or
dispute and turn it into a highly exaggerated
epic battle
› Formal Proposal: prepare a highly serious, highly
rational proposal for action on this problem, but
make it totally unreasonable and exaggerated
› Praise/Blame: take something bad and praise it
w/o boundary, or take something bad and cut it
to shreds. (Either way—reader will appreciate
the irony the author intends.)
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and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
Ketchup Soup
 Feed the Children with Sally Struthers

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and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY
hCn0jf46U
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.

Slob Evolution (thank you, Jennifer LaRue, Shelby Co HS)
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and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.


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
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
Child Earns Clock Radio For 78 Hours Of Work
U.S. High School Get Raw End Of Student Exchange
Report: TV Helps Build Valuable Looking Skills
Obama’s Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy
Girl Moved To Tears By 'Of Mice And Men' Cliffs Notes
Police: iPhone Left In Hot Car For Three Hours
Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text
Wealthy Teen Nearly Experiences Consequence
MySpace Outage Leaves Millions Friendless
World's Scientists Admit They Just Don't Like Mice
Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business
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and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
 After 5 Years In U.S., Terrorist Cell Too Complacent To Carry Out
Attack
 Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc.
 Majority Of Parents Abuse Children, Children Report
 Rhetorical Pleasantry Elicits 45-Minute Response
 All 7 Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake Sale
 Johnson & Johnson Introduces 'Nothing But Tears' Shampoo
To Toughen Up Newborns
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and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update
with Seth– Really?!? Michael Phelps
 Lindsay Lohan eHarmony Ad
 Not Your Father’s Taliban (New Yorker
spoof)

*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.

Terry Gross Interviews Jon Stewart on
Fresh Air (October 4, 2010)
Jon Stewart Parodies Glenn Beck
Jon Stewart Interviews Jim Cramer
Jon Stewart’s “Rally to Restore
Sanity/Fear” Closing Speech
Room for Debate (thank you, Chris Crouch, Highlands

TIME Cartoons of the Week

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
HS)
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.

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Humor Man (Dixie Dellinger, AP English list-serve)
McSweeney’s.net
I Want A Wife
New Yorker Cartoons
Satire and Parody (Karla Olson, AP English list-serve)
*Information reproduced with permission from Ada Skillern, BGHS
and Ann Rudkin Winston-Salem, NC.