Taking the Mickey
Cartoons that comment
• Cartoons in newspapers have been a
great persuasive technique for
hundreds of years.
• They are extremely topical, and so lose
their impact within a few days as soon
as a story becomes less newsworthy.
• This cartoon by Matt was published in
The Telegraph on 9 October 2011.
• What story does it refer to? (You may
have to do some internet research to
find out.)
• What is the idea behind the cartoon?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/?cartoon=8816293&cc=8800462
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/cartoon/2011/oct/10/cat-flap-expulsion-excuse
• Here is another cartoon by Ros Asquith on the same story from the Guardian
website.
• How does she view the story?
The absurd
• In 1729, the English satirist Jonathan Swift
published 'A Modest Proposal for Preventing the
Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a
Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for
Making Them Beneficial to the Publick'.
• In it, he suggested that starvation in Ireland could
be prevented not by allowing people to keep
more of the rent money charged by their rich
landlords, but by allowing them to eat their
children!
• Of course, he was not being serious: he was being
ironic.
Eat babies!
• Read the following extract; the language is
quite old-fashioned, but is accessible with a
little effort. To help you, a modern English
version follows.
• Swift proposes that some people be kept for a
'breeding herd', while the rest can be
slaughtered for food.
• How does he use language to make this
horrific proposal sound convincing?
‘I have been assured... that a young healthy child well nursed is at a
year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food,
whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt
that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.
I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of
the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed,
twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only onefourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep,
black cattle or swine; and my reason is, that these children are
seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by
our savages, therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four
females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old,
be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through
the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck
plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for
a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for
friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter
will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or
salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.’
‘I have been told... that a young, healthy, well fed one year old child
is a delicious, nourishing, and healthy food, whether stewed,
roasted, baked, or boiled; and no doubt it will be just as tasty in a
stew.
I suggest, therefore, that we should consider using as a breeding
stock twenty thousand of the hundred and twenty thousand
children alive in the country. Only a quarter of them need to be
boys, which is more than we allow in a herd of sheep or cows or
pigs. This is because these children aren’t often born to married
couples, so one boy will be enough to breed with four girls.
The remaining hundred thousand could, when they are a year old,
be sold to those who could afford them - people of quality, of good
class - for food. Of course, their mothers would have to feed them
up before being sold so that they were plump and juicy. A child like
this could easily make two fine meals for dinner parties with
friends, while the leftovers and tougher cuts can make a good
family dish in winter, even a few days later if they are seasoned with
salt and pepper and boiled.’
Save the rich!
• In the following extract, Swift reveals what he
does think should happen – ironically, by
saying that it shouldn't happen.
• Discuss how he uses language to achieve this.
You may wish to think about how he contrasts
the very reasonable proposal to raise taxes for
the rich with the 'modest' proposal that
people eat children.
• Again, a modern English version follows.
‘Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: Of taxing our
absentees [landowners] at five shillings a pound: Of using neither
clothes, nor household furniture, except what is of our own growth
and manufacture: Of utterly rejecting the materials and instruments
that promote foreign luxury: Of curing the expensiveness of pride,
vanity, idleness, and gaming... Of introducing a vein of parsimony,
prudence and temperance: Of learning to love our country, wherein
we differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of
Topinamboo: Of quitting our animosities and factions... Of being a
little cautious not to sell our country and consciences for nothing:
Of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards
their tenants. Lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill
into our shop-keepers, who, if a resolution could now be taken to
buy only our native goods, would immediately unite to cheat and
exact upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor
could ever yet be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing,
though often and earnestly invited to it.’
‘No-one should even think about other solutions; about a 20% tax
on landlords who live abroad: about stopping imports of
manufactured goods like clothes or furniture; about turning our
backs on luxuries from abroad; about stopping pride and laziness
and gambling; about thinking about living within our means and
rejecting materialism; about having pride in our country like even
the smallest countries in the world; about stopping arguing and
fighting about politics; about living life carefully and thoughtfully,
and not wasting it all because of greed; about listening to our
consciences and thinking about our country; about expecting
landlords to care about their tenants.
And no-one should talk about expecting our shopkeepers and
businessmen to be honest, hard-working and skilful. If we did
decide to buy only those goods that were made in our country, they
would quite naturally immediately get together to cheat us and
drive up prices, no matter how much we pleaded with them to be
fair and honest.
Can you find the absurd?
• Discuss a topic you may have researched or
written about in the past.
• Can you think of the absurd view of any aspect
of it?
• As Swift did, the trick may be in exaggerating
the view you do not agree with, the view you
wish to discount, or rubbishing the view you
actually do believe in.
• Think about the following example: what does
the writer really believe?
'School uniforms create a sense of identity and discipline,
and the benefits are immense. Uniforms are essential to group
cohesion; why is it almost universal that armies rely on
uniforms? And why wouldn't we want our schools to run with
military precision? What could be more glorious than watching
hundreds of scrubbed and handsome children marching in ranks
towards their Geography and Home Economics classes? Why
wouldn't we want to teach silent and attentive children in
serried ranks, perfectly obedient and willing to go over the top to
face the chattering death of the enemies' machine guns for the
correct answer to question 15 on page 55? And why wouldn't we
want fit, healthy children attending PE and revelling in 4am drill
and bayonet practice in the school playgrounds? No wonder the
government want ex-military men to become teachers: by
instilling the right values through rigid insistence on uniform,
they can turn our schools into the well disciplined
establishments they used to be in the good old days of the
Empire.'
Self / Peer Evaluation
• With a partner, write down how you think
using the absurd might improve your writing.
• Submit your suggestions to the teacher and /
or share them with the class.