English Literature / Unit 11 ENL 1004 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"A Modest Proposal"
Captions available
The idea
"A Modest Proposal," of seventeen twenty-nine, a famous Juvenalian satire, calmly proposes that the Irish poor sell their children as food to the rich, a child being "a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food." Its deadpan logic exposes British exploitation of Ireland.
In practice
A monstrous plan, told in a calm voice.
Where people slip
The speaker is not Swift; the irony is the point.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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