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A Modest Proposal Test: 45 Questions And Answers
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A Modest Proposal Test: 45 Questions And Answers
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A Modest Proposal Test: 45 Questions And AnswersAnalysis Questions Correct Answer - ....
What is the object of Swift's satire? What social problems are addressed? Correct Answer -
Swift addresses poverty, hunger, begging children, the stratification between the Catholic and the
Protestant, and the lack of respect among the sexes, which are problems primarily due to
Protestant restrictions and British absenteeism.
What types of evidence does the speaker use to support his argument? Correct Answer -
Swift uses "experts", statistics, "logical thinking", and cost/benefit analysis to bolster his
argument.
What advantages does the speaker offer to the Irish people with his proposal? Name at least four.
Correct Answer - The speaker offers that the Irish poor will not suffer from dire poverty, the
rich will gain new delicacies, the Irish poor will be more inclined to marry and less inclined to
turn to abortions, the Irish people will be owners of their nation and will find fruitful work.
What is the speaker's actual proposal for reform? Correct Answer - Swift offers many
reforms for the Irish Catholic problem: for Britain to stop unfairly taxing Irish landholders, for
the Irish to only use Irish products, for the Protestants to avoid foreign luxury, for Irish men to
give Irish women respect (and for Irish women to have self-respect), for the Irish to have to have
pride in their nation and themselves, for all to stop bickering, for landlords to have mercy on the
Irish and for shopkeepers to be honest and fair.
Find three examples of irony. What role does it play in this piece? Correct Answer - it is
ironic to consider eating babies to fix a nation's problems; it is ironic to suggest that a nation's
children (the epitome of hope and innocence) are overrun thieves; it is also ironic for the Irish to
be depicted as thieves, all while the Protestants were taking the land and the wealth associated
with it; it is ironic that the speaker wants to stop the "horrid practice" of abortion by selling live
children to be slaughtered for food; and the final line of the work is also ironic in that after the
speaker lays out his careful argument that benefits all, he states he cannot benefit from "this
necessary work".
Identify a total of three examples of literary techniques from the following: hyperbole, sarcasm
or understatement. How do these techniques enhance Swift's satire? Correct Answer -
Swift utilizes hyperbole as he describes the Irish children as thieves, the landlords as ones who
"devour" humans, and the Protestants who would purchase children to eat as "gentlemen". Swift
also utilizes understatement when he calls his proposal "modest", when he describes the situation
in Ireland a "melancholy object", and when he describes the children to be consumed as
"somewhat dear". A majority of Swift's piece is sarcastic in that he ultimately wants to help the
Irish poor become productive members of society, rather than as nourishment for the wealthy;
Swift further uses sarcasm by offering a completely immoral and false solution to Ireland's
issues, while actually desiring a moral, thoughtful solution. All these elements work together to
enhance Swift's satire by shocking the reader into awareness and reform. Had Swift presented his
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