Jonathon Swift and "A Modest Proposal"

I'm sure your first reaction will be 'What the --?' Good. I mean, you shouldn't take this literally. This is irony, people. Get used to it. Great satire is ironic.

I want you all to check out this brief Irish history (particularly the early 1700's). Why was this written? What were Swift's intentions? Keep in mind, he's Irish.

A Modest Proposal is a masterpiece for two reasons: 1) You'll recognize the humor in it (the irony) and you'll laugh at the joke. 2) You'll be deceived by it. You'll go along with what the speaker is saying because it, well, it's making sense. How do we solve the problem of overpopulation in Ireland and starvation in Ireland? By eating its excess--the children.

There is a section where Swift isn't being ironic. Where is it? And why does he choose to do this? What's happening in this section?

What do you make of the ending?

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."

The above quote is from Mark Twain. But it's quite relevant today, isn't it?

Satire isn't easy. It takes brains and it takes guts to write. Satirists are able to take difficult subject matter and turn it into comedy. It's all about laughing at people's stupidity (folly) and their indiscretions (vice). It's about laughing at the most awful things in the world because what else can you do. I mean, you can cry. You can cry forever at all the terrible shit that is taking place in the world today. Satire makes fun of the problems (and those responsible) and in the process addresses these problems. The great thing about the Daily Show is that it takes the real news and by satirizing it and/or parodying current events draws attention to just how ridiculously absurd these serious subjects such as war, terrorism, or Lindsay Lohan's DUI really are.

This class isn't going to be easy. It's going to be tough, actually. Everyone in this class is going to have to think. What? Yes. You will have to use those brains of yours. These books, plays, and films were created for those that think. This material is difficult. It's irreverent. It's subversive. It's dangerous.

Ok. So what is it? What is satire? Satire is defined in the Merriam-Webster's dictionary as being:

1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly

This definition sounds good to me. I like it. I want us to refer to this definition while we are reading. Keep this definition in mind when we are looking at books, short stories, plays, TV shows, and films that 'expose and discredit vice or folly'.

I think after 9/11, things got a little serious and irony apparently died. Things are slowly getting back to normal. And by normal, I mean that we Americans are getting back to our cynical, jaded selves. Tom Perrotta released Little Children and it sold millions (and was later made into a film). The Onion is still going strong. The Simpsons are going into their 19th season (and they just put out a movie--finally). South Park has been offending viewers for 10 years--and they were renewed for another three years. The Daily Show and the Colbert Report may be the funniest hour of television in the history of ever. And then there was Borat. Who I think surprised everyone by banking this much at the box office.

This class is going to examine and explore satire's past and present--and through this journey I'd like for us to think: what's next?