Thursday, April 8, 2010

Mediocre Man vs. Jonathan Swift

Yep, you read right. Jonathan Swift... the brain behind Gulliver's Travels. I had to read a bunch of essays for my 121 class and write another reading response. One of the essays I read was Mr. Swift's "A Modest Proposal." If you have never read this before (as I hadn't) it is a scathing commentary on the poor treatment of Irish peasants during the famine. Swift, in the guise of a nameless economist, penned and distributed the essay as a pamphlet in 1729. His modest proposal was to have poor mothers sell their extra offspring as a source of fine cuisine for the wealthy, and use the skins of said babies to make the finest supple gloves and slippers.
I kinda loved the essay of course, which is why I chose to do my response on it. The response is kinda long so I wont post it here, rather you can read it here.

1 comment:

  1. Great paper dude. COMMON sense is the true sixth sense, and it's one that most people lack.

    A lack of readily-available birth control, the unrealistic foolishness of abstinence-only programs, and the "super-size me" culture of America are three main complaints I have about modern day population (and overall health) issues, and the lack of common sense behind each issue's existence.

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