A+Modest+Proposal

To earn back half of the points you lost, your group must complete the following for the question/answer assigned:

1. Break down the wording of the question. What is being asked specifically? 2. What was your thought process in choosing the correct answer? Explain your logic. 3. Locate text-based support that affirms your selection. 4. Provide advice for answering this type of question.

Question 1: Josh and Ryan (Correct Answer is E - I, II, and III) Diction - "__A Modest Proposal__" In no way is this proposal modest, since it focuses on devouring children or selling them off as a food product. Syntax - "For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, and flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it." Swift expertly manipulates his sentences to make his message as caustic as possible. The excerpt here begins to explain how the meat would not be suitable for salting, but then suddenly attacks England unexpectedly. The syntax adds that extra bite to Swift's work.
 * 1.)** The question is asking the reader to summarize the overall style of the author's writing. It's sort of a reflection question, and is expecting the reader to be able to summarize the different ways Swift utilizes style to put forward his "proposal".
 * 2.)** Simply from skimming through the passage, I could pick up all three aspects - technical diction, ironic tone, elaborate syntax - in various sentences and paragraphs. The technical diction is best exemplified through the various statistics of family life the speaker provides, the biological information on babies and their birth, and the title itself; he presents all of this factual information with detailed, didactic wording. The ironic tone comes from the fact that the speaker desires everyone to react to such a horrible act of macabre in a nonchalant way because they realize that what Swift literally proposes is not to be taken seriously. In addition, Swift's syntax is quite clear because all of his sentences have specific word order to aid his purpose.
 * 3.)** Ironic Tone - Ironic in the sense that the speaker expects and hopes that no one might object to the bizarre, inhumane idea of cannibalistic infanticide.
 * //"I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, __which I hope will not be liable to the least objection__. [...] I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, 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." //
 * 4.)** Since the question itself is broad, I would recommend breaking it down into the three styles that are listed. It's best to scan through the entire passage, trying to find bits and pieces that apply to any of the given styles. Mark down anything that would fit one of the answers, and compile them all together once you're finished thoroughly examining the passage. That's the most clean-cut, organized way of tackling the problem. Another way of approaching this question is to begin eliminating answers you know are wrong. Since the entire tone of the essay was ironic, you know that the answer has to have II in it, which eliminates answer A. Then just by reading the title and the first few paragraphs you can note that diction and syntax are present in vast quantities making the correct answer, E.

(Correct Answer: C - I and II only)
 * Question 2: Ashley and Renee**

1. The question is asking the reader to determine the Jonathon Swift's purpose in writing statement "except where they are of towardly parts" in paragraph six of the essay.

2. First I located the phrase in the passage. Then I read the answer choices. Then I skimmed paragraph six briefly and then looked at the choices again. Using the context clues, I was able to choose C as my answer. -Ashley

After reading and understanding what question two was asking of me, I read the choices and skimmed through paragraphs one through six of "A Modest Proposal" once again. Nowhere in those six paragraphs did Swift offer an exception to the terms of the proposal, so I was able to eliminate any answer that had option III in it. This left me with A, B, and C. Throughout paragraph six, Swift does qualify a previous generalization about the Irish children by saying that most take up a life of stealing except for those who grew up well, eliminating choice A. Swift is definitely strengthening his position by refuting the contrasting argument that the sacrifice of "poor innocent babies" would be prevented. Since both options I and II were used, C is the correct answer. -Renee

3. I) "which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed" II) "although i confess they learn the rudiments much earlier;"

4. For this question I would suggest locating the phrase in the paragraph and then looking at the context clues around it, as well as several of the paragraphs before the phrase to begin looking for evidence of the options given to you. Then I would go back and look at the answer choices. I would read the paragraphs and the answers multiple times. If you get stuck, process of elimination could work, also.

Question 3: Natalie 1. The question is asking what the speaker of the passage is appealing to. a.k.a what kind of argument is he making. 2. I knew that all three arguments or appeals were used in the entire passage, but I had to narrow it down to which were used in paragraph 6. An authoritative and a substantive argument go together because he uses statistics to support the knowledge of tradesmen and merchants in conjunction with his own "expert" knowledge. Then I read for tone and determined that the paragraph like most of the passage had a motivational tone so I chose e. 3. "the number of souls in the kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half and of these I calculate there may be two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders." "I am assured by our merchants that a boy or girl before twelve years old is no salable commodity.." 4. for this type of question I would read the given section three times each time looking for one of the types of argument.


 * Question 4: Atticus and Nathan**

Correct Answer: D, avarice

1.) In its most basic structure, the question is asking which of the following appeals (pathos/logos), pity, reason, economy, avarice, and pragmatism, is NOT made in the text of //A Modest Proposal//.

2.) Well, quite frankly my thought process (Nathan's) was to narrow it down to the best possible choice. I knew from looking back in the passage that pity, reason, and economy were all mentioned, right away eliminating 3 of the 5 choices. So I now had a 50% chance of choosing the correct answer. Here's where I'll be completely honest; I wasn't clear on the meaning of "pragmatism." In the end, I essentially guessed, because I knew avarice was synonymous with greed, and I saw no clear appeal to greed in the passage. For those of you who are also curious as to what pragmatism means, I found out that it is a noun meaning character or conduct that emphasizes practicality.

3.) Here are examples of where the appeals that DID appear are made:


 * Pity**: "These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants; who as they grow up will either turn thieves, for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbados."


 * Reason**: "I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently their fathers, is, in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the common-wealth would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation."


 * Economy:** " Thirdly, whereas the maintenance of a hundred thousand children, from two years old and upwards, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings a piece per annum, the nation's stock will be thereby increased fifty thousand pounds per annum, beside the profit of a new dish introduced to the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom who have any refinement in taste. And the money will circulate among ourselves, the goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture."


 * Pragmatism**: "Neither indeed can I deny that if the same use were made of several plump girls in this town, who, without one single groat to their fortunes, cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at a playhouse and assemblies in foreign fineries which they never will pay for, the kingdom would not be the worse."

4.) Here's my advice to everyone who had trouble answering this question- first, look back at the passage and scan for each of the different appeals, if you don't know what one means, scan for the ones that you DO know. If you get stuck between several choices, or even two, as I did, try to figure out which one fits better. For me, I realized that avarice wasn't appealed to, and took that as the correct answer. Sometimes, when you narrow down the choices, guessing doesn't become such a bad option!

(Correct Answer: e. indulgence) 1. The question asks the reader to reflect upon the various appeals Swift makes in paragraph 15 and determine which of the following, gentility, patriotism, economy, utility, and indulgence, are not referenced within the paragraph. 2. The first step I took in answering this question was to return to the text and re-read paragraph 15 in order to get a better feel for the various appeals Swift makes within this excerpt.Then, I found examples of each of the choices within the text that would ultimately eliminate them as viable answers, essentially using the process of elimination in order to choose the correct answer. 3. a. gentility: Swift's references to "ladies" and "fine gentlemen" appeal to the upper class, or gentlefolk. b. patriotism: Swift's reference to the hard "times" in Ireland and the "thrift" they require on behalf of its people appeals to his audience's sense of devotion to their country and its improvement by whatever means necessary. c. economy: The "thrift" Swift discusses also simply references the economic opportunities within his proposal and appeals to the frugality of his readers. d. utility: The "admirable gloves" and the "summer boots" Swift discusses are an additional use for baby flesh and allow for the most to be obtained from such an infant. e. indulgence: //none// 4. I think the best way to address any type of question that refers to a specific section of text would be to first look back at that passage and skim through to get a feel for the presence of the different types of things the question is asking for whether it be tone, literary devices, or rhetorical methods. The next thing to do would be to refer to the potential answers provided for the question and determine the meaning of each one and then eliminate those that are obviously incorrect or choose the one that stands out as the right choice. If you are left to decide between a couple answers, I feel as though it is sometimes best to look back to the text for specific examples that relate to each choice and attempt to create a rational exaplanation as to why you would choose a certain answer over another. In these instances, it is often the answer that is easiest to support and rationalize that is the correct one.
 * Question 5: Kyle**

Question 10: Steph, Brittany, and Luci (correct answer: D. acquaintance) 1. To understand what is being asked in question ten, one must first know the definition of **__antecedent__**. As an adjective, antecedent means preceding or prior to an event. As a noun dictionary.com describes it as "a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc." In this particular question it most likely acts as a noun. Therefore, the question is esentially asking which one of the following words DOES NOT (notice the EXCEPT and the end of the question) refer to the same person. 2. When reading this question, the first thing that went through my mind was to read the paragraph that it was referencing (paragraph 17). From there I read and searched for each word that was an option and started to eliminate answers that did not make sense. The first three choices were all used within the same context and choice E, if not closely read, seemed to be a qualifying answer as well as D. But when I read the paragraph over again for qualification I found that choice E was also used as an antecedent to the same pronoun as choice A, B, and C. The overall strategy was to pay attention to clues within the paragraph and the use of process of elimination. It also helped to know what antecedent meant. 3. Letter E and letter B were the first two choices to be eliminated, considering they were used in the same (and first) sentence as parallels. Swift writes, "A very worthy **PERSON**, a true **LOVER** of his country ...." That leaves one with either friend, acquaintance or patriot to chose from. In lines 13-15 of paragraph 17, Swift once again uses parallelism, this time in reference to friend and patriot. He states, "But with due deference to so excellent a **FRIEND** and so deserving a **PATRIOT**, I cannot be all together in his sentiments ...." From this one can conclude that friend and patriot both refer back to the same person. This leaves only one choice left. However, if process of elemination were not enough, there are several other hints within the text which help to make clear the answer (which, in fact, is D. acquaintance). Swift notes in line five of paragraph 17, "many gentlemen of this kingdom ..." suggesting the speaker he was preveiously referring to came from Ireland. When one looks for the word aquaintance, one finds it is connected directly to an American man. Also, the American aquaintance Swift mentions is clearly against the idea of selling teenagers as food, for they are "generally tough and lean" and "to fatten them would not answer the charge" (lines 18 and 20). The man who Swift speaks of in the first half of the paragraph thought this concept would only enhance Swift's proposal. 4.

Question 11: Carly and Casey 1.) The question asks the reader what Jonathan Swift's speaker appeals to when using the phrase "persons of quality" in paragraph 18, or whom does this phrase cater to throughout the paragraph. Notably, it is not asking the main appeal of the entire paragraph. 2.) For this particular question, the process of elimination works well. The appeals to other answers- economy, philanthropy, pity, and misogyny- may all be found in the paragraph if the reader tries to fit them in, but the questions asks merely about the phrase “persons of quality”. It could be an economic appeal, because it states that carcasses are sold to “persons of quality”, but the mentioned phrase alone does not appeal to the economy, so this answer can be eliminated. Out of context, “persons of quality” could refer to philanthropists, but in this case the persons are buying bodies for their own profit, hardly humane or beneficial to mankind. Philanthropy can be crossed off. It is hard to find a way that “persons of quality” appeals to pity, so that answer can easily be eliminated. An appeal to misogyny can be found later in the sentence, when Swift’s speaker refers to “the body of a plump girl of fifteen”, but, again, the question asks what “persons of quality” appeals to, and at that point, it is not misogyny. The one answer left, an appeal to gentility, happens to make perfect sense. This appeal to gentility, or the condition of belonging to the upper class, is appropriate because the mentioned carcasses, sold to “persons of quality”, were given to people such as “the imperial majesty’s prime minister of the state, and other great mandarins of the court”, or those that receive a title of gentility. Therefore, the phrase “persons of quality” can be linked directly to “gentility”.  3.) Gentility-the condition of belonging to the upper class //"... the executioner sold the carcass to **__persons of quality, __**//// as a **prime dainty **////; and that in his time, the body of a plump girl of fifteen … was sold to his **imperial majesty's prime minister of state and other great mandarins of the court **//// in joints from the gibbet, at four hundred crowns." (Paragraph 18, Line 4-10) // Here, one can clearly see the connection between persons of quality and the upper class of England. 4.) What we would advise you to do in order to answer this question or one similar to it is to read the passage and focus on the appeal that seems to come off the paper because it is so obvious. If it does not jump out at you, try reading it again and eliminating answers that are not focused on in that particular section, or, in this case, phrase. Look for key words that are usually associated with an answer’s idea, person, or action. (Correct answer D - it would stimulate Ireland's economy with a new and profitable export) 1.) The question is asking which argument //wasn’t// used to support Swift’s proposal. It states "the following arguments are used EXCEPT" meaning there are four arguments which were used in the proposal and one that was not mentioned. 2.) The question is obviously a text based one. I went through the answer choices and checked off all the examples I had seen within the proposal. I didn't look for what wasn't there-like the question asked-I looked for what was there and eliminated those answer choices. 3. Since the question is asking for the exception to the support of his proposal, all of the answers have text based support except for answer d. a: “the constant breeders besides the gain of eight shillings sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the charge of marinating them after the first year. “ b. “ I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar’s child, to be about two shillings per annum. The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own which by law bay be made liable to distress and help tot pay their landlord’s rent.” c. “ Men would become as fond of their wives during th time of their pregnancy as they are now of their mares in foal, when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them for fear of a miscarriage. ” e: “ I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.” 4. When answering this question you need to look at all of the answers and try to find evidence in the story to see if each answer can be supported in the story. Also, you can look to see if all the answers have something in common, and since answer d doesn’t have anything in common with all the other answers or the proposal itself.
 * Question 12: Esther and Siobhan**

Question 15: Alden and Clara Correct Answer: D. The ironic nature of the proposal

1. The question asks for the best technique used by Swift to help quell the horror the reader may experience after reading Swift's proposal of cannibalism.

2. My logic was that there was only one way that Swift's proposal could have been acceptable - that Swift was not serious about the subject. Therefore, the ironic nature made the most sense because the other choices including the "technical aspect" and the "rational analysis", would only make Swift sound mores serious and earnest.

3. Swift says in the passage, "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." this illustrates the extreme grotesque nature of Swift's proposal.Swift closes his 'proposal' with a very ironic statement about how his own family cannot be torn apart or consumed. he states, " I have no children by which i can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past childbearing." Swift is clearly using sarcasm and extreme irony throughout his 'modest proposal' as i have illustrated with these quotes. And because his statements and proposal are so clearly sarcastic and not intended to be evaluated at face-value, his ironic tone enables the reader not to be entirely grossed out by the proposal.

4. This type of question is somewhat difficult to categorize since it is inextricably tethered to reading and truly understanding the piece. you must read and comprehend that this piece is an extreme satire in order to grasp the irony of the situation that assuages the reader's disgust. essentially, in order to answer this type of question, you must read astutely as the audience and key in on the subtle nuances of the author in order to deduce his/her tone that marks the passage.

Question 16: Shaun and Veronica - //Swift evidently wishes to have effected which of the following among members of his contemporary audience?// Correct answer: **D** 1. This question is asking for the audience's [of the time period] probable attitude based on the passage and Swift's purpose and tone. It wants you to identify the reaction the author hoped to garner from his contemporary readers with his "modest proposal". 2. First I thought back to who the audience was (the Irish but also, mainly, the English) and Swift's purpose for the 'proposal' (trying to instill some shocked reaction into the people). Then I basically remembered who the people of the time period were and what essentially happened for Swift to write this passage. Ireland was in a desolate state of poverty (which of course means families will have more children) while England ruled the country. English landlords took much of the revenue from the Irish and Ireland did not have a stable source of income for itself. Then I eliminated the obviously wrong answers. Letter A because, though the speaker is "reasoned and confident", this proposal is is not to be taken seriously by the more enlighten readers at which it is directed. Letters C and E could be eliminated with similar reasoning, as they require the audience to take the proposal seriously. Letter E also does not fit because he mainly aimed this as a way to jeer at the English and there was nothing for them as "personal gain". I also found answer B to be incorrect because it implies that the speaker's purpose was to ask for forgiveness, which is untrue. Essentially, I saw that letter D fit best because Swift intended to affect the English and does so by revealing their purposes in Ireland. This directly fits with 'exposing their selfish motives'. 3. "Swift was appalled by the deplorable conditions in Ireland" and, therefore, his purpose is more than lighthearted (line 1 in the blue box). Beginning with paragraph ten, Swift reveals his proposal, reasoning that the Irish could sell children as a source of income and mocking the English for doing similar things to the Irish. Being able to identify Swift's purpose and having a basic knowledge of the people and conditions of the time will help you to answer the question itself. The footnotes also provide great assistance. The footnote "//**14. invited to it.**//" reveals that this is not the first proposal Swift has made, and the text it refers to makes it known that greed, among other things, is hurting the country. 4. Think back to what you already know is true or would be the most likely right (Swift's tone, purpose, etc.) then start to eliminate clearly wrong answers. Look for how Swift wants the audience to react, not how the proposal (if seriously considered) would. Another very important precaution to take is to make sure you know who the question is asking about, instead of mistakenly answering it as though it referred to the speaker rather than Swift.