ASSIGNMENT
Read with care and attention Jonathan Swift’s classical satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal.” Then you are to write a satirical essay titled “A Not-So-Modest Proposal.”
Topic possibilities are endless – virtually any complaint you have about the ways things and people are could work as a basic topic.
Proposal Writing Guidelines:
Even though you’re being satirical, you’ll need to fulfill all the conventions of any proposal:
establish that a problem exists;
detail exactly how your proposal will work;
provide arguments and evidence that it can work;
and respond to such potential objections as self-interest and lack of feasibility.
What should be kept in mind in writing and revising the satirical essay?
1. Choose as your topic something you’d like to see change or be reconsidered.
2. Choose a subject about which you feel strongly.
3. Decide which satirical method best suits your purpose.
4. Give the appearance of writing seriously. The appearance of the truth is called “verisimilitude.” Verisimilitude is necessary in order to engage your reader’s thoughtful attention and lead him through the intellectual game of satire. The ideal is to be taken initially as serious so that the gradual revelation of satirical purpose is enhanced.
5. Be sure your satirical proposal becomes apparent. Satire backfires if it does injury to the cause in which it is written. There’s no preventing the truly stupid from misreading by reading satire literally, but you should be sure to scatter the “keys” to your satire along the way so that most readers will be able to unlock your purpose.
