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Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift. “Gulliver’s Travels” and “A Modest Proposal”. Who was Jonathan Swift?. He was born in Dublin, Ireland but of English parents. He felt caught between both worlds. He sympathized with the Irish and was disgusted with how the English treated them.

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Jonathan Swift

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  1. Jonathan Swift “Gulliver’s Travels” and “A Modest Proposal”

  2. Who was Jonathan Swift? • He was born in Dublin, Ireland but of English parents. • He felt caught between both worlds. • He sympathized with the Irish and was disgusted with how the English treated them. • He had rich uncles who paid for his education. • He became an Anglican Priest. • He was very well read. • He was good friends with Alexander Pope.

  3. What was the purpose of the work? • The purpose of the work was to point out the ridiculousness of the European, particularly the British, governments • The purpose was to show the petty differences between religions • The purpose was to show that man is corruptible • The purpose was to laugh at that ability to be corrupted

  4. What Will We Be Reading? • “A Modest Proposal” • “Gulliver’s Travels”

  5. “A Modest Proposal” • He wrote it to protest the mistreatment of the Irish • The rent for the land the Irish farmed on was so high, after they paid the rent they had little left over to live on • There were starving people on the streets –often with lots of small starving children • This work offers an outrageous solution for this suffering

  6. The Structure • Each part has its opposite: it begins with small people, then moves on to big ones. It discusses good people who don’t even have a word for lying and then moves on to bad people. • This was in an effort to show the balance that exists in general; again, the idea of “the great chain of being.”

  7. “Gulliver’s Travels” • A travel journal –this was a new and popular genre at this time • It was written with absolute realism –many wondered if this was based on actual travels • Everything in it is commentary on something or someone in England during this time

  8. The Significance: • All the speeches are satiric versions of actual parliamentary speeches. • All the different groups of people represent different religions, political groups, and specific politicians of the time.

  9. How is topical political satire significant to us? It’s not.

  10. Daniel Defoe “Robinson Crusoe”

  11. Who was Daniel Defoe? • He was English but a dissenter

  12. What did he write? • He wrote “The Shortest Way with the Dissenters” • It was an ironic pamphlet about how dissenters should be dealt with • It was first embraced by the church until they realized it was a joke • Then he was arrested • He also wrote “Robinson Crusoe”

  13. “Robinson Crusoe” • This is another fictional travel log about a man who is shipwrecked on an island and has to survive • It is in support of John Locke’s theory on man as a civilized being as Robinson tries to imitate civility while alone on the island • It was modeled after an actual man, Alexander Selkirk • The work is supposed to speak to what is at the heart of man when he is independent from society

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