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JONATHAN SWIFT. The greatest satirist in the English language Appeals to children and adults Born in Dublin, Ireland—1667 Ordained as Anglican priest Early works lampooned John Locke and Isaac Newton. JONATHAN SWIFT. Lampoon—Harsh satire usually directed against an individual
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JONATHAN SWIFT • The greatest satirist in the English language • Appeals to children and adults • Born in Dublin, Ireland—1667 • Ordained as Anglican priest • Early works lampooned John Locke and Isaac Newton
JONATHAN SWIFT • Lampoon—Harsh satire usually directed against an individual • Many of Swift’s articles were written “anonymously” although his style was recognized
JONATHAN SWIFT • Pseudonym—a fictitious alternative to a person’s name (alias) • Nom de plume (pen name)—Mark Twain, Richard Bachman… • Swift wrote as Richard Sympson—Gulliver’s cousin and manager
JONATHAN SWIFT • A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public (pg 611) • Written in the persona of an economist • Ireland was oppressed by England • Overpopulated and starving
JONATHAN SWIFT • Solution: State-sponsored cannibalism • Breeding farms and recipes • Reductio ad absurdum (latin-reduction to the absurd)—a logical argument with an absurd conclusion • At an early age Swift showed signs of mental illness, he eventually went mad