"A Modest Proposal," Rhetoric, & Satire Quiz

The purpose of A Modest Proposal is to satirize...

• English policy in Ireland

• Irish bankers

• Tenants who don't pay rent

• Overpopulation concerns

In the beginning, what image does the narrator describe that represents the problem(s) he plans to resolve?

• A horse with 3 legs that is killed and its meat sold in market.
• A poor woman begging with a string of her children behind her.
• A poor man with a thick beard begging for food, then dying on the street.
• A thin, malnourished child eating crumbs from the dumpster behind a diner.

What large scale societal problem does Swift plan to resolve?

• Overpopulation of Ireland
• Spreading religion to Ireland
• Mistreatment of Irish poor
• Uplifting the English poor

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For how long is a mother able to breastfeed her child without additoinal expense?

• 6 months
• 9 months
• 12 months
• 15 months

What is Swift's claim?

• The English need to be treated better or they will start to eat children.
• The Irish need to handle their money better or they will have to sell children.
• The English should sell their children into Irish slavery to help their economy.
• The Irish should sell their babies to English butchers as a delicacy.

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What does Swift mean when he says, "The English landlords have already devoured most of the Irish parents?

• Cannibalism has been part of English culture.
• The landlords have financially devoured the Irish tenants.
• Landlords will eat tenants who cannot pay rent.
• Irish parents will not sell their children.

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Which of the following is NOT an advantage anticipated by the narrator of A Modest Proposal?

• Proposal will decrease the number of Catholics.
• Proposal will decrease the number of beggars.
• Proposal will decrease the number of marriages.
• Proposal will decrease the # of poor people.

Which of the following is NOT a solution Swift contemplates?

• Improving mentoring programs
• Producing your own food and clothing
• Rejecting materialism
• Breaking animosity and factions

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What 2 questions does Swift suggest to anyone with other ideas that resolve the problem he identified?

• How will you decrease Catholics and support them without debt?
• How will you feed and clothe 100,000 people and support them without debt?
• How will you decrease the Protestants?  How will you then buy stock?
• How will you feed Irish babies and decrease the population?

The narrator claims to have no personal motive behind his proposal because...

• He is English and could not benefit from his proposal
• His wife is past childbearing age
• He lives in the country and doesn't own a farm
• He is not a landlord and does not wish to be rich

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