Instructions: By now, you are probably tired of school and need a creative outlet. The satire is usually the class's favorite assignment because you can let a little of your hostility out, your creativity to show, and have some fun. Enjoy!
Definition of satire from Wikipedia.org (see more on the page if you want more information):
In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humor in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit.
In this satirical essay, "A Modest Proposal," Swift proposes outrageous "solutions" to the problem of children from poor, predominantly unmarried women. This paper is also a metaphor because the British were, in fact, "feeding off of" the children, due to forced child labor laws.
For your fourth paper, in the style of a satire, choose a real problem in the world today and propose an "unorthodox" solution as Swift did.
For example, you may want to pick our war on drug usage and propose that all drugs should be made legal, improving our tax base by taxing them as we do alcohol and cigarettes. Feel free to run ideas past me. Write the paper using a recommendation strategy as though you are completely serious (and you may actually be!). Let your imagination and sense of humor take over.
Areas of possible discussion, but feel free to think of your own issues, no matter how small or large. Please DO NOT use prison overcrowding for your topic, as I have seen too many of those.
Topic Ideas (Feel free to use your own too)
Areas of possible discussion, but feel free to think of your own issues, no matter how small or large. Please DO NOT use prison overcrowding for your topic, as I have seen too many of those.
Prostitution
See below
Plagiarism
Drugs (Be aware of current drug laws across the country, though. Marijuana legalization is not satire, for example).
Pornography
College Student Stress
Violent Crime (Be specific)
Global Warming
Teen Pregnancy
Inflation
Traffic
Mad Cow Disease
Overcrowding
Racial Discrimination
Private Gun Ownership
Illegal Immigration
Voter fraud
Fashion Mistakes
Sexual harassment/discrimination
Pollution
Taxes
Bad Court Decisions
Gun violence
Ryan Lochte's Rio situation
The rise of Trump
Anti vaxxers
Pokemon Go
Texting while driving, walking, and so on
Others? Be creative!
(****Please keep in mind that throughout time and in many parts of the world, including parts of the US, this is legal, so merely legalizing it for tax revenue, etc is NOT satire. Many people are quite serious about its legalization, so you have to be really outlandish to use this topic).
ALTERNATIVE, IF WRITING SATIRE IS TOO MUCH OF A CHALLENGE:
Write an evaluation style essay of the Swift piece along the lines given in the text for evaluating literature (interpretation). Is it an effective essay?
You might even try adding research on how it was received when it first came out or what the conditions were like for the people he was writing about, or about Swift specifically and his political views.
LENGTH: 1,000 to 1200 words
Number of Pages: 4 Pages
Page Line Spacing: Double spaced (Default)
Academic Level: College
Paper Format: MLA