For the first paper assignment, you are asked to choose one of the following topics and write a 4-5 page paper that analyzes the topic using textual evidence. The paper should be typed, double spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font with a works cited for the primary source. You do not need to do any other research, but if you do you must cite it, of course. The paper will be graded on having an original title, a clear thesis (or main point of argument), sufficient textual evidence that is analyzed rather than summarized, while avoiding grammar, spelling, and word choice errors.
1. Why does Swift use dehumanizing rhetoric in “A Modest Proposal”? What is the impact of this rhetoric on the reader, and how does this rhetoric fit in with his overall argument?
2. While we tend to think of satire as being humorous, Swift’s satire is not meant to be funny. Who or what is the target of his satire and how does he use satire to get his point across?
3. How does Douglass depict the dehumanization of slaves under slavery? How does this dehumanization fit into his larger argument that slavery should be abolished? How does the eloquence of his writing serve to undermine the belief that the slaves were inferior?
you can use these quotes
“I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man […] The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil consequences of giving me instruction […] and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read […]” (ch. VI)
“ I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,—a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,—a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,—and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection” (chp. x).
“In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own” (cp. VII).
“I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.”
“We were not regularly allowanced. Our food was coarse corn meal boiled. This was called MUSH. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons.”
4. Douglass’s Narrative is often read as a heroic narrative. What elements of a hero story do we see in his narrative and does this help his audience be more sympathetic to his argument that slavery should be abolished?