Assignment: After reading Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” write your own half-serious satirical solution to a problem in modern American society.

Read and analyze Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Note the structure and tone of the essay, as well as Swift’s use of satirical techniques.
Brainstorm societal problems that you might want to address (i.e. the famine in Ireland, which Swift addresses). Your problem should be something that impacts our nation’ssociety as a whole.
Outline and write your essay. You may feel free to add additional paragraphs where appropriate, but your essay should follow the basic model below:

25-30 word subtitle. Your essay should be called “A Modest Proposal,” but the subtitle should flesh out what societal problem you are trying to solve (without giving away your “shocking” element). (Swift’s full title is “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.” Aim for something like that.)
Paragraph 1: A clear first paragraph that contains an indelible image of your societal problem. (Swift’s image in his first paragraph is that of the mother with six children dressed in rags begging for alms. Try to include an image of your problem that elicits the readers’ sympathies in a similar way.)
Paragraph 2: A paragraph description of your shocking solution. (This is like the paragraph in which Swift talks “delicious and nourishing” babies.)
Paragraph 3: A list of clearly labeled “logical reasons” for why your solution would work. (Label your sentences “firstly,” “secondly,” “thirdly,” as Swift does.)
Paragraph 4: An italicized paragraph describing your response to the opposition’s argument. (Note Swift’s italicized paragraphs for guidance on this.)
Paragraph 5: Conclusion.

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