Lesson Overview 

Though there are many ways that I taught "A Modest Proposal" - I really feel that the final approach - the hybrid (discussion, students find textual evidence, listening and commenting on a podcast) method worked the absolute best.

Quiz

As usual, there is a quiz here.  Because it precedes a discussion - it's impossible to grade them during the class period.  However - when the students are directed later in the lesson to find examples of satire - the ones who did the reading will sure come up with a lot more.

Swift Biographical Background

Because we don't have a long time - I usually just asked students what they remembered from their reading and went with that.  One important part of their reading though that you want to make sure gets mentioned is:  Swift - though Anglo-Irish often longed to be completely British.  This makes for an interesting lens to view and appreciate the essay, "A Modest Proposal".

What is Satire?

Next we talk about - with the help of a handout (found below) and their reading, the nature of satire.  What is it  - and what differentiates it from other humor.  I give a definition from Pope (our next reading) and Swift, himself.  I ask for modern examples of satire from the students - and then show them some examples (of modern satire - ie The Onion) and ask them to identify "what is being satirized"?

Finding Satire in "A Modest Proposal"

Now that the students know what satire is - I ask them to go back (they've done the reading the night before [and been quizzed on it]) to "A Modest Proposal" and see how many specific examples of satire they can find.  I divide the class up into three groups - each group gets a third of the text to read (see the slide to the right).  I then give them 10 minutes to look through their section - find as many examples of satire as they can (within that section) - and they should be sure to include the pages numbers so they can easily find it (and give it to us) when we come together as a class.  

When the time is up (don't forget to keep after them to be almost continually writing), come together as a class and see what they came up with.  If you have enough time, go through the entire class, starting at one end of the room - and ask the students to give their best (they should have at least three) example of satire that they found.

After all of the students have given their's - I give the ones that I came up with.  Of course many if not most of these will already have been given by the students and you can skip those accordingly.  I have a total of 16 examples that I found - and that are reproduced as part of the Power Point (see the slide to the right for an example).

The Problem with Satire - Discussion & Podcast

Next, (see the Power Point) we discuss the potential pitfalls with Satire.  We talk about things such as

• how far it is removed from our time

• people getting offended

• people who don't "get it"

Finally, we listen to Malcolm Gladwell's incredible podcast on The Satire Paradox.  It is part of his revisionist history series.  The students are given a chart (found below) that they should fill out as they listen.  Make sure you screen the podcast before you play it for your students.  I censored one word from it (a racial slur) and you may want to do the same.  I have a link to "The Satire Paradox" below.

Here are the instructions at the top of the chart - and the chart can be seen in a figure to the right:

You will listen to a podcast by author Malcolm Gladwell; as you do, fill out the chart below.  The teacher will give you a few minutes to look them over and to get ready before you begin. Have out your copies of today’s  handout on satire, “A Modest Proposal”, and your notes from our discussion on that work.

Remote Enhancements 

This can all be done remotely of course -  In fact, I did do this remotely.  I used a chart I had made of the class with their pictures to divide them into the groups for finding satire in the text.