Lesson on Irony
For Nonfiction
Saying the Opposite
Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal” · Benjamin Franklin, “Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One”
Lessons in Nonfiction
Irony says one thing and means another. Swift and Franklin write in the voice of someone they are not, a projector and an adviser, and let that voice condemn what it seems to recommend.
Questions on the Classic Readings
Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
- The speaker proposes his plan in a calm, reasonable voice. How does that tone make the satire work?
- Near the end the speaker lists “other expedients” and says “let no man talk to me” of them. Why do they matter?
Benjamin Franklin, “Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One”
- Franklin writes that “a great Empire, like a great Cake, is most easily diminished at the Edges.” What is he really arguing?
- Why might irony persuade a reader better than a direct complaint?
Activities
These draw on the classic readings on this page.
- Rules for ruin. Write five “rules” for making something worse (a school, a team, a town), each describing a real practice you think does harm.
- The reasonable voice. Write a paragraph proposing an absurd solution to a real problem in a calm, practical tone.
—Silver Current Press