A Modest Proposal

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Considering Swift’s satirical purposes with “A Modest Proposal,” which of the following most likely describes the political structure of Ireland during Swift’s time (i.e., the 18th century)?

A) an autonomous country

B) a colony of the French Catholics

C) a region ruled directly by the Vatican

D) a territory largely subjugated to English law and taxes

2. Based on your knowledge of the narrator, with which of the following statements would he agree?

A) Cannibalism is an atrocious activity only practiced in primitive societies.

B) Overpopulation of poorer people is a concern which must be addressed.

C) The impoverished people of Ireland should be supported with employment preparation skills.

D) Protestants are the root of evil.

3. Which of the following literary devices does Swift use in the first section (Paragraphs 1-2) of his essay?

A) Allegory

B) Anaphora

C) Allusion

D) Imagery

4. Which of the following words best describes the tone in the beginning of the essay?

A) Humorous

B) Excitable

C) Woeful

D) Indifferent

5. The narrator states that he “grant[s] this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (Paragraph 11). Which of the following literary terms is used in this quote?

A) Foreshadowing

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Metaphor

6. Which of the following assumptions can be made about the narrator?

A) He is from an impoverished background.

B) He is a highly empathetic man who holds Irish Catholics in high regard.

C) He believes in the dissolution of the English monarchy in Ireland.

D) He is concerned about the future of those living in Ireland.

7. The narrator rules out the following options for impoverished children in his essay: “The question therefore is, How this number shall be reared, and provided for? which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; they neither build houses, (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land: they can very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing till they arrive at six years old […]” (Paragraph 5). Which of the following best describes how Swift uses irony in this quote?

A) To highlight the importance of fair working conditions

B) To disregard reasonable solutions as preposterous

C) To suggest unfeasible sources of labor as a form of mockery

D) To suppose that children could be able to work equally, disregarding gender

Long-Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Consider the intended audience of Swift’s essay. Is this audience different than the narrator’s intended audience? Why or why not?

2. What is the narrator’s tone throughout the course of the essay? What type of rhetorical device(s) does he use to make his argument?