Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
English 12
Mr. Williams
A Modest Proposal: Review
Name: ______________________________
English 12
Period: _____________________________
Spring Semester
Date: _______________________________
1. “A Modest Proposal” is an ironic essay: the author deliberately writes what he
does not mean. What is the real thesis? Is there more than one?
2. A clear difference exists between Swift and the persona who makes this
proposal. Characterize the proposer.
3. Would it be possible to read this essay as a serious proposal?
4. Look closely at paragraphs 4, 6, and 7, and study how the appeals to logic are
put in mathematical and economic terms. Underline those words and phrases.
5. When does the reader begin to realize that the essay is ironic? Before or after
the actual proposal is made in paragraph 10?
6. Which groups of people are singled out as special targets for Swifts’
attack? Are the Irish presented completely as victims, or are they also to
blame?
7. Does the essay merely function as a satirical attack? Does Swift ever present
any serious proposals for improving conditions? If so, where?
8. What is the purpose of the last paragraph?
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
English 12
Mr. Williams
The Rape of the Lock: Review
Name: ______________________________
English 12
Period: _____________________________
Spring Semester
Date: _______________________________
Canto III
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What two topics serve as the focus of conversation for the British statesman?
Who is great Anna and how does she spend her time?
Explain how Alexander Pope satirizes British judges.
What game serves a mock battle in this canto?
What inspires the Baron to cut Belinda’s hair?
Who helps the Baron with his plan?
What action do a thousand sprites take to prevent Belinda’s hair from getting cut?
What happens to one unfortunate sylph who attempts to stop the Baron’s scissors?
How does Pope satirize Belinda’s anger in lines 155-160?
Canto V
10. In the fight over Belinda’s hair, how do Dapperwit and Sir Fopling die?
11. What is the outcome when Jove takes his golden scales to weigh Belinda’s hair versus the
wits of the crowd?
12. What clever weapon does Belinda use to defeat the Baron?
13. Explain how Pope uses an allusion to Shakespeare to satirize Belinda’s anger over her
lost lock of hair.
14. What happens to the lock of hair in the end?
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
English 12
Mr. Williams
Gulliver’s Travels: Review
Name: ______________________________
English 12
Period: _____________________________
Spring Semester
Date: _______________________________
“Voyage to Liliput”
1. What genre of literature is Gulliver’s Travels?
2. This chapter in the novel is an example of (Horatian, Juvenalian) satire.
3. In the story of how the dispute arose between the Big-Endians and the Little-Endians, the
chief objects of Swift’s satire are ___________________ and ___________________.
4. The Lilliputian wars are a satire on ________________________.
5. What do both Gulliver’s pocket perspective-glass and his spectacles most likely
symbolize in this excerpt from “A Voyage to Lilliput”?
6. After Gulliver brings the enemy ships to the Lilliputian prince, the prince’s request
prompts Gulliver to make the generalization that all rulers are _____________________.
7. Swift’s main method of satire in this story is _____________________________.
8. Explain the significance of size in this part of the story.
“Voyage to Brobdingnag”
9. Who or what is the target of Swift’s satire in this part of the story?
10. What is the target of Swift’s satire when he has Gulliver offer the king of Brobdingnag
the technology to make gunpowder and the king refuses?
11. How does the king of Brobdingnag treat Gulliver? Why does he treat Gulliver this way?
12. What is the king’s opinion of Gulliver’s country (England)?
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
English 12
Mr. Williams
13. Define satire.
14. What is the significance of size in this part of the story?
Literary Terms
15. Antithesis
16. Parody
17. Anticlimax
18. Tone
19. Understatement
20. Hyperbole
21. Irony (Verbal and Situational)
22. Masking
23. Heroic Couplet
24. Mock Epic
25. Satire