DUE - Thursday, March 28 POINTS - Up to 15 Length - 750-1,000 words In class, we asked why most of us have strong feelings about protecting children. This exercise is always fun. It raises questions of ideology and responses to government power. Read the following article on Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal" Remember, this is a SATIRE!! (If you don't know what that means, look it up!) Papers that fail to recognize it as satire and don't indicate the point and some brief discussion of the context of the piece will receive only partial, if any, credit. And then answer the following in essay form (not point-by-point) in about 750-1,00 words: 1) What is the author saying? (that is, what is satire, and what are the author's real points?). What's the real point of the piece? 2) Does the author get you thinking about things a new way? 3) In discussing culture and cultural taboos, and then looking at how we can use extreme examples to make a real point, how might this article be used to address such issues as the high prison rate, capital punishment, or other issues related to corrections? 4) Is there any relevance here for understanding ideology and attitudes toward sex offenders?
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