A Modest Proposal

Reading Check

1. They become thieves or they leave Ireland to find work. (Paragraph 1)

2. It will “prevent abortion” and the murder of children by mothers. (Paragraph 4)

3. In the essay, the narrator credits Psalmanazar with an idea like his proposal. Psalmanazar was a Frenchman who fraudulently pretended to be from Formosa (present-day Taiwan). (Paragraph 17)

4. The skin may be used for gloves and boots. (Paragraph 14)

5. They are too weak to do the work well because of lack of nourishment. (Paragraph 18)

Short-Answer Response

1. The narrator suggests that the babies of Ireland’s poor should be eaten. (Various paragraphs)

2. First, it would decrease the number of Catholics; second, it would give an item of value to poor people; third, it would circulate money as well as a new culinary dish; fourth, it will benefit “breeders” through a wage; fifth, it would bring more customers to taverns; and sixth, it would benefit the relationship of married couples and parents. (Paragraphs 20-25)

3. Taxing absentee landlords; using domestic goods; rejecting luxury goods; changing the mindset of women; loving their country; becoming more prudent; loving each other as neighbors and not fighting; not giving the conscious of the country too easily; encouraging a kinder treatment by landlords to their tenants; and supporting the honesty of shopkeepers (Paragraph 28)

4.