Presentation 3 : A Modest Proposal

Aseel Nassar
Target students: first year students ( English major students).
Duration: 3 classes (60 minutes for each class).
The lesson plan: (warm up, analyzing, vocabulary , language, writing)

Period 1
. Step 1: Asking these questions: )opining questions)
1- What is a satire ? it a novel, play, entertainment, etc, in
which topical issues, folly, or evil are held up to scorn by
means of ridicule and irony
2- Play a short video (2 :22 mins) to engage students
3- Teacher gives a summary
(summary : A Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift in
1729, tackles by satirizing the sad fate of the Irish who have
to spend all their time begging trying to feed their large
families. As a solution to the poverty, Swift suggests that
these poor Irish families should fatten up their children and
sell them to the rich English land owners.
children could be sold into a meat market at the age of one,
giving their families some income and reducing expenses of
raising them. This will also help to resolve the issues of
overpopulation and unemployment in Ireland )
Step 2: - In the same class, the teacher with students will
go through the article and explain some keywords that help
student to understand.
For example : What are the meaning of these words?
1- Melancholy: very sad
2- The pretender: was the descendant of king James II of
the house of Sturat, expelled from Britain in 1689.

3- Barbadoes: it is an island, significant for many poor

Irish people were forced to seek a living in the new
worlds
4- Dam : The mother: used for beasts, or other animals
not human, or a human mother in contempt or
detestation

students should read the article at home for next class .

period 2 : (Analyzing)
Step 1: I will divide the class into groups, each group
should answer some questions
(group 1)

1- What is the point of satire? to make some kind of moral

or political change in society through the use of critical
humor
2- Which town does Swift refer to in the first lines?
He refers to Dublin
3- What will children do as adults to support
themselves?
They grow up either turn thieves for want of work or they
leave their dear country
4- What problem has the speaker always had with the
"several schemes of other projectors" who try to
come up with a solution?
He found them grossly mistaken in their computation
5- Would Swift's essay have had as much of an impact
if he seriously tackled the conditions in Ireland?
Of course no, because the article grabs the attention so
much and as an evidence for that it is well known around
the world
(group 2)
1- What is the point of satire? Turning a very serious topic
into something funny
2- How would you describe poverty in Ireland?
Famine, overpopulation, unemployment and mothers with
so many children begging for money
3- According to the article, how old must an Irish child be
before they can pick up a livelihood by stealing? Eleven
years old
(group 3)
1- list forms of satire you are familiar with?
Caricature,

2- How many children are born to poor Irish parents each

year? Hundred and twenty thousand children of poor
parents annually
3- Why would young boys and girls suddenly become
"valuable" at age twelve? Because they can work and serve
4- At the end of the 29 paragraph, in italicized print, what are
the several solutions to the problem of poverty? a- using
neither clothes nor household furniture expect what is of
our own and manufacture \ b- learning to love their country

Period 3
Language and vocabulary
---------------------------------------------------1- Each student should list 10 vocabularies he\ she has
learnt from the article, and write from his\her own a
new sentence contains each word. (some of words
that can be chosen : raiment, stewed, roasted, plump,
swine, carcass etc)

2- Correct the mistakes in these sentences :

* Last night, We ate eat cow flesh for dinner.

____Last night, We ate beef for dinner____
* pig meat is forbidden in Islam
_____pork is forbidden in Islam_________
3- Student should know the following:
Cow - Beef
Pig Pork bacon
Deer - Venison
Sheep - Mutton
Calf - Veal
4- Students should distinguish between animals and their
babies as it mentioned in the article time of their
pregnancy, as they are now of their Mares in foal, their
cows in calf
Animal

Male

Fema
le

Baby

foal, colt
Hors stallio mare, (male),
e n, stud dam
filly
(female)
Houn
d

dog

bitch

Cat tomcat queen

pup

kitten

Catt
le

bull

cow

Calf

5- What does the word alas mean!

It is an expression of grief
Other terms relating to 'expression' can be mentioned to the students:
AHA

Expression of discovery or realization

AIYA

Cantonese expression of exasperation

ARGH

Expression of frustration or anger

ASDFGHJKL

An Expression Of Excitement
An Expression Of Frustration
An Expression Of Boredom

BEH

Expression of disinterest, IDC

BIG UP

Expression of respect

BLAR

Expression of boredom, BLAH

BLARG

Expression of boredom

BLEH

Expression of boredom

BLIMEY

Expression of surprise, OMG

BUH

Expression of dismay, disgust

DOH

Expression of frustration, realization

EEE

Expression of excitement

EEK

Expression of surprise, distress

ENNIT

Expression of agreement

EWW

Expression of disgust

FEH

Expression of dismissal, disgust

6- From these sentences notice (eitheror , neither nor)

a- It would have either encouraged by rewards or enforced

by laws
b- of using neither clothes nor household furniture
Teacher explains the grammar rules :
1- we use either or to talk about two possible ideas or
choices
2- we use neither .nor to talk about two negative or
impossible ideas or choices
task : each students should write full sentences using
(eitheror , neither nor)
- choose payment method: by cheque or card
you can pay ___________________________________
- Driver and passengers escap accident without injury
___________________________________were injured in the
accident
- phone\ email for more information
To get more information __________________________
7- Teacher holds the students attention to this as it is
mentioned in the article twenty thousand children
and ask why isn't it twenty thousands?
The Grammar rule : The word ''thousand'' is not used in plural
form if there is a number before it. But if you said ''thousands
of people', that would be correct.
thousand vs. thousands
1- when it is an adjective we dont use (s)
example - There are seven thousand trees.
The noun trees is countable and plural. thousand is an adjective in
this example
2- We use (s) where "thousand" is used as a noun and you
are counting groups of 1,000
Example - here are thousands and thousands of trees

Writing :
Task : Think of a political or social issue, preferably something
relevant to your own place and write a satire paragraph about it .