1. Taking the Mickey

2. Cartoons that comment
Cartoons in newspapers have been a great persuasive technique for hundreds of years.
They are extremely topical, and so lose their impact within a few days as soon as a story becomes less newsworthy.
This cartoon by Matt was published in The Telegraph on 9 October 2011.
What story does it refer to? (You may have to do some internet research to find out.)
What is the idea behind the cartoon?

3. How does she view the story?
Here is another cartoon by Ros Asquith on the same story from the Guardian website.
How does she view the story?

4. The absurd
In 1729, the English satirist Jonathan Swift published 'A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick'.
In it, he suggested that starvation in Ireland could be prevented not by allowing people to keep more of the rent money charged by their rich landlords, but by allowing them to eat their children!
Of course, he was not being serious: he was being ironic.

5. Eat babies!
Read the following extract; the language is quite old-fashioned, but is accessible with a little effort. To help you, a modern English version follows.
Swift proposes that some people be kept for a 'breeding herd', while the rest can be slaughtered for food.
How does he use language to make this horrific proposal sound convincing?

6. ‘I have been assured... that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout. I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one-fourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle or swine; and my reason is, that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages, therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.’

7. ‘I have been told... that a young, healthy, well fed one year old child is a delicious, nourishing, and healthy food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and no doubt it will be just as tasty in a stew. I suggest, therefore, that we should consider using as a breeding stock twenty thousand of the hundred and twenty thousand children alive in the country. Only a quarter of them need to be boys, which is more than we allow in a herd of sheep or cows or pigs. This is because these children aren’t often born to married couples, so one boy will be enough to breed with four girls. The remaining hundred thousand could, when they are a year old, be sold to those who could afford them - people of quality, of good class - for food. Of course, their mothers would have to feed them up before being sold so that they were plump and juicy. A child like this could easily make two fine meals for dinner parties with friends, while the leftovers and tougher cuts can make a good family dish in winter, even a few days later if they are seasoned with salt and pepper and boiled.’ 7

8. Save the rich!
In the following extract, Swift reveals what he does think should happen – ironically, by saying that it shouldn't happen.
Discuss how he uses language to achieve this. You may wish to think about how he contrasts the very reasonable proposal to raise taxes for the rich with the 'modest' proposal that people eat children.
Again, a modern English version follows.

9. ‘Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: Of taxing our absentees [landowners] at five shillings a pound: Of using neither clothes, nor household furniture, except what is of our own growth and manufacture: Of utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury: Of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming... Of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence and temperance: Of learning to love our country, wherein we differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo: Of quitting our animosities and factions... Of being a little cautious not to sell our country and consciences for nothing: Of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants. Lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our shop-keepers, who, if a resolution could now be taken to buy only our native goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could ever yet be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and earnestly invited to it.’

10. ‘No-one should even think about other solutions; about a 20% tax on landlords who live abroad: about stopping imports of manufactured goods like clothes or furniture; about turning our backs on luxuries from abroad; about stopping pride and laziness and gambling; about thinking about living within our means and rejecting materialism; about having pride in our country like even the smallest countries in the world; about stopping arguing and fighting about politics; about living life carefully and thoughtfully, and not wasting it all because of greed; about listening to our consciences and thinking about our country; about expecting landlords to care about their tenants. And no-one should talk about expecting our shopkeepers and businessmen to be honest, hard-working and skilful. If we did decide to buy only those goods that were made in our country, they would quite naturally immediately get together to cheat us and drive up prices, no matter how much we pleaded with them to be fair and honest. 10

11. Can you find the absurd?
Discuss a topic you may have researched or written about in the past.
Can you think of the absurd view of any aspect of it?
As Swift did, the trick may be in exaggerating the view you do not agree with, the view you wish to discount, or rubbishing the view you actually do believe in.
Think about the following example: what does the writer really believe?

12. 'School uniforms create a sense of identity and discipline, and the benefits are immense. Uniforms are essential to group cohesion; why is it almost universal that armies rely on uniforms? And why wouldn't we want our schools to run with military precision? What could be more glorious than watching hundreds of scrubbed and handsome children marching in ranks towards their Geography and Home Economics classes? Why wouldn't we want to teach silent and attentive children in serried ranks, perfectly obedient and willing to go over the top to face the chattering death of the enemies' machine guns for the correct answer to question 15 on page 55? And why wouldn't we want fit, healthy children attending PE and revelling in 4am drill and bayonet practice in the school playgrounds? No wonder the government want ex-military men to become teachers: by instilling the right values through rigid insistence on uniform, they can turn our schools into the well disciplined establishments they used to be in the good old days of the Empire.'

13. Self / Peer Evaluation
With a partner, write down how you think using the absurd might improve your writing.
Submit your suggestions to the teacher and / or share them with the class.