1. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

2. Swift is usually regarded as a satirist for his poignant and bitter attack of his writings on every aspect of English society and English rule over Ireland.

3. Gulliver’s Travels (1726) a book welcomed by both adults and children with its excellent descriptions of quite a few unforgettable scenes

4. Lilliput 1. inhabitants only six inches high, everything on the island being in the proportion of an inch to a foot as 2.the pomp of the emperor 3.the civil feud, the war with their neighbors across the Channel, made to look ridiculous 4. English political parties, religious dissensions satirized ( wearers of high heels and low, controversy on the question whether eggs should be broken at the big/small end) 5.High official posts are given according to skill of dancing on a rope

5. Brobdingnag 1. inhabitants as tall as Steeples, and everything else is in proportion 2.the king’s criticism of human beings: “the bulk of your natives are the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth” 3. the king’s criticism of vices in governmental bodies: corruption, bribery, injustices, avarice, faction, hypocrisy, cruelty, rage, madness, lust, envy, malice, ambition,war

6. Island of Laputa satire directed against philosophers, men of science, historians, projectors

7. the Houyhnhnms (horses endowed with reason). simplicity and virtues of horses are contrasted with the disgusting brutality of the Yahoos, beasts in the shape of men, naked, hairy, wild and cruel (bitterness and misanthropy).

8. Additional reading :A Modest Proposal 1 irony 2 parody 3 no visible sign of anger or raising the voice (seemingly very innocent) 4 seemingly very accurate computation