Group+9+-+6

Rachel, Emily, and Pat 6. Provide three examples of “expedients” that Swift lists at the end of the proposal. What is the purpose of the list of “expedients” that Swift includes?

"I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich."

Swift's expedients in the end of his proposal are the practical applications of eating babies. His examples include public good of his country, advancement in trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving pleasure to the rich. In the above quote, he uses these examples as a summary of the main points that he stated throughout the proposal. Listing the expedients at the end of the novel reinforces the benefits that Swift is trying to promote. In recent years, the American welfare system has not been generous enough to those in need of daily luxuries. People live everyday oblivious to the massive numbers of people who cannot go on a Caribbean vacation or afford box seats at the Superbowl. We believe that welfare is not doing enough for these suffering human beings.
 * __Another Modest Proposal__**

America needs to give so much more to the people of this country than it is right now. When a jobless person signs up for welfare, the government should supply him with a monthly allowance to live on. But of course, most people will spend this cash on drug binges, so we should also supply them with free dinner coupons to expensive French restaurants. Most Americans hate the French, so by having them eat there, they will become more cultured. After a nice dinner, people usually go out to see a movie, so we should use some of our tax dollars to make a movie theater exclusively for the homeless and unemployed. This is beginning to sound like a date. Now we don't want to make them feel lonely, so we will pay random people to go out with them, and pay for their dinner and movie as well. The regular movie theaters will definitely lose money from all the people going to the homeless theater shows causing them to go out of business. As a result, film producers would be paid less for their productions, and Hollywood would collapse into a self-contained Great Depression. Now with Hollywood shut down, all the homeless and unemployed may go to live in Southern California. Enough welfare people will go to live there that they can support themselves and make their own government. America must no longer worry about the welfare situation, and can focus on placing more money into paintball programs around the country.

The first word that doesn't come to my mind when I hear 'welfare' is 'work'. Throwing money at a problem does not solve it in the same way that throwing grenades at a monkey does not make it dance. Americans are encouraged not to work when they receive welfare money; in fact, they feel more encouraged to play World of Warcraft all day. By sitting at home playing video games and living with their moms, obesity prevails! Video games eventually get old, so they move on to myspace.com where they meet young girls (possibly Russian) and stalk them. It scares me to think that welfare is the 'direct' cause of this international tomfoolery. Myspace stalking could theoretically initiate World War III with none other than the Russians. Since the Russians are no longer communist, the United States has no choice than to adopt Marxism. Phil Ehrig and Chuck Norris would definitely side with the Russians on this one. There is no hope. Chuck Norris does not give advice. He tells America how it is going to be. Welfare will be the death of America.

After World War III begins between the United States and Russia, more World Wars will begin in households when young teenagers have children that they cannot support. After they have already paid for the hospital bills, diapers, and other baby needs, they will still need to apply for welfare to make sure that they are still able to have their cell phones to keep in contact with their friends, since they decided to become parents at such an early age. When the teenagers are sick of caring for their children, a vicious cycle of neglect will begin because teen mothers have better things to waste their welfare checks on than their children. Instead, teen parents will spend all their money on more important things like Swedish fish and Turkish urns, which of course are imported from other countries. In this sea of competition from other countries, the US of A will undoubtedly flounder to keep afloat. However when sink comes to swim, our darling country will not be able to keep its head above water. In a matter of years, all American businesses will be closed. This of course is a problem in itself because now everyone will be out of work and applying for welfare thus ensuring that this lunacy wheel will keep turning its spokes for eternity.

**__Question:__ Answer one of the following: a. What did Pope's coevals think of his poem? b. What is the purpose of the letter that introduces the poem? What do you think this letter accomplished? __Answer:__** b. The most obvious purpose of the letter at the begining of this poem is to provide some background information about the situation. For example, the letter is written to Arabella Fermor, the woman who had the unfortunate experience of getting a lock of her hair cut off by Lord Petre (a lord). Hence the title of this satirical work. This incident actually created a rift between the two prominent Catholic families and Pope was called upon by John Caryll to write something humorous to ease the tensions between families. The reader knows that the poem is going to be a work of satire (a mock epic specifically) right off the bat because it says "an heroi-comical poem." Although Pope criticizes women's "problems" in the poem, Pope doesn't want to upset anyone over its nature, so he delicates the poem to Arabella in the first line (who is undoubtedly the character Belinda in the poem though Pope says that the "character of Belinda...resembles you in nothing but in beuty"). Pope diffuses potential problems in the future by imploring them to laugh at their own vanities and have a sense of humor about the play. Pope also explains different literary terms to Arabella so that she can understand his work. Unfortunately, Pope seems condescending by saying that it is hard for women to understand his writing. The most this letter accomplished was establishing thecomdedic value of this poem and preventing miscommunication. Source of PICTURE:http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=1&language=en-US&family=creative&p=cutting%20hair&src=standard
 * Alexander Pope: The Rape of the Lock**

**High School Dictionary ** My Bad - derived from any ghetto in NYC; "Excuse Me" Ballin - derived from Los Angeles; to flaunt money or be wealthy Ghetto - derived from people who live in poor places; a literal description of ballin gangstas pretending to be poor homeless brothas who steal for a livin until dey get capped by da feds or chained to a white cracka in prison who does nuttin but talk bout his stoopid wife who he thinks is cheetin on him...Gimme a gun, man IDK - derived from AIM; I Don't Know; derived from AIMspeak; not familiar with something Krunk - Wild and exhilarating, taking it to the next level of excitement or fun Mad - adj, describing the extreme of something Matt Damon - derived from the movie 'Team America: World Police'; pure and comlete stupidity by the person speaking this name OMG - O My Gosh; derived from AIMSpeak; expression of surprise Peace - derived from "good-bye" Props - derived from Brooklyn; Favor or admiration credited to a person because of something done Sick - derived from the skateboard culture of the 90s; radically awesome or supremely sweet Whatever - derived from popular chicks with bad grammar; a term used to describe one's lack of caring or what one says when faced with a pointless argument or situation

Richard Steele: The Tatler** Read and summarize two articles by Addison and Steele. After you have summarized each of the articles, explain how each article exemplifies the ideas and beliefs associated with the Age of Reason.**  Addison opens //Hunting// by describing the two types of physical labor that he sees in life. The first type of labor is exactly what it sounds like: work. Whether it takes the form of farming or lifting crops, this work gives no comfort to the worker. People usually conceal the second type of labor with the name 'exercise'. Even though it requires the same amount of energy as work, exercise gives pleasure to the active person. According to the author, the rural life comprises both work and exercise, allowing any country boy or girl to experience life with a higher level of happiness than those from the city.
 * Joseph Addison: The Spectator
 * __Question:__
 * On the Exercise of Hunting, No. 115, The Spectator**

A friend of Addison's, Sir Roger, frequently hunts in the backwoods surrounding his home. The various rooms of his estate house a variety of animal heads and furs, weapons, and trophies which induce nostalgia for him. One of his favorite animals to hunt is the fox. In his excitement for fox-hunting, he has damaged parts of his house with his rifle. His hobby allows him to stay active in his increasing age, and instills inside of him a sense of pride. The knight eventually dropped the hunt because of his age, but enjoys firing at any hares that wander too close to his home.

//The Spectator// intends to report the facts in contrast to the biases of coeval papers. However, Addison subtley reveals overlooked truths in his writing while allowing a large space for the reader's interpretation. He explains that two types of physical labor exist in this world. What makes the difference is the perception of the worker to his or her task. Such as in the example of Sir Roger, one man might hunt for a living, yet hate his work while another man loves to hunt even though he professes in a different area. This article encourages readers to think from alternate viewpoints which categorizes it with writings from the Age of Reason. Writers from this era also believed in emersing themselves in knowledge. For some people, high school students for example, knowledge seems inherently boring along with any learning for that matter. During that era, though, most people never received an education. Regardless of whether or not creative insight would intrigue common people, they would most likely not have understood what they were reading if capable of reading at all. The Age of Reason marked a moment in history when a life-preserver was thrown to a race fearful of fighting the tide. Men and women alike began to speak out against their rulers and doctrines. Addison's article may not call for rebellion directly, but any evidence of thinking outside the box will ignite an otherwise stagnant mind. It is a revolution of thought.

//The Spectator//, written by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, was a very popular newspaper in England that greatly affected English society and literature. //The Spectator// was considered a different type of literature because it would devote an entire paper to one subject. They both added some witicism to their writing to make it more enjoyable or entertaining for the reader. They were both educated as children, and they met each other at Charterhouse School. Steele began with his paper called //The Tattler// that was a popular paper in Ireland. After Addison had contributed to Steele's paper several times, they began working together and eventually launched //The Spectator//.
 * "To Enliven Morality with Wit": The Spectator**

The Age of Reason was a major turning point for literature in England. There was a great publishing boom, so it allowed more people to share their writing, and hence more people could read it. Addison and Steele were successful because so many people read their paper, and this would not have been possible without the use of the printing press. The style of writing also changed during the Age of Reason, and writers began to add wit, humor, and satire to their works. One aspect that is noted in Addison and Steele's work is their use of wit to both entertain and inform the reader. Their stated goal was even to "enliven Morality with Wit, and to temper Wit with Morality."

The work of Addison and Steele is very similar to articles that we see in the letter to the Editor Section of our newspapers today. They are both short articles written to inform the general public, but to also entertain them as well. People in England during the Age of Reason would sit down at home or at a coffee shop to read //The Spectator,// and this is still continued today when people wake up in the morning to read the newspaper

In this article, Addison addresses the proplems of women wearing petticoats, and he begins by using an example of when a woman was not able to fit through his door. He then conducts his own experiment on the size of the petticoats, but he is unable to complete it because they petticoat is too large for his house. He then finds the owner of this petticoat and asks her why she would want to wear something like this, and she replies that she just wants to fit in with all of the other women who wear this particular style. The council for the petticoat was then called in, and they formed specific rules about how large the petticoat was allowed to be. Addison also suggests new ways for improving the petticoat, but he realizes that women would not abide by these rules and that the best solution would be to just eliminate all petticoats.
 * Trial of the Hoop Petticoat. No. 116**

Literature written during the Age of Reason expressed new ideas that were not seen in literature previously. It tended to focus more on daily lives of individuals instead of religious figures, and the //Trial of the Hoop Petticoat// is a perfect example of how writing was targeted towards the general public. The //Trial of the Hoop Petticoat// addresses the issue of women's petticoats, and this was common during that time period because petticoats were the latest fashion trends. Literature during the Age of Reason also tended to be satirical. When Addison proposes solutions to improving the petticoat, he devises several plans that are impractical, but they are used to make fun of the petticoats that the women wore.

Addison's criticism is not very different from the criticism that women still recieve from men today about what kind of clothing to wear. Women want to wear the latest fashions to be stylish, but men don't always appreciate a women's style the same way that women do. A perfect modern day example of the petticoat would be the ugg boots that many girls wear today. Many boys criticize girls for wearing them, as well as complain about how ugly they think ugg boots are, but girls continue to wear them regardless.