English Majors??? Anyone??? Help...

I read a story called "A Modest Proposal" of a guy proposing his country have "breeders" and they would sell their one year old children to rich people as food. He said it would solve the orphan problem, makes jobs for poor men and women, and boost the economy. It made sense, but who would do that? At the end he dared politicians to come up with a better proposal to solve ALL those problems.

So I have to write a "Modest Proposal" Basically propose something to fix an issue (Ex. Global Warming, Economy, stuff like that) that makes sense, but is so ridiculous that no one would do it. All the while pointing out that something needs to be done to fix that issue.

Any ideas???

I would go to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's 1984, or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale. Reading even the sparknotes for these would give you practically unlimited ideas, and you could easily make any one of them your own.

Good luck :)

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Originally Posted by musicalKeyes

I would go to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's 1984, or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale. Reading even the sparknotes for these would give you practically unlimited ideas, and you could easily make any one of them your own.

Good luck :)

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Thanks. :)

Can I read the sparknotes in a short time??? I'm limited on time. I work 12 hour shifts and my paper is due next wed. LoL.

Sparknotes is a a lifesaver sometimes. :bow:

Sure is. Here are the themes, motifs, and symbols pages for each, reading through these will probably give you some really good ideas:

The Handmaid's Tale
1984
Brave New World

The Summary & Analysis parts of each would probably be helpful too. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by musicalKeyes

Sure is. Here are the themes, motifs, and symbols pages for each, reading through these will probably give you some really good ideas:

The Handmaid's Tale
1984
Brave New World

The Summary & Analysis parts of each would probably be helpful too. :)

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Thanks. :D
I'm gonna start reading those tomorrow. :) For now it's off to get some dinner then off to get some sleep.
Thanks again.

Fun assignment.

Too bad nothing trumps eating babies.

Look at bits and pieces of Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Lots of stuff in there. Good luck!

Eliminate money. Take us back to a barter system. Fix our oil addiction by outlawing the use of any product made from crude oil. There are tons of ideas!

I don't know that I would go around co-opting famous authors' ideas. It sounds like your teacher wants you to come up with an original idea.

Ya, just pick anything that is a negative or positive in society and then make the reward or punishment crazy for it.
Any criminal of any kind owes the city 1000 hours of hard labor. Deterrent for crime, free labor.
Tax people based on obesity.
Force people to take IQ tests, then make them work in the most mentally demanding jobs.
Ban smoking and drinking!
There are lots of ideas. Pick the one that is easiest for you to write about.
How long does it need to be?