Third Blog Assignment – Eating the Young

For this third Blog post, please read A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (on Reserve for this class) and comment on it. The author deals with the issue of cannibalism. Although we may, in our mainstream culture, have abhorrence for this topic, it is certainly a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history and within the animal kingdom. Perhaps one of the most interesting examples is the Preying Mantis – the female often eats the male while they are copulating, which adds another dimension to “oral sex.” In A Modest Proposal however, Swift imagines how if we can overcome the abhorrence we have for cannibalism, we could solve some rather dire social crises.

So in this post, consider the remarks of this great and noted writer, and respond to them.

Your post should be a minimum of 200 words. Please include, at the end of your post, a recommendation for a book in Worldcat that addresses cannibalism. Include the MLA citation for the book. No call number is needed. However, in a departure from the norm, I would like you to order this book through ILLiad.

In addition, please comment on someone else’s post on a blog other than your own. This can include the main class blog.

As always, your posting and comments are due by Midnight Sunday, in this case, 4/20/06.