How does irony work?

Having read pretty closely the opening part of A Modest Proposal, it seems to me we're in a situation where we can start talking about a complicated issue: how irony actually works. I've now extracted the responses to the last five sections (the ones it was left optional to do), and they're accessible from the main page. I want to address two questions: who is this satire aimed at, and how do you know?

Making some choices

You should have brought two lists, composed as a result of your own research and reading that of others, with you:

• one of three or four questions about Swift and his context that you think could be answered, or fruitfully explored, in a few hours' work), and
• a second of which works of Swift you think it's important that some of us, or perhaps all of us, should read and discuss.

We'll try to give everybody a question to explore between now and Monday. Reports of explorations -- with works consulted listings, of course -- will need to be posted on the Swift Questions forum by class time on Monday.

I'll collect the lists of proposed works to read, and we'll make some decisions on Monday.

Feedback on feedback (on feedback)

I've transcribed all the responses I got to the midterm feedback form, and commented on them where I thought it might be useful. I invite you to read them, and if you'd like to add anything (anonymously), I've provided an editing window for you to do that. It'll be open until the weekend, and will work the same way: whatever you put in the window will come to me as an anonymous email, and I'll add it to the Web page (and respond if it seems useful).