Interpretive Essay 3
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Submit an essay by e-mail on the following topic. You should complete Reader's Log 3A and Reader's Log 3B before writing this essay.
You may make your essay an integral part of an e-mail message, or you may send it as an attachment in Word or WordPerfect. In the subject line of your message write Essay on Swift.
Topic assignment:
Write an essay in which you describe the life of an entirely reasonable person as Gulliver defines it in Gulliver's Travels, Part 4. A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms. In your treatment, follow the order given here. Open with an explanation of your purpose. Next, refer to the Yahoos as negative examples of what a reasonable person is not, using details from the text by way of illustration. Next, discuss the Houyhnhnms as positive examples of what a reasonable person is, again using abundant details. Next, discuss Gulliver's relationship with other human beings after his return home, nothing the depth of his disgust with even his wife and children. Finally, offer your opinion as to whether Swift shared to some degree his character Gulliver's deep antipathy for human beings, and comment as to whether Swift's essay A Modest Proposal adds weight to your opinion on this question.
I will emphasize that you should provide abundant details in developing each section of your essay. These will prove that you have read the assigned Part 4 with thoughtful care. Remember that the length of two single spaced pages (of standard typing paper size), articulated in the course syllabus, is a minimum. To do your topic justice, you could easily write more.
