Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was born in 1667 and lived until 1745. He was a satirist and essayist, he was a political figure for the Whigs and later for the Tories. He was a dean for the St. Patrick's cathedral. He is best known for his work of Gulliver's travels in 1728. When he was young he lived a life of poverty supported by his single mother, though a lot changed when Swift began schooling at private schools. 

Quotes: (from others)
"This satire works on so many levels that a paper such as this allows me to deal with only three elements, and in a necessarily superficial way: the ways in which the structure and choice of metaphor serve Swift's purpose, a discussion of some of his most salient attacks on politics, religion, and other elements of society, and his critique on the essence and flaws of human nature. Swift's purpose was to stir his readers to view themselves as he viewed humankind, as creatures who were not fulfilling their potential to be truly great but were simply flaunting the trappings of greatness." - Shirley Galloway 

" Consequently, as readers follow the instructions given in the text, they create meaning for themselves by constantly producing, modifying, and correcting their understanding of the signified as they move from book to book. This dialectical relationship between text and reader depends upon the tension between the role offered by the text and the real reader's own attitudes, what Wolfgang Iser calls "re-creative dialectics" (ix-x)." - Sue Bennett 

 Quotes: (from Swift)

"When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him." -Swift 

"We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." -Swift 

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own."- Swift