A Modest Proposal and Other Satires Lesson Plan

Which group receives a less favorable parody in "The Battle of the Books"? Provide examples from the text.

Students should observe that the Moderns receive a much less flattering parody than the Ancients. The Ancients are often portrayed as heroic, whereas the Moderns are called fat, light in the head, and their gods are malignant. As evidence, students may cite the favorable descriptions of Homer in contrast to the description of the Modern librarian or the goddess Criticism and her family.

Why do you think Swift left the result of "The Battle of the Books" open-ended? How do we know that it is open-ended? What does this suggest of his view of the conflict?