The class began with a discussion of our agenda items and it seemed as though most people had intrepreted the essay literally. I had seen the satire in the story immediatly while the other in the class where quite upset at the teaching methods this teacher employed and at his views of the school system. But the turning point came when we compared the story to Swifts essay " A Modest Proposal". Thats when we all began to see the irony in Gattos views of the school system. He wasnt trying to describe his own teaching methods but conversely make us think about what is wrong with many teaching methods used in our school system.