Jonathan Swift – (1667-1745)
from Wikipedia:
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish[1] satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin.
He is remembered for works such as Gulliver’s Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, Drapier’s Letters, The Battle of the Books, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift originally published all of his works under pseudonyms — such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier — or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire: the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.”
That’s well worded enough – brief and to the point. Swift was an interesting character. You can read the rest of the wiki bio .
If you haven’t already read “Gulliver’s Travels” and are trying to cram, listening to a few chapters and memorizing the characters should be all you need to get by on the GRE. If you are on a board of admissions, please phase out this test so I never have to write statements like that again.