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 here.

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.