Reactionary Essay on Applied Science by Phyllis McGinley | Introduction & Overview

Reactionary Essay on Applied Science Introduction

"Reactionary Essay on Applied Science," with its blend of light domestic humor and social satire, is characteristic of much of McGinley's best poetry. First published in the New Yorker in 1951, it was included that same year in A Short Walk from the Station, as well as in Times Three, the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of poetry which spanned three decades of her work. Many of McGinley's poems were based on her experiences as a suburban housewife and mother. She used this perspective, one frequently scorned by more serious writers, to comment on the ironies she found in the world around her. In this poem, she presents a "reactionary" view of the world of inventions. The poem satirically compares several minor discoveries which have practical importance in the speaker's life, such as the safety match, paper towels, and window screens, with highly praised inventions and inventors such as the Wright...
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