Eng 3U7

Essay Argumentation Assignment In Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay A Modest Proposal, he explains his method of turning Ireland’s poor children into “sound, useful members of the commonwealth.” Taking into consideration the time period of this essay, it is not difficult to see Swift’s use of satire within his arguments. Ireland faced many issues at the time such as overpopulation and famine. As a result, many children lived in squalor, which often lead to poverty as well. Swift’s ‘modest proposal,’ as ironic as it sounds, is essentially to turn Ireland’s problem into its own solution. Swift displays his moral stance and naïve persona by suggesting that babies should be bought and eaten after one year of age as a remedy to the ongoing famine problem. His thesis is:
That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. (214, 10)
Swift explains that by allowing the children to get plump and fat for persons of wealth to buy, there will be more food to eat, and their parents will be able to receive profits as well. Swift uses deductive reasoning to make his argument. Deductive reasoning begins with a major premise that must be accepted before minor premises can be accepted. Swift’s major premise comes from Ireland’s economic position and issues of poverty and famine. In his introduction, a kind of syllogism is formed in the way he presents his proposal as a rational solution to the problem. His major premise is that food is required to reduce famine; his minor premise is that children can be used as food, thus he concludes that children can be used to reduce the famine. What Swift is essentially trying to convey with this syllogism is that poor children that cannot provide to society can be used as food, which would decrease the issue of famine