Starving Mothers and Children
Audience Analysis My target audience is fellow college students needing a summary of Jonathon Swift’s piece A Modest Proposal. My audience is college students that range from all ages. My audience has read the piece. If my audience read the essay and took it literal there will be moral issues, ethical issues, and political issues come up. I was in shock when I first read the essay but after looking into it I understand it more. That is what I hope to accomplish with my essay. My audience should trust what I have said since I am a college student like them. My role as the writer is to summarize his essay and dig deeper into the meaning of Swift’s words and the essay as a whole. I want to accomplish this for when the audience reads A Modest Proposal again they can see it from Jonathon Swift’s point of view.
Crystal Jacobs
Donna Clifton
English Composition ENGL111
1/26/2013 First Draft
A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift
Starving Mothers and Children
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathon Swift is a satirical essay. A satire is literary term meaning irony. The point of his essay was to show the lords of the land that something needs to be done about the economy. The author almost makes it seem like the economy is so terrible that drastic measures must be taken. Swift’s proposal is extreme and unethical, but is no meant to be taken literally. His proposal of having babies to feed to the public and stimulate the economy, is his proposal to the public, but is not the heart of the essay.
His satire starts with him expressing what is to be seen walking down the streets. It is a melancholy object to walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and all importuning every passenger for an alms. (1) The author helps you envision the children begging for food or money. Swift then starts to explain how his proposal with not only benefit the small families but the country as a whole.
Swift’s proposal will hopefully decrease the number of abortions performed by poor mothers. Swift then figures the number of infants born in Ireland and asks what should be done with them.” …There only remain an hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born.” (18) He points out that they are unfit for any employment. They are even too young to steal. Merchants will not buy or sell children. Therefore, it seems like a good idea that the people of Ireland simply eat the infants when they reach the age of one year.
Swift then tells the audience of how many people a small child will feed. He describes the best ways to cook them and what can be done with leftovers. A friend of the author has already heard the proposal and suggested that children of fourteen be a potential food too. Swift does not like the idea and explains the fourteen year old boy’s meat is too lean and the girls may become mothers or “breeders” themselves.
Swift lists six reasons why his proposal should be adopted as law. First, it would lessen the number of Papists “Catholics”. (80) Second, the poor will be able to start earning more money and help pay their rent. Third, there will be new profit and goods. Fourth, the mothers will not be burden with the upbringing of the children. Fifth, there will be a new and interesting cuisine. The sixth reason is that mothers would become better mothers and nurturers to the infants. Men would become better caretakers of their wives.
The only objection Swift sees is that the population would be diminished. Swift almost makes it seem like this may be a seventh reason in his proposal. “I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and ‘twas indeed one principal design in offering it to the world.”(111)
Swift concludes by saying first that he would welcome any other suggestions anyone may have on this question, then reassuring the reader that he has no personal interest in this idea because he has no children and therefore could not profit by selling them to be eaten.
His satire, even though it was wrote in 1729, can still ring touch everyone in all countries today. The United States has a large population of homeless. There are children starving overseas. What is it going to take for leaders to help them? That is the true meaning behind this essay.
Works Cited
Swift, Jonathon. A Modest Proposal. Kindle Edition. 1729
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In conclusion, Feed My Starving Children was a great cause for us to use in our project. But in retrospect our team consensus was that there were entirely too many teams that selected the same project. It was a bit disheartening when we realized that others had similar presentations. In comparison to previous group projects, Com Champs has been efficient and rewarding for us as a team. A major factor for the success of our team would have to be setting the proper expectation and culture of what we consider a well-organized group. Having each member accept set culture and add their personal touch was paramount to Com Champs.…
- 109 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ talks about how children of poor people are a burden to their parents and how the parents should fatten up their children and then feed them to Ireland’s rich land-owners. But in the last sentence of ‘A Modest Proposal’, “I have no children, by which I can propose a single penny; the youngest being nine and my wife past child-bearing” is one example of the verbal irony in the whole pamphlet.…
- 76 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
“A Modest Proposal” is a strongly written satire by Jonathon Swift. In the essay, Swift applies nearly all of the elements of satire. Some of the most obvious elements are his use of creating a persona and his exaggeration. Beginning by analyzing the title, “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public”, it is a reasonable topic for the essay. However it is not at all modest. Swift absurdly creates suggestions to make the poor children beneficial. His primary goal in this essay is to shame the English, bring up the issues of poverty and motivate the Irish.…
- 588 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift reaches out to the readers about social problems that the great town and county are going through. I believe Swift is trying to tell the readers in a satirical way that the government and political party are not doing anything in the country to solve the social problems. Swift believed the only way to catch their attention was to write the essay “A Modest Proposal”. Swift used satire in his essay to inform people of Ireland how high poverty, hunger, and death rates were not getting any help from the government.…
- 449 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Lisa Esposito addresses the strong negative connection between poverty and the health of the parents and children affected by it. She blames stress-filled homes, unstable nutrition, and toxic environments among other things as the reason low-income families are unable to keep themselves healthy. She uses facts and expert opinions to try to raise awareness and attempt to push people toward better health. Esposito clearly takes the side of those in poverty by constantly repeating they are forced into their unhealthy lifestyles. For example, Esposito points out the paradox of poor people being increasingly hungry, yet statistics show more obesity present in poor people. Her rebuttal is the fact that often times the cheapest food is usually full…
- 403 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
An Anglican priest known for his political pamphlets, Jonathan Swift, in his essay, “A Modest Proposal”, suggests that the infants of poor mothers should be sold as food on the market. Swift’s proposal is to call attention to the horrid living conditions in Ireland to convince the English to stop exploiting the Irish. He accomplishes this by encouraging the audience to believe he’s creditable, using statistics and the advantages of his proposal to appear logical, appealing to the emotions of the reader.…
- 330 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In “A Modest Proposal”, the theme of the short story is all but modest. The proposal is that the people of Ireland should start eating babies in order to dilute the population and to provide money (to, for example, the renters) for the poor who cannot afford food. John Swift uses this ironic satire in order to catch the reader's attention. It is his way of saying ‘here is a ridiculous idea, now think of an actual solution’. The solution that Swift proposes is one that would work but is deemed immoral.…
- 518 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
“A Modest Proposal” is accurately called one of the most effective satires in the English language. There are a few key moments of satirical success that should be mentioned. Swift’s decision to put off the actual suggestion of eating babies until several paragraphs into the piece makes his idea all the more arresting when it does come. Also, naming population decrease as the one potential objection to his proposal, Swift heightens the irony of an already ironic piece. The reader is expecting this objection to be that it is morally wrong to kill babies, but Swift subverts our expectations once again, suggesting that there are people so cold to reality that they could be swayed by merely practical economic arguments and cannot even see the outrage of…
- 755 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Even before the essay, Swift implements his 'dark humor ' with his title. A Modest Proposal is truly anything but modest. The absurdities he uses to portray his solutions to all of Ireland 's problems. For example, offering suggestions of cannibalism is outrageous, yet follows still remains consistent with 'dark humor. ' The narrator says, "A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter"(385). He uses this and many other absurd scenarios in order to support his 'dark humor. 'Hidden amongst all the rhetorical tricks, lies a true moral theme. The speaker 's ludicrous solutions to Ireland 's problems cause the reader to become aware of the extent of the dilemma. Tremendously disgusted with the speaker 's solutions, the readers protest to the inhumane living conditions of the Irish lower-class. In order to clear all doubt against Swift 's proposal, he addresses the problem of possibly destroying the Irish race if their infants are all sacrificed. Swift proposes saving a number of children, strictly for procreation. The narrator says, "I do therefore humbly offer it to the public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed; whereof only one fourth part to be males, which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle, or swine; and my reason is that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages; therefore, one male will be sufficient to serve four females" (384). In the midst of all the absurd proposals, Swift also introduces his genuine reforms. He includes discouraging vanity, taxing…
- 1334 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
“A Modest Proposal” is a satirical piece Jonathan Swift wrote to entice the Irish to break away from England. He utilized babies as his hook, talking about eating and using them for clothes or shoes. He wrote examples of how women are the ‘breeders’ and how their babies should be eaten to decrease the population. Also, he uses more examples of how the population would, and has changed. Swift took advantage of the situation at hand and used ghastly examples to get attention. When all was said and done, it was the government that attempted to take control of everything they could, population included. Jonathan wrote about the government corruption, which ties in with how China is run, as well as their own corrupt government. Ireland and China…
- 668 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In both A Modest Proposal and The Rape of The Lock irony is used to mock the social/political values of the time. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift proposes that the impoverished Irish should sell their children as food to the rich in order to help ease their economic misfortunes. As enticing as cannibalism sounds, Swift hardly wished for the slaughter of thousands of one-year-old babies. Swift’s somewhat brutal satire was created to display the blasé character of society in order to provoke a change in the way people passively sat by as the poor suffered. His piece of work brought the insensitive attitudes towards the poor to light by relaying the ridiculousness of the mindsets people had about solving the social and economic tribulations at the time. Swift pokes fun at the illogical “cure-all” solutions proposed by the privileged and those who view people as commodities. He even goes as far as to provide a list of possible preparation styles for the children, just as if they were pigs in a slaughterhouse, and the financial benefits that come with his proposition. By taking a sensitive subject that the society can relate to, Swift grabs attention. To provide his proposal with “logic” and “legitimacy”, Swift writes from a mathematically strategic standpoint. He creates numbers and feeds them to the public as if selling, killing, and eating children is economically the best move. He writes in a heartless and analytical style that further satirizes the calculating way people would view the poor in their carefully constructed projects to “fix” everything. While A Modest Proposal can arguably portray bitterness towards the insensitivity of upper society, The Rape of The Lock is a little more lighthearted, but still sardonic. Alexander Pope writes his narrative poem basically to call out the vain and petty attitudes of two people in his society. His cantos compare the trivial squabble between two people to the epic world of the gods. By placing the significance of…
- 583 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
a. 25-30 word subtitle. Your essay should be called “A Modest Proposal,” but the subtitle should flesh out what societal problem you are trying to solve (without giving away your “shocking” element). (Swift’s full title is “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public.” Shoot for something like that.)…
- 500 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift discusses,using irony, several alternatives he believes will help the audiences situation rather than eating babies. One such alternative is “taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound”(Swift 1204). Some landowners rent out their homes and farms to the poor, have them do all the work, and then keep the profit. Swift suggests that for every pound of profit the landowners make, they should be taxed 5 shillings, so that the country will make more money to feed its people. Another solution he proposes is “of using neither clothes nor household furniture except what is of our own growth and manufacture”(Swift 1204). The best way to boost the economy is by purchasing things that were produced in their country.…
- 207 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
As seen through both A Modest Proposal and Candide, both Jonathan Swift and Voltaire were committed to exposing the problems inherent to their societies, but instead of making bold proclamations about these issues, they wrote entertaining texts that used irony, especially in terms of characterization, to point them out. For example, the speaker in the essay A Modest Proposal can coldly discuss the economic and social benefits of killing and eating children without ever giving much thought to the moral problems. The essay is certainly a satire that is aimed at making his contemporary readers recognize the kind of cold, calculating inhumanity of blunt rationalism when used to address social problems such as poverty and overpopulation. Like Voltaire, Jonathan Swift presents this irony through characterization—in this case, the speaker of the proposal. Although Voltaire tends to present many problems of the Enlightenment by having multiple ironic characters, the effect is the same since the audience is drawn in and made to recognize the flaws of certain ways of thinking. The irony of the narrator of A Modest Proposal though, is that he can go on to criticize the moral weakness of mothers who have immoral abortions or commit infanticide. In addition, at one point he speaks of the selling of babies as food, saying, “I grant this food [children] will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (4, Swift). Like the philosopher, Pangloss in Voltaire’s Candide, the speaker in A Modest Proposal turn a blind eye to other ideas or options and by doing so, represents the worst kind of politician or social planner. This ironic character can make a statement that would seem to be purely economic without seeming to realize the awful nature of it. The powerful statement above is disguised as a blind following of the speaker’s philosophy when in fact it addresses the…
- 541 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
An issue that plagues today's society is the ever-approaching threat of overpopulation. This problem is the one that keeps most experts on edge more than any other apocalyptic theory. Currency is limited, but the ability to reproduce is not and the issue of “how can I support a home and family on welfare” is what most in need ponder every day. The threat is not uncommon, in fact it is the same premise for Jonathan Swift’s 1729 pamphlet A Modest Proposal. My choice for choosing Swift’s piece comes from the fact that the poor and their children is still an issue that affects most of the world even today. A Modest Proposal is also rather ingenious in the fact that at the time of its publication, it went…
- 523 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays