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Jonathan Swift’s 1729 “A Modest Proposal,” definitely grasps the reader’s attention with an outrageous proposal using satire. His use of rhetorical strategies formats his article into a well-organized argument. The purpose of his argument is to raise awareness about the starving people of Ireland. Swift, being one of the most prestigious writers of his times forms a solid argument using each of the following rhetorical strategies, ethos, pathos, and logos. By using a satire, Swift hopes to grasp the attention of the English elites. Swift tries to persuade his audience by proposing a serve and disreputable solution, hoping it will bring enough awareness to the…
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In his renowned pamphlet, “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift brings attention to the poor conditions in Ireland. Being a native of Ireland, Swift remained loyal to his country. Upon noticing the terrible conditions in Ireland, he took it upon himself to address the issues at hand. Among these issues, involves the sickly and insufficient children in his homeland. Incorporating statistics to support his claim, Swift attempts to persuade his readers to support his outrageous plan to solve a dire situation. As a result his “logical” and preposterous plan created mixed reactions in both the past and the present.…
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Swift uses a lot of statistics and calculations to support his proposal. For example on page 915, “I calculate there may be about 200,000 couple…I subtract 30,000 couple….annually born.” There are also calculations on pages 916 and 918, showing that he has planned all of the details of his proposal out, which helps make A Modest Proposal, a strong, augmentative essay. Swift also explains all the benefits of his proposal, as shown on pages 917 and 918, “For first, as I have already observed….Sixthly….fear of a miscarriage.” As a result of Swift explaining his proposal and benefits detail by detail, the essay becomes stronger and the proposal starts to look appealing.…
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Your Majesty King George II, as you may have previously heard, Jonathan Smith has been relinquishing his robust opinions of this great town's administration. He titled his work "A Modest Proposal," embracing an abundance of sarcastic locution and introducing a morbid proposition. His claims question the eudaemonia of the community casting a dishonorable judgment upon it. Mr. Swift builds his argument by implying that the women of the population are merely breeders. His blunt accusations exhibit a sense of sexism towards women as he compares them to animals. Mr. Swift further articulates the plentitude of breeding that occurs in the community by concentrating on the children inhabiting it. He specifically refers to the children as "professed…
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“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.…
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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.…
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In his satirical essay "A Modest Proposal," Johnathan Swift examines treatment of the poor in Ireland during the eighteenth century: “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London; that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food; whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled, and I make no doubt, that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or ragout.” (Swift 763) In his essay, Swift describes a repulsive suggestion for dealing with the children of the poor in Ireland. Swift describes in detail how poor children should be raised and sold to the wealthy at age one. He details how the children should be and how they should be prepared for the wealthy to consume. Swift's abhorrent proposal for the poor children not only points out the awful treatment of the poor in Ireland during the eighteenth century, but also Ireland's inability to devise a more desirable plan for the poor. His use of statistics and graphical depiction of the poor children's lives adds to the credibility of his essay.…
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Jonathan Swift, a celebrated name during the eighteenth century, was an economist, a writer, and a cleric who was later named Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Although Swift took on many different roles throughout his career, the literary form of satire seemed to be his realm of expertise. Because satire flourished during the eighteenth century, Jonathan Swift is arguably one of the most influential political satirists of his time. In one of his famous essays, A Modest Proposal, Swift expresses his anger and frustration towards the oppression of the Irish by the English government. In order to gain attention from his audience, Swift proposes the outrageous thesis that the solution to Ireland’s problem of poverty is to feed children of the poor to the wealthy, aristocratic families. To whom Swift is directing his satire…
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Firstly, Jonathan Swift uses irony to bring out the evils of the Englishmen’s proposals to fix the problem of poverty. In paragraph five for instance, Swift writes that a great advantage to his proposal is that it will prevent the horrid practice of abortion. Swift is stating that, instead of killing an unwanted child through abortion, you can sell them to someone of worth to be eaten. In a like manner, in paragraph seventeen, Swift describes a man whose virtues he highly esteems. This man goes on to explain his take on the modest proposal, which is that the lack of venison in the kingdom could be replace with “the Bodies of young Lads and Maidens,” to support his position ( A virtuous man wishing to supply the citizens of the kingdom…
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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.…
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“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…
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In using the word “modest” in the title to describe his proposal utterly ludicrous to describe an proposal as appalling and horrific as this. Swift casually states that an acquaintance of his has assured him that "a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicate, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled. He then adds, "and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout. This statement is full of irony and wit. Before bringing the proposal to a close Swift proposes an unsarcastic statement it reads “Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, till he hath at least some glimpse of hope that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice”. The sarcastic comparisons and ironic exaggerations along with the witty language add an overtone to the proposal and leaves an strong imprint on the reader that is hard to forget. Jonathan swift wields sarcasm expertly in this proposal. Although the subjects or targets of his sarcasm are different he uses a genius method of…
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Jonathan Swift, author of “A Modest Proposal”, wrote about the starving people of Ireland in the early 1700′s. The purpose of his argument is to raise awareness to the wealthy of the issue. Swift, a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral composed the satirical essay due to his want for a resolution for the underprivileged people in Ireland. Swift wants to bring the issue to light for the wealthy Irish class. Swift assumes that his audience will be upset and bothered by his suggestion to sell and eat poor children. Swift also assumes that people genuinely care about their fellow Irishmen and will move for a solution.…
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After voicing his frustrations to his government to no avail, he saunters down an alternate route. While digesting his most influential and recognized piece, all readers nod along with the author’s point: a change needs to occur in order for the Irish poor to end their suffering. That is until Swift mentions his plan, which involves raising babies, harvesting them at the ripe age of one, and selling their carcasses as a delicacy to the rich. Until the man reveals the details of his proposal, a majority of the readers nod along, eager to see Swift help the poor that plague the nation. Though no laughing matter like Lichtenberg suggests of satire, the poor do not realize the “hit” against them until they are too deep in their support for Swift. Instead of “[rousing] laughter”, the satirist rouses support from those “who are hit”, as he leads the poor and downtrodden along, appearing like he possesses a true solution to their problems. “A Modest Proposal” exists to criticize the Irish government for its lack of action in helping the poor improve their status, but first, Swift mockingly hits the poor by suggesting the sale of poor…
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"A Modest Proposal" is an unrealistically conceived attempt to find an easy, cheap and fair way to convert the starving children of Ireland into "Sound and useful members of the common wealth." Swift explains how children across the country are impoverished because their families are too poor to keep them clothed and fed. A modest proposal pre-sents arguments for the many advantages on raising the children to be sold for a great deal of money as food. He expresses himself with such confidence when telling his fel-low compatriots an easy way to reduce poverty and overpopulation. The most ironic thing about "A modest proposal" is that it is not modest at all. It is a scary and insane thought to raise children to be eaten.…
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