...The major goal of writing a work of satire is to subversively expose social ills through the use of outlandish exaggerations that reveal moral truths. The satire does the work by utilizing the dominant mode of communication during a given historical moment. The satirist holds a social responsibility and that responsibility is to draw attention to the moral failings of the government as well as the people using various means of communication. In A Modest Proposal, Swift adopts the pamphlet genre to deliver his social criticism on the problem of poverty in Ireland as well as the expose the indifferent attitudes of the more disadvantaged toward those experiencing economic disparity. Swifts use of economic language as well as his creation of images...
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..... .. | | . |A Modest Proposal | |By Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |A Study Guide | |Cummings Guides Home..|..Contact This Site | |.. | |Type of Work | |Purpose | |Historical Background | |Summary | | ...
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...Horatian and Juvenalian Satire Satire has many definitions, but according to Merriam Webster satire can be defined as “A literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn” (Webster). This definition is likely used by many authors who exercise the application of satire. Satire has been in literature since ancient times; it is derived from the Latin satura, meaning "dish of mixed fruits," (Weisgerber). Many satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishness in all its guises — vanity, hypocrisy, formalism, reverence, and the intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself (Moyers). As previously mentioned, the term satire was originally derived from satura, defined by Quintilian, a roman rhetorician (Clarke). It was later discovered that two Roman poets, Juvenal and Horace, were responsible for further defining satirical works by their literary tone (Moyers). Thus, creating a systematic way to categorize satire into two different types, Horatian satire which approaches satirical observations, literature and performance in a humorous and lighthearted manner, and Juvenalian satire, which focuses on specific verbal or literary attacks on corrupt ideals or individuals (Weisgerber). I view Horatian satire as clever and humorous and find that it generally mocks others. Horatian is not negative; it aims to make fun of human behavior in a comic way. In a work using Horatian satire, readers often laugh at the characters in the story who are...
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...was a time of wit, philosophy, and satire that Johnathan Swift and Voltaire utilized to explain their views on the modern world. Fredrick Douglass, William Wordsworth, and Jean Jacques Rousseau embodied the greatest aspects of the Romanticism era focusing on solitude, nature, and feelings. In 1830 the Realism movement started, a movement strife with inclusiveness and determinism that was highlighted in the works of Gustave Flaubert and Fyodor Dostoevsky. The most recent period was Modernism in which William Butler Yeats and T.S. Eliot used rationalism and psychoanalysis when writing their poems. Each period uprooted the period before it and the writers values and views contradicted those of the writers who proceeded them. The major aspects of each period are very apparent when dissecting the writers who lived through them. The Age of Reason covered from 1660 to 1770 and focused on order, cities, and used satire as a tool to find reason. Voltaire’s Candide and Swift’s A Modest Proposal were both satire that questioned traditions and philosophical norms of the times. In Candide, Voltaire mocks the idea that eternal optimism of ones course in life by continuously throwing the worst case scenarios at his protagonist. In the end Candide finds solace in nature and focusing on the everyday tasks. Swift’s almost humorous A Modest Proposal questions the idea of lazily accepting the British rule over Ireland. The not so modest proposal from Swift drew questions against the...
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...Vera Obi Prof Sarah Hanks ENG 1213 09/26/2015 A rhetorical analysis of “A modest Proposal”. In 1729 Jonathan Swift, author of “A Modest Proposal,” devised this proposal to show how backwards the social and general state Ireland was in. His proposal was to prevent the less fortunate children of Ireland from becoming a burden to their parents or country. As well as making them beneficial to the public. Jonathan Swift's reasoning behind this proposal is that many women were having children that they were unable to care for. He then suggested that the impoverished people of Ireland should consider selling their offspring to wealthy families as sustenance. He says that this proposal would make the infants, “beneficial to the public” (Swift). In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift uses rhetorical exaggeration, sarcasm, and insincerity to express his aggravation with papists, politicians, and the poverty-stricken citizens of Ireland at the time. In order to make his argument more effective, and to get his message across, Swift uses the rhetorical devices of logos, ethos and pathos. Swift employs the use of logos to help him throughout his proposal. Logos is defined as a clear and logical explanation, or an argument. Swift makes a very logical and persuasive argument that the people of Ireland should eat their children. Swift makes a case that by feeding on the children of the poor, the country would be solving several major issues the country is facing. By eating the...
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...Analysis of Voltaire’s Candide: A non-satirical composition of the most satirical piece of literature By: Westley (A.K.A Nicky Flash) Allen Westley Allen AP Literature Miss Gwaltney April 29, 2013 Through literary devices such as persuasion, sarcasm, and elegant rhetorics, Voltaire successfully composes possibly the most well-known satirical pieces of literature. Mad magazine, The Simpsons, and Saturday Night Live, examples of some of the comical staples that satiate our desire for humor. In our society, satire is among the most prevalent of comedic forms. This was not always true. Before the 18th century, satire was not a fully developed form. Satire, however, rose out of necessity; writers and artists needed a way to ambiguously criticize their governments, their churches, and their aristocrats. By the 18th century, satire was hugely popular. “Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own”. (Swift) Satire as an art form has its roots in the classics, especially in the writings of Voltaire. Satire as it was originally proposed was a form of literature using sarcasm, irony, and wit, to bring about a change in society, but in the eighteenth century Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth expanded satire to include politics, as well as art. The political climate of the time was one of tension. Any criticism of government would bring harsh punishments, sometimes exile or death. In order to voice opinions without...
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...Antionette Wilson Mrs.Eaddy AP Language / Composition Analysis of “A Modest Proposal “A Modest Proposal", Jonathan swift, takes advantage of the overlooked pamphlets, and also constructs a ridiculous proposal. He illustrates how backwards the state of Ireland is and the social classes. Swift proposes that the babies of all the poor parents that cannot provide for their child will need to contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many to help improve Ireland’s economy and standard living conditions. Swift states this because many woman are having children that they cannot provide for and his proposal would be "fair, cheap easy method of making these children sound useful"(3). He employs his sarcastic tone, his insincerity, and idea of how ridiculous the proposal is to make his argument not serious. Swift illustrates the poor living standards in Ireland as well as the corruption in the social classes; he recommends that women sell their children as commodities because they were unable to support their children. Swifts mainly focuses on the social classes in Ireland but shows more attention to the poor class; the rich class would make money off of the poor parent’s children that are being sold, due to the parents not being able to provide for them which forces them to sell their children. Swift reveals bitterness towards papist because he wants them to reduce the number of children "woman murdering their bastard children"(6), and that will reduce the number...
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...Art as Technique 1. Defamiliarization is stripping objects or subjects from their individual or “familiar” characteristics and giving them unusual or “unfamiliar” traits to allow the reader to see it in a whole new perspective. An example of this is in Tolstoy's defamiliarization of spanking, explaining the act as “to strip people who have broken the law, to hurl them to the floor, and to rap on their bottoms with switches.” The crude description removes the disciplinary context it had and creates a vicious and “savage” form of abuse. This continues with Tolstoy saying “Just why precisely this stupid, savage means of causing pain and not any other – why not prick the shoulders or any part of the body with needles, squeeze the hands or the feet in a vice, or anything like that?” The initial reaction to the latter quote is condemning its barbaric nature. However upon thinking that, it exposes several contradictions and hypocritical opinions as the only thing that changed in both scenarios was the form of punishment, not the infliction of pain on the child itself. Like Shklovsky said “the object isn’t important,” it is the connotations it conveys. 2. The concept is quite prevalent in feminist literature, specifically in the feminist critique in which most, if not all, the female characters are produced by men and male-oriented literature. However, gynocriticism isn’t immune to this technique as it could easily be exploited to further “radical feminism”. In the feminist...
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...In A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, Swift believes that the wealthy bear a responsibility for the poor. In his proposal Swift has an idea to take the children of poor people and turn them into food for other people. Swift believes by doing this many problems will be resolved for everyone. This piece of writing is a satire but it still shows the idea that Swift was trying to get across through his writing. The main point of the satire is that the rich have a responsibility to help the poor people. I disagree with Swift’s perspective on the relationship between the poor and the wealthy, I think that they don’t have a responsibility for the poor. I believe that the wealthy don’t have that responsibility especially in contemporary American...
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...“The most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an Authoress” Irony serves as a fundamental literary tool for authors. It enables them to express their themes and views through characters whose words are often inconsistent with their actions, and in situations where the intended result differs from the actual result. Irony works in a clever manner by showing the reader what the author wants to express by making these inconsistencies apparent to the reader, if not to the characters themselves, and exposing it, more often than not, in a satiric fashion. Yet, while irony works with satire, the power it holds for those who wield it well is no laughing matter. Famous writers such as the sardonic H.L. Mencken and Jonathan Swift, a true satiric master, have used irony to promote real, legitimate change. In Swift’s case, his famous piece, “A Modest Proposal,” used extreme satire and irony to promote change in Irish policy. Perhaps the greatest satirist of all time, William Shakespeare used irony in almost every piece he created. In his play Julius Caesar, the speech he has Mark Antony give in which he repeats the phrase “but Brutus is an honorable man” when he is trying to convey the exact opposite serves as a truly timeless example of this literary tool. It is unique in that it does not simply throw the author’s point of view directly in the reader’s face, but rather enables the reader to discover the author’s truth. It makes the statement or idea the author is trying...
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...Some definitions of literary devices, techniques and style from searching via http://www.ferretsoft.com/ LITERARY DEVICES http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/lit.htm Literary devices refers to any specific aspect of literature, or a particular work, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and/or analyze. Both literary elements and literary techniques can rightly be called literary devices. Literary elements refers to aspects or characteristics of a whole text. They are not “used,” per se, by authors; we derive what they are from reading the text. Most literary elements can be derived from any and all texts; for example, every story has a theme, every story has a setting, every story has a conflict, every story is written from a particular point-of-view, etc. In order to be discussed legitimately, literary elements must be specifically identified for that text. Literary techniques refers to any specific, deliberate constructions of language which an author uses to convey meaning. An author’s use of a literary technique usually occurs with a single word or phrase, or a particular group of words or phrases, at one single point in a text. Unlike literary elements, literary techniques are not necessarily present in every text. Literary terms refers to the words themselves with which we identify and describe literary elements and techniques. They are not found in literature and they are not “used” by authors. Allegory:...
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...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...
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...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
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...doctrineof "fairuse" in American copyright law, there is no end to legislative,judicial, and academic efforts to rationalizethe doctrine. Its codification in the 1976 CopyrightAct appearsto have contributedto its fragmentation, rather than to its coherence. As did much of copyright law, fair use originated as a judicially unacknowledged effort via the law to validate certain favored practicesand patterns.In the main, it has continued to be applied as such, though too often courts mask their implicit validation of these patterns in the now-conventional "caseby-case" application of the statutoryfair use "factors"to the defendant's use of the copyrighted work in question. A more explicit acknowledgment of the role of these patterns in fair use analysis would be consistent with fair use, copyright policy, and tradition. Importantly, such an acknowledgment would help to bridge the often difficult conceptual gap between fair use claims asserted by individual defendants and the social and cultural implications of accepting or rejecting those claims. In immediate terms, the approach should lead to a more consistent and predictable fair use jurisprudence.When viewed in light of recent research by cognitive psychologists and other social scientists on patternsand creativity, in broader terms, the approach should enhance...
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...Copyright © 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-180360-1 MHID: 0-07-180360-2 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-180359-5, MHID: 0-07180359-9. E-book conversion by Codemantra Version 1.0 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill Education eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com. Trademarks: McGraw-Hill Education, the McGraw-Hill Education logo, 5 Steps to a 5 and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill Education and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property...
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