...there was a shift in literature. The Restoration period was during the 17th century and during this time Jonathan Swift wrote “A Modest Proposal”. “A Modest Proposal” is a satire that discusses the issues and solutions of poverty that occur in Ireland. The Romantic period occurred during the late 18th century. A novel that was written during this time period was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Considering that each piece of literature is from a different time period, they both express similarities and differences. Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30th, 1667. Swift grew up fatherless because his father died two months before he was born. Being a single mother, his mom struggled to care...
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...Assignment 1: Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” Dr. Anthony McCormack Strayer University World Culture II Gladys A. Reyes July 25, 2015 In the satire “A Modest Proposal’, Jonathan Swift expresses his feelings of frustration with regard to the aggravation and political issues in Ireland. He describes being frustrated with the indifference of Ireland politicians, the wealthy, the English tyranny, and the degradation and poor conditions in which many poor, Irish women and children have been forced to live in. Swift is embarrassed for those that come to the towns and travel the country, only to see the streets full and crowded with beggars. Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” satire is a reality called for the politician, the wealthy, and the people of Ireland to look for way to improve the lives of the poor, to stop the English social oppression, and to ultimately end the indifferences and life inequalities in Ireland (Levine, 1995). Jonathan Swift was born of Protestant, English parents in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667. He was a man that was immersed in the secular world of men and woman, of politics and political intrigue. He was a devoted friend to those he loved as he was an implacable enemy to those he disliked. He lived in London most of his life, but after the death of Queen Anne in 1714, he was offered a position as Dean of St. Patrick’s in Dublin. He held his position until his death in 1745 at the age of seventy eight. He was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Glendinning...
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...Three years after Gulliver's Travels was published, Jonathan Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal," a work grounded in thoughtful satire. Swift describes the destitution that characterized the life of Ireland's poor in the 18th century then renders a brazenly inhumane solution to their problems. He shocks the sensibilities of the readers then leads them to consider the inhumanity of the destitution in the first place. Although he was born in Ireland, Swift considered himself an Englishman first, and the English were his intended audience. Swift used the good reputation afforded him by previous works to expose an otherwise indifferent English public to the circumstances of Irish misery. Unfortunately, many of the English were so predisposed to hatred of the Irish that they would disregard the point of Swift's essay and might go so far as to endorse Swift's proposal. For the people of Ireland, "A Modest Proposal" built upon Swift's earlier Drapier's Letters and made Swift a national hero (Bookshelf). "A Modest Proposal" begins with a description of the state of 18th century Irish life. Ireland was a place where children too often became beggars or thieves to sustain themselves or their families, women had abortions because they could not afford to raise children, few jobs were available to the workforce, and landlords abused poor tenants. As miserable as the picture Swift painted of Irish life was, the brushstrokes of history were even harsher. Actions of the English in...
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...A Modest Proposal was a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift depicting the horrific conditions of Ireland and the lives of the Irish people in 1729. Swift writes the satire disguised as a social planner of the time who as Swift satirizes were known to be overly rational rather than compassionate. The author portrays and attacks the cruel and unjust oppression of Ireland by its oppressor, the mighty English and ridicules the Irish people at the same time. However, Swift's opposition is indirectly presented. Jonathan Swift is able to do so by using the persona, irony, and wit in order to expose the remarkable corruption and degradation of the Irish people, and at the same time present them with practicable solutions to their economic problem Swift uses the false persona in order to satire the social workers of the time as he saw them. Swift creates a fictional persona because by hiding his true identity he is able to convince the readers of the significance of Ireland's problem and allow them to see truth and reality. The persona is a concerned Irishman who is very intelligent, sound, and serious. He appears to be a brute and a monster for proposing something evil and immoral very calmly as if it is normal to consume the flesh of another human being. What makes his proposal to be even more depraved is that he proposes to eat the babies. The persona declares, and at exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them, in a such a manner as, instead of being...
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...Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” name English 301 December 3, 20xx In “A Modest Proposal” (1729), Jonathan Swift used satire for a double purpose: to attack those that he considered responsible for the financial situation of Ireland, and in the same time, to push those who were in a position of power to take rational measures against poverty in Ireland. In his poem, Swift made use of the image of the Projector; a character whose role is that o designing plans that would lead to some improvements being made in the society. Swift’s narrator in “A Modest Proposal” is an Economic Projector who imagines the entire plan from the point of view of a cold and objective individual. The impersonation’s result is that most often, critics see the Projector as a person who sounds just like Swift when in fact, the truth is that Jonathan Swift was brilliant in making himself sound like a projector(Lockwood 1974). The present paper examines the role of the Economic Projector in the paper, arguing that he does not represent a projection of Swift’s own persona but rather, he is a character through which the author realizes his satirical purpose. The paper further holds that the projector has a central role in creating the meaning of the work. Literary critics and commenters of Swift’s work placed great emphasis on the role of Swift’s economic projector, the narrator who imagines the entire cannibalistic plan described in the poem....
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...“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift In Jonathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” he provides a satirical look at how to address the issue of the poor in Ireland. Poverty, however, is not the only issue of his time as there is also a question of moral issues among the people, both poor and rich. The focus of Swift’s writing is to unburden both parents and the economy of the over population of children, “instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands” (Swift 3). Swift used this theme of unjust behavior to announce how tragic and real these issues were, he brought poverty into prospective and ridiculed society all at once. Swift starts out his proposal with a back ground description of just what it would be like to simply walk down a street in Ireland and see all the misfortune that was surrounding so many people. Poverty here was not a hidden problem it was not something that took investigation to see it was very noticeable yet no one was looking for a solution. It can be inferred that the upper class, a good example would be the landlords, were being greedy and irresponsible governing their land from England. Swift pokes fun at the landlords and England’s mistreatment of Ireland in general when he states “I grant this food may be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have...
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...A Modest Proposal Essay Sheila Wolfe HUM112041VA016-1152-001: World Cultures II Dr. Sue Lafferty 01/31/2015 I chose to do my essay on Jonathon Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”. Swift’s Essay is a style called satire (the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. – Dictionary.com). When you first start to read the essay Swift describes the horrible conditions of the poor and the burden on the parents to try and feed their children. As you read on Swift starts to talk about the poor innocent babes being murdered by their mothers or the voluntary abortions running rapid in the Kingdom – “……Women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expense than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breast.” After swift goes through a lengthy description of the deplorable state that the poor are in and running the numbers of children by the poor he then purpose his thoughts on how to deal with the children. His plan for helping the poor sell and eat their children. WHAT?? Swift wrote “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 a ragoust.” When I first read those...
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...A modest proposal – essay “Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.” According to Niels Bohr, difficult times force us to change our ways of thinking, in order to find a solution. In 1729 Jonathan Swift wrote proposed a solution to such a difficult problem, and in order to carry out the solution, a radical change of thinking was needed, to say the least. The full title of his satirical essay is “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick”, but to the general public, it is known as “A modest proposal”. Covered up by numbers, expert opinions and other rhetorical devices, he presents the idea that the Irish should kill off their young ones at the age of one, and thus relieving themselves from the burden of feeding a flock of children. By proposing such a barbaric idea in a professional manner, Jonathan Swift deceives the reader into thinking that his proposal is genuine. Although it quickly becomes clear that he is being sarcastic, Jonathan Swift uses his sarcasm as a device to create awareness about the dreadful situation in Ireland. Swift engages the reader by appealing to all three modes of persuasion: Pathos, Ethos and Logos. He begins his essay with the lines: “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town (…), when they see the streets, (…), crowded with...
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...Satire Throughout “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest satire writers of all time. He demonstrates satire through mathematical proposals and multiple quotations throughout a “A Modest Proposal” to focus on the deplorable situation in Ireland that is caused by the English all while engaging the reader with his own barbaric proposal that he makes seem realistic through description. The readers must understand that Jonathan Swift is using satire because through his satire, Swift illustrates issues in society and announces blame to the rightful owners rather than just the obviously bizarre proposal he is making. Swift’s modest proposal is created “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 Publick,” (2028). More simply put, he introduces the idea of cannibalism to the Irish people. He suggests that the lower class Irish citizens sell their one year old children to the upper class so they can have them for meals. Swift explains the advantages to his proposal as being that the Irish will have property of their own, it will help bring an end to the overpopulation problem, and that his proposal will solve the food shortage problem. Swift lays the framework for his satire to be effective through his unnamed narrator. The unmanned narrator is important because he seems to be sensible and well educated. Yet, he is removed from the situation because he does not...
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...In “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift uses sarcasm, insincerity, and exaggeration to show how he feels about the politics and Ireland in the late seventeenth century. There are a few factors that keep his argument from being serious; the tone that Swift uses, his insincerity, and the proposal being as ridiculous as it is. Throughout the proposal Jonathan Swift does not blame the people of Ireland for what has become of it. He states that they are all at fault for the state of poverty that Ireland is in, the politicians and the people. Swift exaggerates how horrible a state that Ireland is getting into to amplify how poor and disgusting it was. He does this by using an unserious mood. He uses this to an advantage throughout the proposal because...
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...Professor Walton “A Modest Proposal” 5QX Q1. True or False: Jonathan Swift enjoys making his audiences seem uncomfortable while reading his works. A1. True. (See Page 2027, Paragraph 1.) Q2. Three years after receiving his M.A. from Oxford University, Jonathan Swift became a ________. A. Clergyman in the Anglican Church B. Catholic priest C. King of England D. Professor at Cambridge University A2. A. (See Page 2027, Paragraph 2.) Q3. True or False: Statistics indicate that there are only about 100,000 children born to poor parents each year. A3. False. There only remain one hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born. (Page 2029, Paragraph 5.) Q4. Which of the following statements is false about Jonathan Swift? A. He lived from 1667-1745. B. He spent the final years of his life suffering from Senility. C. He is best known as the writer of Gulliver’s Travel. D. His work “A Modest Proposal,” was a piece of work that expressed his attack on the economic oppression of the English by the Irish. A4. D. (See Page 2027, Paragraph 3.) Q5. After reading “A Modest Proposal,” how is Jonathan Swift’s attitude towards the poor? A5. After reading the essay, I feel that Swift show’s a great deal of sorrow for the poor people. However, at the same time, he feels that they should blame themselves for their problems since they put themselves in that predicament. Swift throws out different...
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...A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift In the essay A Modest Proposal, Swift’s promoter, David Berkowitz, proposes what he thinks is the right solution to the problems being faced by the public of an eighteenth century Ireland. In this particularly long essay, Berkowitz promotes the idea of selling and consuming children. The promoter proposes the immoral ideas in an unsubstantiated fashion which results in this essay being an unsuccessful research essay. In A Modest Proposal, there are three key elements in this piece of writing that render Berkowitz’s argument baseless: the seriousness of the tone of the promoter, the proposal itself, and the use of unreliable sources used throughout the essay. A Modest Proposal begins with the writer describing the underprivileged state of the country of Ireland. Berkowitz starts to build on and take advantage of the relationship of a writer and his audience. He develops sympathy with the masses of Ireland forcing the reader to begin to sympathize and consider how big the problem is. He says that “this prodigious number of children in the arms, …, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance.”(Swift 2). He implies that having such a great number of starving children is a huge problem being faced by the country. He explains that the mothers of these children are driven to beg for any kind of support they can get for their infants when he says “are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance...
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...Assignment 1: “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift In “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the surprise ending happens when the author indicates that he believes that the young children of Ireland should be fed until they are plump and sold to the wealthy in order to feed them. He states that this would solve the economic and social difficulties that Ireland has faced for so many years. It would also rid the country of the massive number of children that are not being properly cared for. Swift states that Ireland has been enduring significant problems for many years. This has forced people around the country to speculate on solutions, some of which have seemed fairly extreme and complex. The surprise of this story comes at the end and follows a lengthy and highly rational argument in favor of making some radical changes to the country. Swift says that he has realized after going through many of these complicated solutions that the best one was the simplest. This represents a major surprise for the reader, who would have no way of anticipating such an insane solution after a very rational and logical argument. While I was reading I wondered if there was going to be a sudden switch in tone, but I had no way of recognizing that it would be so dramatic. I knew that there was probably an important reason that this text is so important. While reading through the carefully crafted argument that comprises most of the essay, I believed that there would probably be some sort of...
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...Jonathan Swift 1. Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" under a pseudonym, so who is the speaker here? The speaker is a Protestant and a member of the Irish upper class. 2. Discuss the tone of the piece. Pull examples from the text to support your discussion. Swift showed disgust for the people who would rather beg than take care of themselves. He says, “These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbados.” 3. As you know, effective argumentation appeals to logic (logos), ethics (ethos) and emotions (pathos). Please discuss how Swift uses all three appeals and how these tools impact his purpose. Swift appeals to logic by stating the issue at hand. He also appeals to logic by asking why it is the public’s responsibility to take care of these needy families. Swift appeals to pathos and ethos through the diction he uses when describing the problem. He wants the situation to change but he wants it to change for every party. 4. Explain the irony in Swift’s title, "A Modest Proposal." The title is ironic because the proposal is anything but modest. Swift presets an outrageous solution to an ongoing problem. His proposal calls attention to this problem in an extremely eye-catching way. He seems...
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