...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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...“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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...I think the book of Jonathan Swift isn’t funny. Unfortunately, he wrote it in satire, because otherwise author would get in trouble with Irish government, who, as Swift’s thought, was responsible for most of the trouble in Ireland. As we know from the history, in the beginning of 18th century the House of Lords of the Irish parliament was formed of British proteges. The British crown passed all legislative functions in relation to Ireland. London used empire’s power for creating new rights and privileges for British goods. That’s why was really hard time for a local farmers and factories. Jonathan Swift was one of the Irishman, who the plight of his country in this time he is well aware: -“ we neither build houses, (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land” ... “the roads and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.” ... “as...
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...Proposal to End Poverty When reading the 1729 proposal written by Jonathan Swift a lot of thoughts can arise in a grueling manner. How could anyone conclude that eating and selling adolescents for humans to consume can actually become the elucidation to end such poverty and over-population in Ireland? The conception is iniquitous and brazen at so many levels, especially if it was a concrete idea for the government to execute in an immoral way. While I construe Swift’s proposal as time went on I began to understand the point of view of why it lead to contemplation of figuring out how to control such devastations. I can say Swift was appalled at the upper class’s treatment of the poor, and is affront by their objections to even having to look at them. This shows me that Swift had a luminous idea of how the rich looked upon the poor as human beings. As I read on I can definitely see the sardonic tone when Swift proposes that everyone just consume adolescents, which would provide commerce and money to the impecunious families who sell their babies, and of course rid them of the need to feed that child in the first place. I can vouch for a lot of people who reads Swift’s proposal and immediately thinks he’s actually austere when it came to those mind boggling acts. I think a savvy reader will find some clues of the satirical tone. Some examples had me rethink what I might of thought before, the first one is when Swift talks about the landlords (the English people who are extracting...
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...Princess Jamaica Accad Mr. Chiang English ERWC March 12, 2015 A Modest Proposal (Easy) Jonathan Swift's idea of ending poverty in Ireland, by eating children is outrageous. I am completely against this solution. His ideas to replace resources of food with children and his belief that this proposal should be supported is completely inhumane. Children are to be recognized as blessings not something to consume. Swift’s opinion of the children are that they add horribleness to the kingdom and believes that if anyone should solve this problem deserves a statue set up as a preserver of the nation. “I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently...
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...is horrible. They just want you to understand what they are saying. So when you have someone like Jonathan Swift, who cares deeply for their country, it would only make sense that we would try anything to help out. Ireland was suffering from overpopulation and as it would seem that no one was doing anything about it, Jonathan Swift was hoping that his literary work would start making his fellow citizens think about their predicament. “Fifthly, tis food would likewise bring great custom to taverns, where the vintners...
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...In “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift appeals to his readers with sarcasm, and outlandish ideas concerning the problem of hunger that Ireland was facing. Swift appeals to his readers with many rhetorical devices throughout the entire short story. The tone in this essay is both, academic and intelligent. The readers get the sense that the solution to the problems that the inhabitants of Ireland are facing will be logical, well-informed, and completely reasonable. However what the reader gets instead is an maniacal amount of information on the benefits of eating children. All while suggesting that doing so will provide a substantial food supply as well as economic relief (because there will be fewer mouths to feed). Since it is comprehensible that the essay is becoming more ironic, it is the last thing that any reasonable person would have thought. One of the quotes in the essay that help illustrate the irony in this essay is, “I...
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...pamphleteer, and priest Jonathan Swift takes advantage of the overlooked pamphlets by crafting an absurd, “Modest Proposal.” Swift does this to illustrate the dire situation the Irish people. Swift effectively displays satire by ensuring that the mockery is evident and exposes and mocks the plight of the Irish. In “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, Swift substantiates his display of satire by employing irony, sarcasm, and appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos. Jonathan Swift uses rhetorical techniques to effectively convey satire in his work of literature. For example, Swift uses sarcasm to ridicule the wealthy elites of Ireland; he writes that smaller babies should be granted to “landowners, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents …” This characterizes the wealthy landlords (who were mostly Anglo-Saxon Protestants) as powerful and unfair people who care less about the well-being of Ireland’s poor population. Moreover, Swift mocks the underprivileged in Ireland in a more direct manner. Jonathan Swift exposes the poor conditions of the Irish working class, describing, “the vast number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed …” In addition, Jonathan Swift uses irony to further develop his satire. In the conclusion of “A Modest Proposal,” Swift states that his only intention is, “the public good of my county…” This is ironic as it mocks the wealthy Irish landowners, who were only concerned with their personal wealth. Hence, Jonathan Swift uses rhetorical techniques...
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...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 beggars of the...
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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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...A Modest Proposal In the story, A Modest Proposal, the author, Jonathan Swift, begins with the title by saying, “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.” This was said to be used as “an ironically conceived attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth." (SparkNotes Editors). There is famine and poverty all throughout England and they are not receiving money to help with this problem. The author then gets ideas and possible solutions to handle this problem. His proposal, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land-owners. (SparkNotes Editors). In this story, you will find that there are issues with suffering, power, and greed. In this story, suffering is one of the biggest issues. In this story, Swift calls out many of the landlords who are greedy and only cares about their well-being instead of the poor families who are not able to feed their children. Swift says, “These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg for 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.” (The Norton Anthology...
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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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...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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...A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is a story that may confuse readers, or even gross them out. Swift wrote the story with a certain agenda in mind. He wanted to create a piece about a solution he thought would solve problems in Ireland. While he was writing the story, he wanted to inform the readers on what he believed was a solution to reduce poverty in Ireland. This story is not to be taken literal, because Swift wrote it as an ironic piece to catch readers attention. While reading “A Modest Proposal” I had so many thoughts about the author. My first reaction to the proposal offered in this essay was “Is Swift being serious?” Why would any human being suggest, or even think about eating children in the effort to reduce poverty. I kept telling myself that if any human being that thought that scarfing a life would make everything better...
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...Jonathan Swifts “A Modest Proposal” is outrageously filled with sarcasm. One could assume what to expect from the piece just by reading the title “A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to society” (Pg 1114). The average reader might would read this piece and think that Swift had literally gone insane. Swift proposes the thought that the mothers whom cannot provide for their children shall breast feed for the first year and once the child is “plump” be offered for sale(pg 1115) Swift even proposes the thought of eating a child… “a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old is a most deliciously, nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or broiled ” (pg 1115) is just ridiculous. Swift also says that he “humbly” offers his thoughts and opinions, yet anyone would consider this suggestion offensive and irrational, not humble by any means. I believe Swift wrote such a piece in order to show how the wealthier Britons viewed the less fortunate lower class. They may have not thought anything of the actions they were showing toward the poor until reading such an article like Swifts and it opened their eyes to see how badly they were treating the people. I believe that Swift most definitely accomplished his point in writing such an article and that the privileged people offered more opportunity to the unsuccessful people of their community. (Word Count:253)...
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