...During the 1720s, Ireland was dealing with an economic depression which caused the rate of poverty and starvation to rise. Parents were living in poverty and did not have enough funds to supply their children with the basic needs. Children did not have the appropriate clothing and food to be well nourished. Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal touches on this topic. Swift theorized a solution of fattening the starving children and selling them to be consumed by rich land owners in Ireland. The mothers would have as many children as possible and at the age of one, the children would be sold to be consumed or made into “admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen”. Swift believed this would reduce the rate of abortions, the...
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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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...Assignment 1: A Modest Proposal Summary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Strayer University HUM 112 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx December 11, 2014 A Modest Proposal Jonathon Swift’s, A Modest Proposal is a view of how the Irish seen poverty in their country. Swift’s proposal sheds light on poverty and offers a solution to control those who could not help themselves. Children of the poor could be sold to Ireland’s wealthy land-owners, a meat market, with children as young as one being sold as food. Implementing this proposal would combat population issues and unemployment, by sparing poor families the expense of being responsible for their young all while earning extra income. Swift was very particular about the details of his proposal by providing data that notates the number of children to sell, their age, their weight and a price. He even goes as far as to offer recipes for cooking the poor Irish young. This perfect solution to the problem, 100,000 children from the poverty-stricken Irish population can be sold to the rich as a source of food. One child is enough to serve two dishes at a banquet and leftovers seasoned with pepper and salt would be sufficient. The surprise ending of A Modest Proposal came at the beginning of Swift’s work. Proposal suggested that cannibalism as a solution to controlling Ireland’s population of poor, which makes up of mostly women and children. Swift’s proposal was direct and symbolic of the rich taking advantage of the poor by living at the expense of the...
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...Assignment 1: A Modest Proposal Summary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Strayer University HUM 112 Dr. Christina Russu December 11, 2014 A Modest Proposal Jonathon Swift’s, A Modest Proposal is a view of how the Irish seen poverty in their country. Swift’s proposal sheds light on poverty and offers a solution to control those who could not help themselves. Children of the poor could be sold to Ireland’s wealthy land-owners, a meat market, with children as young as one being sold as food. Implementing this proposal would combat population issues and unemployment, by sparing poor families the expense of being responsible for their young all while earning extra income. Swift was very particular about the details of his proposal by providing data that notates the number of children to sell, their age, their weight and a price. He even goes as far as to offer recipes for cooking the poor Irish young. This perfect solution to the problem, 100,000 children from the poverty-stricken Irish population can be sold to the rich as a source of food. One child is enough to serve two dishes at a banquet and leftovers seasoned with pepper and salt would be sufficient. The surprise ending of A Modest Proposal came at the beginning of Swift’s work. Proposal suggested that cannibalism as a solution to controlling Ireland’s population of poor, which makes up of mostly women and children. Swift’s proposal was direct and symbolic of the rich taking advantage of the poor by living at the expense of...
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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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...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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...How does one define modesty? Modesty is the behavior or manner that deliberately avoids indecency or indelicacy. Jonathan Swift illustrates a very contradicting suggestion in his work, "A Modest Proposal." His proposal is everything aside from modest as he dabbles into the notion of consuming children to end starvation within the town of Dublin. As Swift is indubitably using comical sarcasm to express his concern of the vile condition of Dublin, his message is significantly aiming to make a difference and transform the way the government treats its citizens. Jonathan Swift's approach on exposing the corrupt method that the government of Dublin administers their citizens causes an initial reaction of horror. However, once the concept is...
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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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...Splenetic Ogres and Heroic Cannibals in Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal (1729) Ahsan Chowdhury University of Alberta I. Cannibalism: Ethnic Defamation or a Trope of Liberation? In A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to eir Parents and Country, and for Making em Beneficial to the Public () Swift exploits the age-old discourse of ethnic defamation against the Irish that had legitimated the English colonization of Ireland for centuries. One of the most damning elements in Swift’s use of this discourse is that of cannibalism. e discourse of ethnic defamation arose out of the Norman conquest of Ireland in the twelfth century. Clare Carroll points out that “the colonization of the Americas and the reformation as events … generated new discourses inflecting the inherited discourse of barbarism” in early-modern English writing about Ireland (). Narratives of native cannibalism were an indispensable part of these new discourses and practices. For the English authors as well as their continental counterparts, the cannibalistic other of the New World became a yardstick by which to measure the threat posed by internal enemies, be it the indigenous Irish, the French Catholics, or the Moorish inhabitants of Spain.¹ us, it was against the backdrop of the reforma Carroll demonstrates that while continental authors like Bartolomé de Las Casas and Jean de Léry could treat the Amerindians and their cannibalistic practices ...
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...Ryan Warm 1 Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" under a pseudonym, so who is the speaker here? The speaker was created by Swift, and in this case was a man off of the street. 2 Discuss the tone of the piece. Pull examples from the text to support your discussion. The tone was informative and optimistic, because the man told of his solution and believed that it would work. For example, when he says, “There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas!” 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 appealed to logic by proposing something illogical, which provokes attention. He appealed to ethics by creating something unethical, which is eating children. He appealed to emotions by making certain people angry with his crazy proposal. All of these appeals cause readers to take interest in his essay and helped them realize the issues in society. 4 Explain the irony in Swift’s title, "A Modest Proposal." This proposal was very extreme, by suggesting the eating of children to solve the problem; so calling it modest is very ironic. 5 Where does this essay fit on the continuum (Horatian to Juvenalian)? Explain/support your position. The essay is Juvenalian...
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...Assignment #1: Surprise Ending in The Modest Proposal A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is a satirical story with lots of sarcasm. This proposal was written to shock or force the government into a reaction. As the government read his proposal it should bring about a response. This proposal suggests a “barbaric solution” that amounts purely to cannibalism. Mr. Swift’s idea is to help end poverty and decrease the amount of women beggars by eating babies of the poor. He devised a plan where he would take 20,000 babies and decide how many would be sold, how many would be breeders thus creating a balance between rich and poor. Mr. Swift’s plan would give the poor a means of income and the wealthy would get a fine and delicate meal. He stated that feeding on Irish babies was a treat and the English should be honored to feast on the babies. Swift based his proposal on facts and figures of many years of analyzing the situation. He does seem well educated and well versed on his proposal. He noted several benefits and advantages to his proposal. Some of those benefits included women being more loving towards their children. Another benefit would be more marriages happening with men catering to their wives while they were pregnant. Swift also quoted a friend that was a modern day swindler. The friend was supposedly from Formosa and told a story where 18,000 young boys were sacrificed to the Gods’ and Priests’. The Gods’ dined on the hearts and the Priests’ dine on...
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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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...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 to demonstrate the plight of Ireland—the wealth inequality. In “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan...
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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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...Jonathan Swift, seeking to solve a monumental problem concerning the poor, outlines his ideas in what is really an assertive and bold proposal, rather than the modest proposal that he entreats. Troubled by Ireland’s economic depression and social ills, he resolves to offer his ideas for improving the living conditions for the poor and, in tandem, improving the economy. The answer, supported by no less than six pillars of reason, is to eat the babies. As if that were not appalling enough, he saves the best part for last: “I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work …I have no children, by which I can propose to get a single penny…and my wife past child-bearing” (Swift, 2013). Cannibalism is probably most plausible because it requires no personal sacrifice on Swift’s part. The idea that such an immodest proposal could be taken seriously seems inconceivable. However, the surprise ending is even more ridiculous. Surely, Swift’s finesse at suggesting such a deplorable remedy rests in his knowing that he will be unscathed. To coin a phrase: “there will be no skin from his kin.” For this reason, his propositions are neither credible nor convincing, and the ending simply serves to further illuminate the preposterous ideas in the proposal. Thankfully, Swift’s idea of “fanatical savagery” is but a satire of England’s harsh treatment of Ireland, offering that “England was consuming the Irish...
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