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A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

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The satirical mastermind Jonathan swift was born in 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. With his style of writing Swift brought many controversial topics in society up for the general public to see. Swift was able to do this with one of his works “A Modest Proposal” which Swift wrote to bring the government, and the people in his society's attention to the poverty problem. Swift also wrote his satirical masterpiece “Gulliver’s Travels to bring many different problems within people and the government of society, which included the violent nature of countries and how people have lost the connection of how to properly use communication. Swift's father died before he Swift's mother gave birth to him. After Swift’s mother gave birth to him she returned to
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301 Words | 2 Pages

“A Modest Proposal “ is an example of Juvenalian satire. Jonathan swift uses irony and satirical techinques to denounce how Ireland was run during his time by making a mokery on politics. Using a serious tone and scientific data swift elaborates his proposal which is ironic from the tittle itself as it includes de word “modest”. His explicit, exaggerated and repulsive proposal arguing that by selling newborns Irish as food would reduce the number of catholics in Ireland, provide farmers a way to pay their landlords, increase domestic revenue, ease the financial burdens on lower class families and provide a delighful cuisine for the wealthy, metaphorycally represent how the government preys on its less fortunate population. Therefore, Swift's

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207 Words | 1 Pages

Johnathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal in 1729 to prevent the children of poor people in Ireland for being a burden to their parents and/or country, and for making them beneficial to the public. Swift believe that children were a bother for parents and that they should, sarcastically, be eaten. He created this claim by using rhetorical strategies. Swift, first, uses irony to joke about the eating of children, then, parody to imitate the way children should be handled by parents, and finally, hyperbole to represent how the children act. Jonathan Swift uses irony in A Modest Proposal to produce a particularly dramatic effect upon the children in Ireland.

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645 Words | 3 Pages

“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is a satirical work. In “A Modest Proposal” he lists problems and how to solve them. Swift’s goal was to make rich people realize what was going on with poor people. He did this by using satire in order to grab people’s attention and get them talking. The things he satire were poverty, beggars, poor people’s life style, and how to get out of poverty.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

In the passage, “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift utilizes satirical strategies as a tool to express his concerns to his audience. Swift does this to persuade his audience to understand where he is truly coming from. Throughout the passage, Swift protests bad behavior of the culture of poor people and the conditions of the economy. Additionally, he talks about the brutal situations of how the British are treating the Irish. Swift presents his thoughts by using logos, juxtaposition, and satirical comments in order to allow others to comprehend the current situation from his perspective.

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1413 Words | 6 Pages

1729, a Papist infected Ireland was being devoured by the taxes that the British placed on them. The taxes were turning into what once was a glorious place into ruins. Jonathan Swift, an Englishman and Irish sympathizer, realized that someone had to do something to wake up the British. This lead to the creation of A Modest Proposal, a pamphlet heavy with irony and juvenalian satire, which was how Jonathan Swift planned on compelling the British to do something about the poor situation in Ireland. His use of rhetorical devices gets his point across in an effective and powerful way.

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947 Words | 4 Pages

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a very interesting take on how the Irish government should cure the famine that the country was then facing. However, the entire proposal was completely bizarre, and the whole point of the essay was to bring attention to the idea that they needed a solution to the all the problems they were experiencing but the proposal was definitely not it. He even had a strongly developed plan as to how his proposal would work which makes the reader feel as if he is serious about selling children, eating them, and using their skins as a fashion accessory; however, ultimately this proposal was not his true goal. Jonathan Swift skillfully used different styles of writing, such as imagery and irony, to show why the

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805 Words | 4 Pages

At the time when Swift’s proposal was made, Britain’s dictatorial reign in Ireland had left the nation in poverty and disarray. Criticising a nation was much easier to do in a joking tone or be harder to read rather than direct and upfront. Swift wanted to discuss these issues and found by writing in satire he could have the readers’ attention in way that a seriously written piece could not reach. Satire is present when Swift convinces the audience that he is an empathetic individual introducing the proposal with a sophisticated and compassionate manner beginning in the sentence, "I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection (1)," luring the reader into a sense of false trust as he begins the descriptions of the poor in Ireland. The reader is led to believe at first that this is a serious essay however it is not until deep into the proposal the reader can see how Swift uses satire to propose his thoughts found in the sentence, “a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled;” continuing on that, “no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or a ragoust (1).”

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1163 Words | 5 Pages

Dr. Jonathan Swift uses rhetorical devices, logical, ethical, as well as emotional appeals to highlight the difference between Swift’s satirical attitude and the narrator’s serious attitude concerning poverty and starvation. In order to understand the nature of Swift’s proposal,

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178 Words | 1 Pages

I believe that Jonathan Swift is trying to persuade the audience to give his proposal a chance. He claims that he is only proposing such a plan for the benefit of his country and its citizens. After all, the country is already in shambles and full of unfortunate souls. He continuously reminds the audience of the benefits the country could reap from his proposal. Swift believes his proposal would not be rejected because everyone would benefit, and it would make the country prosperous once again.

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576 Words | 3 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis Essay: A Modest Proposal Dr. Jonathan Swift places himself as a villain who is willing to do evil deeds to answer hard questions. What pushes Swift to write the essay “A Modest Proposal” is Ireland's economic and social problems. In this satirical essay Swift highlights the problems in Ireland and gives a sarcastic solution to make people feel guilt. Swift’s use of dehumanizing language is used to make the reader oppose Swift’s modest proposal.

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631 Words | 3 Pages

In this selection, A Modest Proposal written by Jonathan Swift, he uses a great deal of satire throughout his essay to prove his point and get people to thinking. Satire is a great tool especially in real-world issues, it is a very clever way to inform people while also challenging them to reflect and maybe even reconsider popular or even not so popular ideas. Jonathan Swift exemplifies his usage of satire in his essay to address social and government issues, lower class abuses, this was a way to prevent the children of the poor from being a burden to their parents and/or country and making them beneficial to the people of the country. An example of Swift's usage of satire is when he makes an extravagant claim to reveal and explain to the

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1085 Words | 5 Pages

Jonathan Swift is an enlightenment thinker that uses satire in his writings to bring awareness to the political power and mistreatment of the people of Ireland, ‘‘he was angry or in a fit of despair over Ireland 's economic condition’’(DeGategno). Swift uses satire throughout his proposal, by suggesting to the people of Ireland that they should harvest the little children of the poor. Swift stated that by making ‘‘Them Beneficial to the Public", Ireland would be in a better circumstance. Swift proposed that the poor children 's guardians should give birth to however many number of children as would be possible and offer them for sustenance. Instead of Swift addressing the issue straightforward, Swift used Satire ¬¬¬¬which employs irony sayings- one thing while meaning its opposite—in order to present an argument.

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834 Words | 4 Pages

“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it. ”-Frank A. Clark (Psychology Today). A man named Jonathan Swift saw many problems in his government and society. He realized it needed to be fixed. Swift’s strong beliefs pushed him to write satire to try and help Ireland.

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623 Words | 3 Pages

What’s the difference between a baby and a peanut butter cup? The baby won’t stick to the roof of your mouth. Jonathon Swift was a satirist, essayist, pamphleteer, and cleric who became dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 1729 Swift wrote A Modest Proposal, a satirical essay, suggesting that by selling Irish children it might ease their economic troubles. The pamphlet mocked the heartless attitudes towards the poor.

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867 Words | 4 Pages

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a very interesting take on how the Irish government should cure the famine that the country was then facing. However, the entire proposal was completely bizarre, and the whole point of the essay was to bring attention to the idea that they needed a solution to the all the problems they were experiencing but the proposal was definitely not it. He even had a strongly developed plan as to how his proposal would work which makes the reader feel as if he is serious about selling children, eating them, and/or using their skins as a fashion accessory; however, ultimately this proposal is not his true goal. Jonathon Swift skillfully used different styles of writing, such as imagery and irony, to show why the Irish should sell their children to the rich to eat.

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