Comparison Of Girl Unprotected And A Modest Proposal

Analysis essay

I have chosen two texts that use comparatively different techniques to argue their positions; Laura Robinson’s “Girl Unprotected” (May 2008) and “A Modest Proposal” by

Jonathan Swift (1729). In Robinson’s essay she discusses the culture of dehumanization of hockey and the abuse of power by hockey coaches. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift creates an empathetic character that puts forward a policy that might help ease Ireland’s economic hardships by selling their young toddlers as food to the English upper-class. I must ask: how much does imagery and tone affect a reader’s thoughts and ideas?

The first principle technique is the use of sympathy and apathy as the main drivers in mood. In “Girl Unprotected”, Robinson uses a

However, Swift takes a contrasting approach to Robinson. Swift's narrator's calm attitude towards the destitute Irish and his solution alienate the reader, from the narrator, who views this subject with wistful detachment. Therefore, Swift's strategy is dualistic, devising a "trap" to create compassion for the Irish and, additionally, a dislike of the English narrator from Swift’s intended eighteenth-century, English audience. These elements of the reading gnaw at us, as if, what we are reading is truly a legitimate proposal and a real person is suggesting to us to take this policy into consideration.

` The second main literary technique is the use of place and time to create a connection with the reader. In girl unprotected Laura Robinson uses our own backyard in Canada and another familiar thing which is hockey to connect us to the story. Robinson takes a good approach to her argument by using something as meaningful as hockey to our nation. The fact that this is happening in a country like Canada is that much more effective. It would shock many people that it could happen to anyone, like your neighbour or your son’s hockey coach. A modest proposal is set in the 1700s, but, its ideas still ring true in our society. In the modern era, would we go to these lengths to separate the poor from the wealthy, convincing them that the only useful thing about them