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How Does Jamaica Kincaid Use Irony In A Modest Proposal

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Narratives play a big role in stories. They show a perspective and really go into depth how a character feels for a certain situation. The argument in the story “The Modest Proposal” is trying to convince the Irish and English parliament to improve the conditions of the poor. Satire, which is a use of humor or irony plays a big role in “A Modest Proposal” ; it uses humor to show the real truth and chaos of Ireland and the people of it. Swift (the author of the story) used the idea of eating children as a metaphor for what he saw as happening to the poor. . In the story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid the story uses the narrative to show Jamaica's past. It also shows how Jamaica wants her daughter to act in a certain way in a certain society …show more content…

The reason why it stood out to me so much was because it really showed the satire that was being used in the sentence, in this case him making the children into food . You can analyze what the author is trying to show, which in this case is poverty. You hear in his voice how if the problem isn't fixed then the people of Ireland might consider this option. His satirical argument is that the wealthy landowners "devoured" the Irish with their cruelty, so Swift suggests they do so literally. Again this also shows that instead of Swift issuing the problem straightforwardly he uses satire and humor to symbolize the actual problem. Also to add on the way he explained what to do makes it seem like he has done it before when he never has since he comes up with the …show more content…

Her daughter now can be the opposite, for example her questioning the mother. What if her decisions of what she is doing to her is wrong? Throughout the story, it is only twice that the girl responds to her mother. The girl says that she does not sing benna in Sunday school, and asks the hypothetical question, “what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?”. This shows how all of a sudden now only the girl starts to question herself and her mothers path of lifestyle. Which is really similar to “The Modest Proposal” how without a choice the people must do something to keep on going and also start to question themselves about the proposal itself, thinking that the population might also decrease if they eat the

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594 Words | 3 Pages

Swift challenges the status quo by suggesting selling children in Ireland. Swift states in the essay that children above twelve years old would not be worth more than three pounds. Children above the age of twelve would not be worth anything to sell because they cannot accommodate to the parents or kingdom. Swift wonders the actual value of the children at that age and soon sees they wouldn’t be the best to sell. He believed that younger children would be the best to sell.

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831 Words | 4 Pages

It’s also important to note that many pamphlets advocating for action on behalf of the poor were already in circulation and had proved to be largely ineffective. Satire makes challenging societal norms and authority a lot easier and more effective because instead of preaching the issue of poverty and its solutions, it uses humor to ridicule the indifferent while promoting its cause. Swift uses sarcasm when speaking about the methods in which children could be cooked, “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 Boyled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a Fricasie, or Ragoust” (Swift 3). This is an example of the sarcasm that Swift uses to alarm his audience. By using the words stewed, roasted, and boiled, Swift proves to his audience that this is a ridiculous concept.

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201 Words | 1 Pages

He says by selling the children, it will take a burden off of the parents, it will even stop mothers from having abortions. Swift says that his proposal will stop the horrible things that mothers do to their children to hide their shame like sacrificing innocent children. The irony to this is Swift’s proposal would have innocent children be sold, slaughtered, and eaten by the wealthy. Which is pretty much the same thing as

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703 Words | 3 Pages

Instead of begging for scraps Swift proposes that everyone is capable of making a modest living by simply breeding babies to be eaten. Killing two birds with one stone in a sense. By eating children, the number homeless people roaming the streets diminishes and at the same time the food shortage is also being solved. Swift uses logos thought his proposal to get his insane point across.

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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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Swift uses a Pathos based form of persuasion based on emotion. He describes the poor with sarcasm, anger, and resentment. This is evident when Swift writes, “It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags,” (385). Then he shocks them with fear, savagery, and inhumane ideas. Again we see this in his work, “Those who are

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The world changes, but for Jamaica Kincaid and the people of Antigua, they have changed a lot because of the colonization by the British. In the article, Jamaica Kincaid's mother would prepare their daughter to be ready for this cruel world and this racist society. (Byeman 2). This shows how the

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Swift’s use of food imagery is an attempt to lighten the mood but gives off a abhorrent effect. This is exactly what Swift wants; Swift starts the sentence by saying, “a young healthy child well

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In “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, there are many disturbing remarks that make the readers uncomfortable. The purpose of his essay was to try to make the Irish people open their eyes so that they would take better care of themselves. At this period, the Irish politicians were corrupt and the people were not willing to fight to regain their country from the recent occupation of Ireland by England. He used the idea of eating the yearling children of poor families in order to accentuate the idea that the only people the wealthy men of Ireland cared about was themselves, and not the lives of the Irish citizens. The author uses logos to his advantage in order to show the overall amount of people that are in poverty and how they would be able

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623 Words | 3 Pages

Swifts text was effective in using ethos, logos, and satire to convince the English to do more to address the issues of Ireland. Swift used ethos by showing he was a well-educated, and thoughtful man. He shows us when reading the text, we see the way he uses his words. With the phrase “having turned my thoughts for many years upon this important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of other projectors…” (Jonathan Swift, 356) it shows that he thought a lot about this topic. Swift explained that selling Ireland's children would help with many problems Irelands families are having.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Swift uses his satire as a way to draw attention to daily conditions that many families in Ireland are suffering from. His extreme plan of eating children is used as a way to draw the attention of the government towards helping improve the economy. By using irony Swift is able to help make his plan a more believable solution to invoke change. Even today Swift 's plan can be seen as a persuasive technique, using logic and statistics to convince the

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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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Critical Analysis of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” In the work entitled “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the theme of social injustice is enhanced by the use of verbal irony to convey a charged message. The ambiguous title and introduction to Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece does little to prepare the reader for shocking content revealed later in the text. Swift’s work is powerful, poignant and persuasive because it strikes at the heart of the modern readers ethics, as it likely would have done for the author’s contemporary audiences. Jonathan Swift’s 1729 masterpiece is a satirical metaphor centered around the pervasive assertion, “the English are devouring the Irish.” Jonathan Swift gives a more comprehensive exordium concerning his work stating that is it “a modest proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents and country, and for making them beneficial to the public (Swift 1199).

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