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How Is Satire Used In A Modest Proposal

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The Immodest Proposal Envision you are living in Ireland in 1729, a country full of poverty and desperation. You pick up a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal” written by a famous author, Jonathan Swift. As you flip through the pages, you come across a bone-chilling proposition; babies of poverty-stricken families will be able to “contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing of many thousands” (2). This proposal was contradictory of modest but could help control Ireland’s poverty epidemic, overpopulation, and the countries overall standing. In times of desperation, people may seek unthinkable options to find a solution, and in this case, Swift was one of those people. Satire is used as a main technique throughout this whole piece. Swift is a personable character and proposes what he believes is an intelligent solution, and keenly announces he has found “a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth” (1). His proposal is very satirical, and he specifically uses the young Irish children as the main advantage in his satire. His use of this technique makes his argument sound extremely effective. Swift as the character is certain that his well-researched, reasonable quick-fix proposal will demolish Ireland’s poverty and …show more content…

He states, “This food would likewise bring great customs to taverns … and consequently have their houses frequented by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their knowledge in good eating: and a skillful cook, who understands how to obligate his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please” (5). The character’s proposal suggests an appetizing advantage; not only will children make a delicious meal, but taverns will benefit financially. The author’s perplexing tone pulls in the reader and demonstrates that the wealthy hold the capability of getting whatever they so

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David Noise's "A Modest Proposal" Readers Response David Noises Modest proposal is a satire that is based on the disproportion of power that 1% of the population is privileged to. Noise narrates an encounter that he had with Antonin Roberts, a wealthy venture capitalist and his wife Ayn Rand, whom can be considered a part of this elite 1%. Through this conversation Antonin and Ayn describe their "modest proposal".

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In fact, he refers to “A very worthy Person, a true Lover of his Country, and whose Virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer a refinement upon my Scheme”(17). As a result, Swift shows that even the most patriotic person to both Ireland and Britain (since Ireland was under British control at the time) realizes that within this current situation of poverty, this proposal is a solution and can be acted out in many different

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However, the proposal seemed so heart-wrenching and far-fetched, it repulsed the audience by his description of when and what age to harvest the children as if he really believed his proposal was the solution. The way he described the women and children as beggars on the street in the beginning was emotionally difficult to read because, he gave the reader a vivid mental image. One part showed great imagery as he discussed how the children could be “stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” (Swift 2), which the reader could now picture by him using terms people use when cooking animals. This piece of imagery shown indicates that the Irish government was treating its lower class no better than animals. Another strong image is created when he suggests using the children’s skin to make lady’s gloves and men’s summer boots, which is terrible and gruesome to even think about.

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In “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, a solution is presented to assist in solving Dublin, Ireland’s issue in 1729 of having too large of a population to feed and take care of. A majority of those in poorer conditions were female beggars and their large group of young children. These children often are brought up without proper education and nourishment, turning them into citizens who beg and thieve that reap little in society, burdening the nation as a whole. To solve this predicament, Swift uses satire to propose that a certain amount of these specified children be preserved and the rest sold at a year old to the prestigious and the general public for use as a food and clothing source. Swift wrote that his proposal would solve the issue

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In this essay, Swift uses irony, slight humor, and sarcasm (Smith, 2011). The author does not wish for his proposals to be carried out. The absurdity of his proposals clearly shows his displeasure with Ireland’s state (Smith, 2011). In his piece, it urges readers to be aware of how dire the situation is, and that people must come up with a proper solution. His way of writing this essay should not be taken literally, but it should be carefully assessed and understood (Lovin,

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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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He begins with the plight of children in Ireland, mentioning how many of them are beggars, he goes on to give his solution using satire. This is done with Swift suggesting that young children be sold as food especially to rich people, mentioning how, they might add to the variety of meals, through different preparation. He wants the kids to be more useful in the world. Swift thinks that if the children of Ireland are being sold than maybe the British will pay attention to their troubling situation. Swift believes that his proposal will be a success because he wants to help poor children in Ireland have the hope that they would be of service one day.

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Jonathan Swift, an Anglo-Irish Satirist and Poet living in Great Britain at the time of the early 1700s, was disgusted and repulsed by the rules Britain enforced on The Irish, for example, in 1720 Britain passed a parliament stating that Britain had the bow to bind Ireland with laws it chooses such as the Penal Laws. What these laws did was diminish any power ireland could’ve had by eliminating their political presence and catholic land not being able to be passed down to single heirs, making these lands unproductive and ripped them from their rightful owners, catholics, but I digress. Living in a time where all of this is taking place in his own homeland and all he could do is watch has britain destroys his people, Jonathan has decided to

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Luckily, Swift found a way to put these children to good use: raise them as food for the wealthy citizens (Shmoop Editorial Team). Swift points out that it may be easier for the mother if they had money instead of an obnoxious child. Swift said that people’s only suggestion would be that less people would occupy Ireland. He even stated that he of course would have no bias because his children were too old to gain prophet for eating. The best part, Swift points out, is that the children being sold will give the economy a boost.

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Swift uses satirical irony accompanied with ethos, logos, and pathos to create a gruesome but compelling argument of poverty, while also steadily unraveling the actual situation involving Ireland’s current economic struggles to the reader. While justifying his proposal, Swift uses a mellow tone to further support that his scheme could’ve been an actual

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Families in Ireland were living in very poor conditions; Swift came up with an idea to make the young, hungry, children of Ireland, who have their whole life ahead of them if they could escape from the poverty stricken Ireland, very valuable members of society. “sound and useful members of the commonwealth" (Swift, 1729). Swift proposes to feed the starving new-borns to the more wealthy and prestigious people in Ireland. He felt it was an idea that would not only solve hunger problems, but over population too and leading to families having a little more disposable income. Swift gives exact information on how many children should be sold to the meat market and how they should be cooked, he thinks he has it all worked out.

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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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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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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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