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Imagery In Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

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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 …show more content…

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. This example points out that the upper classes’ fine dress is coming at the expense of the lower class. Swift used imagery as an underlying factor, so the government and other readers would not be able to commit to the proposal because Swift really doesn’t want the proposal to

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“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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The dire poverty in Ireland in 1729 brought about worriment for adults, adolescences, young children, and even unborn offspring. In “A Modest Proposal” written by Dr. Jonathan Swift, a proposal is made to deal with the problems that devastated thousands of Irish lives. In order to convey the difference between the narrator’s proposal and attitude and Dr. Jonathan Swift’s actual proposal of how to deal with the poverty issues in Ireland, Swift uses rhetorical devices such as logical reasoning, sarcasm, and emotional appeal throughout the essay. The narrator expresses that the mothers are unable to work for their livelihood because of the one or many children they have to tend to.

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Swift shapes the text in a satiric way to portray to his audience his point of view on the topic at hand, and with the use of sarcasm Jonathan Swift mocks upper-class people who are affected by the overcrowding and poverty in Dublin. The usage of a satiric tone and sarcasm help Swift develop solutions to contemporary social problems that will work. In the “Modest Proposal”, written by Jonathan Swift, diction is a key rhetorical device in this piece, because of the way Swift portrays his thoughts through satire. Diction is the style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker by or a writer, Swift’s audience sees his diction as inhumane because of the way he proposes solutions to the world’s problems, such as in paragraph twenty one where he

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Swift makes extensive use of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos within the first eight paragraphs to create a strong initial argument that captures the audience’s attention and provide assurance that the information presented is viable. Swift starts with an appeal to Pathos by describing the state of Ireland: “the Streets, the Roads, and Cabin-Doors, crowded with Beggars of the female Sex, followed by three, four, or six Children, all in Rags, and importuning every Passenger for an Alms” (Swift, 1). The description of Ireland leaves a gloomy effect on the audience, as they are met with a somber tone set forth by a description on how thousands of people are affected by the poverty in Ireland. Swift continues this appeal to Pathos by describing the state of families within this poverty: “this prodigious number of Children, in the Arms, or on the Backs, or at the heels of their Mothers, and frequently of their Fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the Kingdom, a very great additional grievance” (Swift, 2). This description of the melancholy state of Ireland creates an emotional appeal because, the thought of having mass amounts of children being forced to cling to their Mothers and Fathers in a desperate struggle for survival, is a morose image.

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During the Eighteenth century there was this famine in Ireland. It had killed dozens and dozens of people. There were so many poor families that they weren't able to provide for themselves. Everyone but more specifically the women and children were to beg for food so that they wouldn’t starve to death. In Jonathan Swift’s A Modern Proposal talks about a solution to this epidemic.

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Swift uses a speaker to portray the message he was trying to relay. Swift, as the author, does not believe in the words that are in A Modest Proposal, whereas the speaker is confident in his

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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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For example on page 2 Swift says “so as to render them plump, and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends.” statements like this make Swift’s proposal even more outrageous. This is a sarcastic attempt by Swift to make the proposal look attractive, but his statement has an underlying meaning of making the idea look repulsive. Additionally on page 2 Swift states “That a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food.”

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Throughout “A Modern Proposal,” Swift makes it a point to use ideas and terms that dehumanized people and their children. This causes the essay to make the reader feel uncomfortable and slightly detached from the world. It appeals to the moral side of people. Many people use this kind of method when writing in order to make the readers feel more sentimental. When people feel more sentimental towards a cause, they are more likely to stand up and stop being so

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Swift’s satire consisted of many “modest theories.” For example, you may have heard people talk about overpopulation. You may have your own theories about it, but what about eating children? In this instance, Jonathan Swift used his form of humor, also known as satire, to get his point across, in which wrote a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal,” a mockery for the ideas of how to deal with overpopulation. “Satire is a technique employed by writers to

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In literature, the element of satire is employed to illustrate or exploit the corruption of a society by means of exaggeration, black humor, highbrow wit, or mockery. The writer's intent is to make permanent change for a problem or fight a cause in a society that otherwise looks away in ignorance. In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift spins a web of masterful satire to propose a grisly solution to the problem of poverty, which mocks the folly of the 18th century socially elite and puts the blame on the greed of the wealthy for the sickly state of the nation. The Restoration and the 18th century for the British was a time of great commercial and economic prosperity, and the Anglican Church remained closely tied with the governmental power

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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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Swift 's writing still has relevance to the modern world. Even through his ideas are absolutely ridiculous they can be argued as being logical. Using statistics of this plan, such as the cost of raising a baby for a year, average number of child bearing women and the price that a child sold into to slavery would be, Swift 's arguments for his proposal can be seen as logical and well supported by statistics. This technique of persuading people by using statistics, could be used by politicians to get supporters to side with a ridiculous idea.

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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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