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Rhetorical Devices In A Modest Proposal

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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. 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 …show more content…

He utilizes analogies often throughout the essay. He often compares the children, who are to be eaten, to animals.”... twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one fourth part to be males, which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle, or swine...” (65-68) This comparison of animal to human diminishes the value of Irish life. They are being referred to as breeders, not as humans who have emotions, life, and love. He also includes imagery in A Modest Proposal. Swifts exaggerated imagery leaves a strong impact on the reader. In using descriptions like, “...carcass of a good fat child...” (93), he engraves a horrifying image on a baby on a platter in the minds of the reader. The strong uses of imagery throughout the essay bring his point across. A third rhetorical device that this essay is thick with is irony. Swift, as the author, clearly does not believe in this idea, and that is evident through the speakers word choice. He states, “I shall now humbly propose my own thoughts...” (59), before stating his preposterous idea. The word humble is so beyond ironic due to the level of insanity that the proposal

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There is at least one logical fallacy in A Modest Proposal. Swift refers to his American friend throughout as the guy he got all his information on eating babies from. It infers that Americans eat babies. The fallacy is that because he is considered an expert, when he says something readers must think its true, which it isn't.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

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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879 Words | 4 Pages

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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817 Words | 4 Pages

He does this to keep the genre a satire if he were to switch to considering these more reasonable options the force and flow of his essay would be lost. As Swift has been offering a satirical and outrageous proposal he is basically stating that the other expedients, like “taxing,” are dumb and killing the poor would be of better use. It is obvious to the reader that killing people is not the best option so by brushing off these other proposals he actually draws attention to

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966 Words | 4 Pages

Swift says that he always objects strongly to ideas that could be considered cruel, which is what his idea would be considered. This makes the reader question his validity if he questions other's ideas that could be considered cruel, but not his own. As seen later in the document, the only disagreement that the Proposer can muster is the reduce in population. While the first quote is the proposer speaking, this line is the real Swift. Here, Swift wants the reader to question the proposal and to see the cruelty of eating the babies of the poor in Ireland.

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1332 Words | 6 Pages

“How to turn your financial burdens into cash cows!” ;The sarcastic and rhetorical moral behind “A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan Swift. When Swift wrote this article he was hoping to shift the attention of Ireland’s people and politicians to their failing economy and destitute civilians. In the beginning of the article Swift mentions how sad in yet common it is to see a woman begging for money with 4-6 small children in rags following behind her. The women are unavailable to work as they have to care for and watch over the children, These children grow up to leave the country for better opportunities at success elsewhere, which gives more opportunity for other countries like Spain to come in and dominate Irish land. To prevent this

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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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Swift utilizes irony again in the title of his essay “A Modest Proposal.” Proposing that society should turn to cannibalism as a solution to poverty is anything but modest. However, by asserting from the beginning of the essay that the proposal that he presents is a modest and logical solution, the reader is encouraged to recognize the irrationality of Swift’s suggestions and reevaluate what would indeed be a politically acceptable solution to the

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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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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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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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483 Words | 2 Pages

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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1083 Words | 5 Pages

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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