ipl-logo

The Modest Proposal Analysis

250 Words1 Pages
In 1729 the conditions in Ireland became increasingly bad for the Irish. Wealthy English had purchased about 90% of the land in Ireland. The English landlords raised the rents making it harder for the Irish tenant farmers to pay rent let alone clothes and feed their family. Swift came up with a crazy proposal more as a metaphor not to be taken seriously. Swift was implying that the English was getting fatter and fatter, (wealth wise) and the Irish was getting thinner and thinner (poorer). The Irish people felt like they really have nothing they could do, to get out of the social problem. Swift proposal all most seemed, and probably felt like the English in fact were gobbling up the Irish people. The major proposition behind the "modest proposal"
Show More
Related
683 Words | 3 Pages

Swift continues this provocation, addressing the “more thrifty” people who “may flay the carcass” and use the skin in order to make “gloves for ladies” and “summer boots for fine gentlemen.” Swift uses a simile to compare preparing children by “dressing them hot from the knife, as [done when] roasting pigs.” Swift uses this simile to exaggerate what a simple and traditional part of the diet children would be in Ireland. In essence, Swift yearns to provoke the Irish people to fight for social equality and a mended economy—the only manner of achieving this equality and shared wealth is by government

Read More
374 Words | 2 Pages

Both “A Modest Proposal” and “Hard out here” have strong points to point out through their work, one goes through extreme exaggeration in the form of a letter of proposal and the other through catchy song. They both follow the four parts of satire and are fantastic works of literature that were used to point out major issues of their times. “A Modest Proposal” over exaggerates the situation and follows the guidelines to come up with a solution. Whereas “Hard out here” shoves the issue into the masse’s faces and calls it the solution.

Read More
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

Read More
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

Read More
966 Words | 4 Pages

In this proposal, Swift satirically suggests eating the babies of the poor in Ireland as a solution to the growing numbers of vagrants and beggars. To persuade his readers, Swift writes with logos, the rhetorical use of logical appeal. Throughout the document, Swift uses credentials and citations

Read More
1413 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
703 Words | 3 Pages

A modest Proposal is a satirical writing that goes over the mind set of the rich towards the poor starving children in Ireland at the time. Jonathan Swift uses a number of rhetorical strategies while he tries to highlight insane ideas in his proposal. Swift uses metaphors, repetition and logical fallacies as well as humor, sarcasm and satire tone to bring about some ridiculous ideas to fix Ireland. In order to really understand what works and what doesn’t, one must truly understand the background behind Swifts idea.

Read More
273 Words | 2 Pages

Swifts comparison to the poor class as animals being fattened to be served as a meal shows how he looks down on people who do not have as much money as him. Swift is mocking how people in poverty are taking up valuable resources; he believes that eradicating the lower class will fix the problem. This is ironic since

Read More
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

Read More
1586 Words | 7 Pages

Jonathan Swift uses “A Modest Proposal” to seek validation as well as justice for his cause. “A Modest Proposal” is a satirical piece which discusses how to keep Irish children from being a burden on their families and their country by eating them. Swift published “A Modest Proposal” in 1729, after several of his other essays proposing different ways in which to boost the Irish economy were more or less ignored. Since he had already produced so much content on the subject that had been ignored, he could be considered an underdog with this additional essay. The effects of the irony

Read More
576 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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

Read More
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.

Read More
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).

Read More

More about The Modest Proposal Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document