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A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children Of Poor People

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Satire is a method used by multitudes of authors and other artists for a plethora of different reasons. The ways that this method of literature is used is varied, and it is always interesting and somewhat difficult to find out exactly why these texts are written. A specific author who is known for utilizing satire in his works of literature is Jonathan Swift, whose hard-hitting essay “A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick” is one of the most popular and analyzed texts within the world of satire, and truly makes one think about the art. One article that explores Swift’s use of satire within “A Modest Proposal” is Paddy Bullord’s “The Scriblerian Mock-Arts” This essay delves deeply into Swift’s works, and the art of satire in itself and is a great way to explore Swift’s work. The main question about Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” that will be explained and explored through this paper is this; what prompts Swift to write about his points using irony and satire, even though satire is a method that metaphorically goes over the head of its readers?
Swift’s view on satire can be seen through Paddy Bullord’s article, where he explains how Swift felt about the art. Bullord states that many satirists refer to satire as something potentially effective, but ultimately something that can easily backfire on the author. As Bullord says, Jonathan Swift did not hold

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