Rhetorical Analysis Of A Modest Proposal

Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” written in 1729 was his 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 he publick” (Swift, Title). This proposal included the selling, skinning and buying of babies at the age of one. This proposal that he has come up with is a very inhuman and controversial one when it comes to being socially acceptable.

The satirical essay “A Modest Proposal” written and published in in 1729 by an Anglo- Irish man named Jonathan Swift, in response to the worsening conditions of Ireland, was one of his most controversial and severe writings of his time. The narrator in Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” argues for a drastic and radical end to poverty in Ireland. Swift’s proposal suggests that the needy, poor people of Ireland can ease their troubles simply by selling their children as food to the rich and make them useful, benefitting the public. With the use of irony, exaggeration and ridicule Swift mocks feelings and attitudes towards the poor people of Ireland and the politicians. However, with the use of satire Swift creates a

In Jonathan Swift’s satire, “A Modest Proposal”, Swift writes about the starving people of Ireland in the early 1700’s. He makes a wild and absurd proposal to help remedy the problems of overpopulation and poverty. Swift wants to make a political statement by using the “children” as satire to grasp the attention of the audience - the English people, the Irish politicians and the rich – and make them aware of the political, moral, and social problems. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift’s arguments are presented effectively by using pathos (emotional appeal), ethos (ethics and values), and logos (logic reasoning and facts).

Although the use of incongruity is used to seize attention through a sarcastic view, another way Swift uses satire to grab England’s attention is through reversal. Reversal is used by Swift to switch the roles of babies to pigs, to emphasize the idea that these babies taste like pig. It is expressed in the text where the author points out, “I rather recommend buying the children alive and dressing them hot from the knife as we do roasting pigs” (Swift 99). This piece of text is evident of how Swift makes the point of having children served similar to pigs makes it sound serious, yet sarcastic making his point more clear to the reader with hidden meaning. The way Swift places reversal in the text makes it clear to England of how insane he may seem, but for a cause. This effective way of satire is undeniable of how Swift achieves his idea to bring poverty to an end to Ireland.

In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift suggests that women should sell their children as food instead of struggling to support them. Jonathan Swift not only uses rhetoric to dehumanize the women and children throughout the proposal, but he uses his sarcastic tone, his insincerity, and the idea of how ridiculous the proposal is to make his argument not serious. Jonathan Swift illustrates the poor living standards in Ireland as well as the corruption in the social classes within “A Modest

Satire produces a distortion of reality that enlightens its readers about the unadmirable traits of society by using irony and humour (Snodgrass 406). A Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift in 1729, presents a satirical proposal through an anonymous proposer. The proposal argues that in order to deal with the poverty and overpopulation in Ireland, the children of the poor should be sold as food to the wealthy. It advocates that the benefits include an increase in the income of the poor and in Ireland’s economy. Swift’s A Modest Proposal has been analyzed by various scholars many of which have analyzed Swift’s persona and his critique of Ireland’s economic conditions. However, there has been little scholarly discussion on Swift’s satirical method in the text, which uses cannibalism and dehumanization. Many scholars such as Oliver W. Ferguson’s “Swift’s Saeva Indignatio and A Modest Proposal” focus on Swift’s anger towards the social classes in Ireland; and other scholars such as Thomas Lockwood’s “Swift’s Modest Proposal: An Interpretation” focus on the role of the anonymous proposer. Rather than focusing on the effect of the proposal on the contemporary audience, these scholars choose to look at the text from Swift’s view and do not consider the audience’s reaction. An investigation into the satirical form that Swift uses will be useful to discern the impact of the proposal on the public and the message it presented. This essay will attempt to address this gap by using close reading and historical evidence to explore the text’s satire through the use of cannibalism and dehumanization. By using the satirical device of dehumanization to commodify the poor people of Ireland, Swift challenges the prevailing mercantilist theory of the population being the “nation’s riches”. The problem will be investigated with a study of the contemporary mercantilist thought, a close reading of the use of dehumanization in the text and the proposer’s tone.

When one thinks of the phrase “A Modest Proposal,” does one come to think of fattening babies so they can sell as meat. In Jonathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal,” Swift uses satirical writing to communicate with the reader to expose the critical situation of the poor people of Ireland. Whom besides going through a tough period of famine have to endure the overwhelming taxation rates of the English empire. The author’s proposal intends to convince the public of the incompetence of Ireland’s politicians, the lack empathy of the wealthy, the English oppression, and the inability of the Irish to mobilize themselves against this situation. Johnathan proposed an outrageous solution that the Irish folks eat their children at the age of one or sell them in the market as meet. Finally, he manifests to be open to other suggestions to help overcome the country’s crisis. The proposal was made strategically using several different parts: the text, author, audience, purpose, and setting to persuade the tax to go lower.

During the 1700’s poor beggars, predominantly Catholic's crowded the streets of Ireland. Being too poor to support themselves, they would implore to survive. “A Modest Proposal” by Dr. Jonathan Swift is a notable piece of satire created in attempts to solve the poverty and overpopulation problems in Ireland. Swift bespeaks methods to prevent the poor beggars from burdening the population. Instead of bypassing the “useless pests”, Swift uses rhetorical devices of irony and hyperbole to present outrageous ways the poor could benefit wealthier classes.

These calculations suggest that there is no possible way to support this many children in Ireland other than his argument, cannibalism. As logical reasoning also appeals to the reader, credibility does as well. Near the end, Swift explains, “I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country”. Swift makes the point that he is proposing this idea out of generosity. By this, the author is able to appeal credibly to the reader, persuading the reader at the same time.

In Jonathan Swift's satirical essay “A Modest Proposal” he addresses the issues of the nation of Ireland and the problems that it is having with its government because it is doing nothing to help their people come up from issues such as poverty, overpopulation and other crudely addressed political issues. In an attempt to solve these national problems, Swift comes up with a very unique and intense proposition on how the problem can be fixed and dealt with. By providing the reader with a combination of all the three rhetorical appeals ethos,logos, and pathos, Swift can easily, slowly, and effectively bring his proposition into view without the reader completely discarding it from consideration as Swift's words take into deliberation the feelings

Jonathan Swift, the writer of the satirical essay A Modest Proposal, grew up and lived in Ireland during times of famine and economic struggles (Conditions). Growing up with a single mother and no father, Swift knew what hard times and struggles were like (Jonathan Swift: Biography). His essay proposes an easy solution to the economic problems going on in Ireland for both the wealthy ruling classes and the poorer classes, although his intentions and the meaning behind his words are not what would be originally thought when initially reading the essay. Through his word choices and the description of specific events of his time, Swift uses satire to grab his audience’s attention and get his own personal ideas and opinions out about all the

So in conclusion things were not going well in Ireland during the 1720’s. And after many attempts of giving reasonable solutions, one Mr. Swift decided the best way to get their attention would be to come up with a truly preposterous solution. A solution so crazy that they couldn’t possibly ignore it. That attention grabbing solution became known as “A Modest Proposal” in which Mr. Swift states that to save Ireland, people should start eating year old toddlers. It is in this essay that he challenges the status quo of his

A Modest Proposal. One of the most polarizing essays written in recent times. Whether or not the peasants of yesteryear fell for the consumption of their children is a discussion to be had another time. Because now we discuss, not if Mr. Swift aimed to eat our kids, but how Mr. Swift aimed to relieve poverty and aimed for equality for his people. Now at face value, Swift lays out the horrid conditions that plague the poor of Ireland.

Jonathan Swift, author of “A Modest Proposal,” tries to present different ideas in order to change the situation of Ireland. Through his proposal, he is able to get his point across. He wrote this essay to show how undeveloped and bad the state of Ireland is and the social classes. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift effectively uses insincerity, sarcasm, and rhetorical exaggeration to reveal his annoyance of politicians, papists, and overall citizens of poverty-stricken Ireland in the late seventeenth century. The purpose of his argument is to raise awareness of the issue. Swift vents his growing aggravation at the incompetence of Ireland’s politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English and the squalor and degradation in which he saw so many Irish people living. Swift persuades his audience by proposing an extreme and unethical solution, in hopes that he will get others to start thinking about actual solutions. On other hand, Onion is an organization that publishes articles on international, national, and local news. On the following paragraphs there are some similarity and differences between Swift essay and some articles from onion.

In his biting political satire called ?A Modest Proposal,? Jonathan Swift seeks to create empathy for the poor through his ironic portrayal of the children of Irish beggars as commodities that can be regulated and even eaten. He is able to poke fun at the dehumanization of the multitudes of poor people in Ireland by ironically commenting on what he sees as an extension of the current situation. Swift?s essay seeks to comment on the terrible condition of starvation that a huge portion of Ireland has been forced into, and the inane rationalizations that the rich are quick to submit in order to justify the economic inequality. He is able to highlight the absurdity of these attempted