Rhetorical Devices In A Modest Proposal

Irony is a beautiful technique exercised to convey a message or call a certain group of people to action. This rhetorical skill is artfully used by Jonathan Swift in his pamphlet “A Modest Proposal.” The main argument for this mordantly ironic essay is to capture the attention of a disconnected and indifferent audience. Swift makes his point by stringing together a dreadfully twisted set of morally untenable positions in order to cast blame and aspersions on his intended audience. Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” employs despicably vivid satire to call for change in a world of abuse and misfortune.

From the beginning, irony is immediately displayed through the title of the text, A Modest Proposal. Modest means to be moderate and the proposal stated is anything but. The irony of this title serves to display to the audience how “moderate” this plan is in comparison to what the government was presently doing which was basically nothing in Swift’s eyes. Throughout the introduction, the speaker introduces the problem -- overpopulation and poverty -- and presents a solution. He mentions children in passing, which later on becomes a large part of his “proposal” to help Ireland. Swift cites that a significant part of the problem in Ireland is the struggle to provide for the evergrowing population and in order to solve this, children -- specifically newborns to a year old -- should be sold to the upper classes as food. He describes that “a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food..” (Swift, lines 70-71). This solution would lessen the pressure for the state to provide for them in addition to other benefits that Swift later expresses. This hyperbolic suggestion serves to express Swift’s viewpoint on the actions of the upper class to solve the issues that Ireland was enduring. He was implying that their

Johnathan Swift wrote Modest Proposal with the idea to better humanity.. When you first read it you miss what the true message is. You think “Man this guy is a monster!” or “He’s sick!”, but once you reach the end the true meaning of the proposal hits you. When Jonathan Swift wrote a Modest Proposal he tried to get his audience to see the problem by taking it and providing an unethical and inhumane solution then using rhetorical devices to bring out people’s emotions.

The author of  “A Modest Proposal” uses ethos with the intention of the readers taking his plan into consideration to improve the conditions in Ireland, by gaining credibility. Hence, Swift states,” having turned my thoughts for many years, upon this important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of other projectors.” As well as, “ having no other motive than the public good of my country.”  The use of ethos in this particular evidence shows the author and his plan is reasonable through his expertise on the subject and has a trustworthy impression, which propels the audience towards his plan. Swift uses satire to make the audience recognize how absurd the other plans are. Consequently, the readers gain more sureness and confidence

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).

The sarcastic views of Swift’s understanding of the poverty of Ireland leads him to make a proposal for a solution to poverty, where he ignores the concern of human morale by displaying the lacking efforts of England to help. Swift uses methods that work to get or help better understand a situation, for example being sarcastic in a situation where a person wants something out of the situation by satire. The undeniable effect of satire catches the attention of England to further display the poverty of Ireland which is displayed throughout Swift’s Modest Proposal with exaggeration, incongruity and reversal.

Jonathan Swift uses humor in his essay ‘A Modest Proposal’ in the form of satire. His writing style specialized in gaining entertainment and humor from the issue that is being criticized. Jonathan Swift was a satirist who is famous for his ‘Modest Proposal’, in which he proposed a shocking but humorous remedy to satirize the false modesty of British pamphlets and the government during eighteenth century.

The modest proposal challenges the status quo by using sarcasm. This proposal was published in the year 1729. This proposal also was published in the country of Ireland. There are several different sources of information about the “A Modest Proposal.” The modest proposal is an Juvenalian satirical essay written by, Jonathan Swift. The “A Modest Proposal”, is summed up to be about preventing the children of poor people from being a burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public. The Modest Proposal has an ironic tone. It’s also a use of sarcasm. The thesis for this Proposal is that most of all poor people should have many kids to sell for food. This is a masterpiece of irony. Times were very different back then from now. Times back then seem to be more desperate than times now. Being sarcastic wasn't a big thing till recently. Jonathan was humorless and was very sarcastic, but people in his decade weren't that way. They believed everything and were quite serious about everything. In the essay “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift challenges the status quo of the time and place in which it was written by discussing cannibalism, selling children, and giving realistic ideas.

Swift begins his essay by pointing out that Ireland has already faced lots of death and seen acts of evil against children before. He mentions abortion, the practice of women murdering their own children because they feel that they aren’t able to take care of them. He estimates, by figuring that 170,000 women are giving birth to children that would go on to live per year, that 120,000 children are born into poor families per year. Furthermore, he mentions the exact monetary value that he thinks each child could earn before the age of 12, pointing out that this value is still much too low to survive on. After stating his solution, he then goes on to numerically divide the 120,000 children into 20,000 breeders and 100,000 products. Swift’s use of figures shows that he has put time and thought into this subject, and is invested in the matter at hand. Swift’s audience, the people and government of Ireland, will be more likely to believe that Swift cares about his country.

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

Swift's message to the English government in "A Modest Proposal" deals with the disgusting state of the English-Irish common people. Swift, as the narrator expresses pity for the poor and oppressed, while maintaining his social status far above them. The poor and oppressed that he refers to are Catholics, peasants, and the poor homeless men, women, and children of the kingdom. This is what Swift is trying to make the English government, in particular the Parliament aware of; the great socioeconomic distance between the increasing number of peasants and the aristocracy, and the effects thereof. Swift conveys his message in a brilliant essay, in which he uses

Swift suggests that Irish women should sell their children as food and other necessities to the rich populace in order to benefit the economy and fight the problem of overpopulation. To specify, Swift proposes if the children are sold, there would be many more utilizations of the children instead of having to survive on the streets scraping for money. He uses this ridiculous example in hope that it will benefit the rich population as well as solve the predicament of overpopulation. As he states, “Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flay the carcass;

Swift demands the audience to recognize the narrator's purpose "having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infant's, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich." (Swift 489) The speaker optimistically believes that his idea is for the best. If Swift did not believe that his idea would not have a positive outcome he would not have suggested. Regardless of Swift's inhumane suggestion, which is negative, he only tries to reveal the positive of the situation. This feeling of insecurity is his way of disparaging the Irish and English government.

In ‘A Modest Proposal’ the author, Jonathan Swift utilizes techniques such as satire, sarcasm, and irony to create a bigger picture to the reader. Within the poem, Swift not only presents a humorous approach to social and economic issues but does so in a well-constructed and carefully composed manner. A closer reading of the text reveals a deeper critical analysis of the social perceptions of the poor at the time. Through Swifts’ use of irony, he creates a proposal that is so extremely absurd that some may believe the piece to be genuine. By taking an issue and providing a corrupt and merciless solution, the writer uses a unique approach to catch the attention of the people of Ireland and presents them a proposal they cannot ignore. Through the use of irony, Swift creates a poem that not only criticizes social perceptions of the poor but also remarks upon the issue without directly addressing the reader.

Amid the late 17th century, Jonathan Swift’s pamphlet, A Modest Proposal, exploits the negligence of British government towards the Irish people. To illustrate the disregard of the government, he uses logical fallacies, metaphors, repetition and parallelism as well as humor, sarcasm and a satiric tone to highlight these negative attitudes. Not only does he applies these literary devices, he adopts Francis Bacon’s, The Four Idols, to exemplify the intention of the pamphlet. Adopting Bacon’s ideas of the corruption, illusions, and errors of people in society, Swift had the ability to demonstrate the government's disregard towards the people of Ireland. Bacon’s his ideas regarding society are proposed through four idols: “Idols of the Cave”,