Rhetorical Devices In A Modest Proposal

Swift begins his essay by describing walking down a street in Ireland. He describes how you would see, “beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms” (Swift, Para. 1). This gives the reader a mental

In Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, a speaker states his proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country (Swift 1). The author carefully constructs his argument before leading into his absurd proposal supporting the consummation of one-year old children. The speaker first addresses the problem in the opening paragraph, then goes into discussing why other solutions have fallen short, and then until why his solution is the only option.

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.

A Modest Proposal was written in 1729 by a man of the name Johnathan Swift. This is a piece of early satire. He writes this to insult the early government system and mocks the heartless attitude that they have against the poor. He does this by writing a proposal that absolutely is outlandish and unthinkable, starting by addressing the current issue. “FOR PREVENTING THE CHILDREN OF POOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND FROM BEING A BURDEN TO THEIR PARENTS OR COUNTRY, AND FOR MAKING THEM BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC” (Swift 1).

A Modest Proposal is a deeply ironic and humanistic essay by what it denounces. Swift proposes that the poor of the country sell their children aged one year to those who will be able to afford this "delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food". This provocative proposition denounces the selfishness, inhumanity, and injustice of political economy: if the poor are devoured, figuratively, by politicians and the rich, as well as propose that they are also literally. Exclusion becomes ingestion. It also reveals a certain conception of the human being whose reason and common sense are doubtful.

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.

After reading A Modest Proposal, I had mixed feelings about Jonathan Swifts story. I noticed almost immediately after starting the story that Swift utilized humor. In addition, the era that Swift was writing his story in was a time of crises for his country, Ireland. Consequently, this could have resulted in many people writing letters on how they could improve the country. Therefore, in my opinion, I think that that his proposal was just a satire piece out of frustration. Irony also had a key role in this work. This can be seen with the title of the story, A Modest Proposal, as his plan is anything but modest, and additionally can be better linked to barbaric. I was also amazed at how much detail that Swift put into writing his proposal.

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

Jonathan Swift’s "A Modest Proposal," is a piece of work that deeply expresses satire. Johnathan’s description of destitution is characterized through the life of Ireland's poor individuals in the 18th century. Shocking the sensibilities of readers, he considers their inhuman way of living throughout the entire text. Being born Ireland himself, Swift thought of himself as an Englishman, but the English is his intended audience. Sadly, Englishmen were predisposed of hatred to the Irish, they may take lightly Swift’s point of the essay and endorse Swift's proposal! "A Modest Proposal" starts with the description of 18th century Irish life. Ireland during those times were a place where children became beggars/thieves in order to live and help

Firstly, Jonathan Swift uses “A Modest Proposal” to pull on the ethical side of the reader. Naturally, Swift displays this when he writes, “The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own” (Swift 3).Reviewing your letter, I understand you feel that “A Modest Proposal”

A Modest Proposal, an excellent example of a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift in the seventeenth century. This essay presents an issue of the poor people (mostly females and children’s) begging every person on the streets of Ireland for an alms. To counter this issue, the author through the means of satire presents his own proposal in such a way that it would disgust and enrage the readers (specifically the merchants and landlords). He suggest that poor people might ease their problems by selling their fatten children for eight shillings, at the age of one, as a food to the rich landlords, who, as the author points out, “have already devoured most of the parents” anyway by achieving success at the expense of the lower class people. The author states that his proposal would solve the problem of overpopulation in the country, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, whom he addresses as their biggest enemies and it would also

In the satire essay “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, he talks about great ideas for controlling the population of poor people in Ireland. His idea involved eating the children of the poor to help relieve them of the extra burden of caring for a child. He does a great job poking fun at a subject some might find touchy. His skills in satirical writing clearly shine through his great essay. Jonathan Swift was the author who best used writing craft to convey meaning because of his skills in reversal, incongruity, and exaggeration.

He can make statements that would seem to be purely economic without seeming to realize the awful nature of it to satire the lack of concern which the rich have for the problems of the poor. Jonathan Swift ironically said with ease the skin of those thrifty children can be perfectly used like leaner to make “admirable gloves for ladies and summer boots for fine gentlemen” as if wearing human skin gloves or summer boots were something common, normal, and simple. He represented the use of babies’ skin as fancy by addressing those boots only for fine gentlemen. An ironic statement in “A Modest Proposal”, is when the speaker, Jonathan Swift balks at the idea of eating teenagers because is “bordering upon cruelty”, while at the same time he says “that a healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” as saying eating babies was not upon cruelty, but eating teenagers was. In one of the most ironic statements in “A Modest Proposal”, the speaker, Jonathan Swift balks at the idea of eating teenagers because is “bordering upon cruelty”, while at the same time he says “that a healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” as saying eating babies was not upon cruelty, but eating teenagers was. Swift clarified his own thoughts about his

In the satire piece “A Modern Proposal” (1729), Jonathan Swift suggests that the poor of Ireland should sell their children to be eaten by the rich in order for them to survive and have enough money to provide for the rest of the family. Swift describes anecdotal events first on how much the children are worth at the market and then describing how many people can one child end up feeding.