Summary: A Modest Proposal

All across America, you see the topic of “Should children be receiving participation trophies” being brought up. The idea that all kids should get some reward for being a part of the game and helping it grow. To some, it seems like an excellent idea, but to others not as much. For example, NFL linebacker James Harrison took his children 's participation trophies and gave them back to their coaches saying "EARN a real trophy." Other parents believe that their children deserve to be praised and want them to feel good for doing something they have worked hard. So which side is correct? Should we give our kids these trophies or not?

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

Swift believes that people should start selling their children in order to eradicate the problem of overpopulation. By selling children for food at one year of age, or using their skin to make things such as gloves for women and boots for men, children would boost the economic state of their family versus weakening it (). While discussing the sale of children, Swift dehumanizes the people of Ireland by comparing them to livestock (). Swift showcases how subjecting children to lives of poverty and crime is the equivalent of breeding animals. During this time in Ireland families were starving, although they continued to have children, making Swift's proposal a way to satirize how ridiculous it was families continued to have children despite their ability to care for them.

He addressed the English by giving them a scenario in the form of a “Proposal” in order to show them their exploiting nature. Swift proposed an idea to help escalate the country’s economic condition and lower its poverty rates. The core of his proposal was the children. He argued that poor parents should no longer bear the burden of children. Instead the children should provide for themselves and their parents by being a commodity. He explained the process similarly to that of raising and selling cattle; mothers should provide their year-old child with nourishment until he or she is fattened, then rich people would buy that child for multiple purposes. Either for feeding or luxurious purposes, those children would eventually provide for the economy. Such proposal intended to camouflage the actual exploitations practiced by the rich English. The reader then was expected to look deeper and untie the knots to discover how in fact he was exploiting the Irish. “The audience is never really let in on the joke - they're supposed to figure it out for themselves that Swift is kidding. Of course, not everybody did.”

In Fred Stenson’s “In Search of a Modest Proposal” the author states, using his daughter’s first essay assignment as an example, that essays are inherently personal and should reflect the author’s own ideas, and that essay curriculums are flawed in their formulaic approach to teaching what is supposed to be a creative form of writing. Stenson’s essay uses a liberal amount of sarcasm to get his point across, and coupled with a reliance on personal examples his overall argument loses some efficacy. However, most of his irony and sarcasm are effective in their emotional appeals, and when coupled with more convincing examples and reference to authority that directly support his claim, they make for a compelling debate that is hard to refute.

The implied thesis of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal" is that 18th century Ireland would be in a better situation if the Irish society and monarchy actually treated problems such as overpopulation and poverty, While the overt thesis is that Irish people should consider eating their children and selling them to rich Englishmen to solve the issue of poverty and overpopulation in the country. They differ form one another as one focuses on eating children, while the other focuses on giving commentary through the essay itself.

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).

His way of argument and thinking is incorrect and lack validity in what is proposing. This is evident in this pamphlet on line 69 to 73, ‘that a young healthy Child well Nursed is at a year Old, a most 71 delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food, whether Stewed, Roasted, 72 Baked, or Boyled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a Fricasie’. He notes down that a young healthy child is a delicious food to be roasted, stewed and boiled to be served and eaten. Secondly, he has computed twenty thousand children to be reserved for breeding. This dehumanizes the children to be like

Beneath Swift’s irony, his argument is that the rich consume everything, even the children. “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.” (par 12.)He argues this to shock his audience and to call attention to the problems that were being experienced by the people in Ireland.

In addition to the use of Irony,Swift also uses appeal to emotions in his essay to make the people reading his context to be ashamed of themselves.In the very beginning of the essay,Swift states how "it is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town,when they see the streets,the roads and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex,followed by three,four,or six children " (Swift 1-3).The author talks about the many beggars and undernourished citizens who are "forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants" (Swift 5-6) which immediately makes the readers lament the fates of these poor mothers and children.By stating the terrible sight that one would see in the streets of Ireland,the author is able to make the reader feel the terror,which would evoke a sympathy in reader's mind.In addition, the author makes use of harsh and bitter words to address the citizen such as "bastard children"(Swift 31).Swift also states that "a young healthy child well nursed makes a delicious,nourishing ,and wholesome food whether stewed,roasted,baked or boiled." (Swift 62-63),which he considers to be "somewhat dear,and therefore very popular for landlords,who,have already devoured most of the parents"(Swift 79-80).The author is cleverly using these horrific words and imagery to make the people,especially the rich citizens of Ireland,who in any manner have not shown any sign of humanity towards the poor,to feel

“I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs” (A Modest Proposal). Comparing the children to roasting a pig shows that the children do not mean that much to anyone and they can just be burned alive and no one would care. He also uses the word “flesh” generally to refer to the children when they’re being served and eaten which is an animalistic association (A Modest Proposal). Usually human children would not be referred to as “flesh” or “pigs” at all. This, again, reflects upon how England and the Irish ruling classes treated the people of Ireland, especially the less fortunate. Other words Swift has a tendency of using are “breeders”, “males”, and “females” (A Modest Proposal). It’s not common to hear these words in regard to a human being especially coming from a priest. More directly with his wording, Swift speaks of the landlords in a negative manner. “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents…” (A Modest Proposal). This statement shows the way the English landlords would take every penny their tenants had. England and Ireland’s wealthy class did not care for their people what so ever, and Swift’s satire was very effective in proving these points.

“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Smith: An Argument Analysis In “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Smith employs rhetorical reasoning and tropes to make his argument that the people of Ireland need to accept a reasonable solution to the oppression imposed by England. This argument is masked by satire as he proposes that eating children is a far more practical solution to Ireland’s problems than any other solution he had offered in his previous works. His clever rhetoric builds a strong intrinsic ethos throughout the piece and significantly strengthens his argument. Smith’s argument is the most clear in his confirmation as he dismisses all of the other solutions that he had given in his earlier pamphlets, declaring that those solutions are not

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;

Beginning with an examination of the subtitle, the stance of the narrator and his views of the poor are evident immediately. “…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 Para.1). This example is a distinct instance of irony; in which Swift uses such long, elaborate sentence to summarize his main proposition. By referring to

He thinks that if you help the poor and the less fortunate, it will later benefit the rich. He indirectly suggests that the rich should help the poor by stating that the struggles the Irish would have to go through to not starve to death. He says that a way to help feed the poor is to have women breed children to eat. ” I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” Swift stated (387). He is trying to get his point across that there is plenty that the rich can do to help the poor.