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The Mass Communication Methods Reflected In A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

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Communication methods have changed significantly since Jonathan Swift penned and distributed his pamphlet most commonly known by its shortened title, “A Modest Proposal;” yet, the desire to communicate political discontent in an effort to enact positive change is not new. While there were no hashtag-laced tweets in eighteenth-century Europe, there was a method of mass communication. Pamphlets—predominately political in nature—were used to forward ideas to the people. Unfortunately, by the late seventeenth century, the public was so inundated with these brochures that, much like the pleas that find their way into our modern junk mail folder, scores of attempts to rally the populace to make progressive social changes were ignored or discarded.

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