..... .. | | . |A Modest Proposal | |By Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |A Study Guide | |Cummings Guides Home..|..Contact This Site | |.. | |Type of Work | |Purpose | |Historical Background | |Summary | | ...
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...Saving Murder with Murder; An Analytical Essay of “A Modest Proposal” “A Modest Proposal” is a juvenalian essay full of satirical techniques to display the idea that Ireland is being corrupted by England. As a result of England corrupting Ireland, Ireland has become overpopulated and poverty stricken. Jonathan Swift gives several reasons to the people as to why his ideas would work to restore Ireland. He proposes ideas such as selling babies for meat to boost the economy to further prove his point. Swift uses exaggeration, [input techniques] to show that Ireland is in debt and proposes solutions that would lower the number of people that had to be supported, how it would boost the economy, and what each age group could be used for. Swift...
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...No one had been doing anything to help their situation and that is the sole purpose of “The Modest Proposal,” to give them an out from their situation. “But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing success…” (Swift 2638). Although, this literary work calls for something horrible, it portrays Jonathan Swift in a good light. Jonathan Swift is obviously patriotic to his country. He is willing to do and say whatever to contribute to Ireland. Jonathan Swift may not personally call for eating children, but he does in fact worry for his country’s over-population. “…I fortunately fell upon this proposal, which, as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble…” (Swift 2638). “A Modest Proposal” calls for extreme measures because Jonathan Swift understand that Ireland really does need extreme measures, but everyone knows that eating children is out of the question. The Speaker managed to open the people’s eyes and even though Jonathan Swift may have gotten bad press for...
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...A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift In the essay A Modest Proposal, Swift’s promoter, David Berkowitz, proposes what he thinks is the right solution to the problems being faced by the public of an eighteenth century Ireland. In this particularly long essay, Berkowitz promotes the idea of selling and consuming children. The promoter proposes the immoral ideas in an unsubstantiated fashion which results in this essay being an unsuccessful research essay. In A Modest Proposal, there are three key elements in this piece of writing that render Berkowitz’s argument baseless: the seriousness of the tone of the promoter, the proposal itself, and the use of unreliable sources used throughout the essay. A Modest Proposal begins with the writer describing the underprivileged state of the country of Ireland. Berkowitz starts to build on and take advantage of the relationship of a writer and his audience. He develops sympathy with the masses of Ireland forcing the reader to begin to sympathize and consider how big the problem is. He says that “this prodigious number of children in the arms, …, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance.”(Swift 2). He implies that having such a great number of starving children is a huge problem being faced by the country. He explains that the mothers of these children are driven to beg for any kind of support they can get for their infants when he says “are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance...
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... 1 Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" under a pseudonym, so who is the speaker here? The speaker was created by Swift, and in this case was a man off of the street. 2 Discuss the tone of the piece. Pull examples from the text to support your discussion. The tone was informative and optimistic, because the man told of his solution and believed that it would work. For example, when he says, “There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas!” 3 As you know, effective argumentation appeals to logic (logos), ethics (ethos) and emotions (pathos). Please discuss how Swift uses all three appeals and how these tools impact his purpose. Swift appealed to logic by proposing something illogical, which provokes attention. He appealed to ethics by creating something unethical, which is eating children. He appealed to emotions by making certain people angry with his crazy proposal. All of these appeals cause readers to take interest in his essay and helped them realize the issues in society. 4 Explain the irony in Swift’s title, "A Modest Proposal." This proposal was very extreme, by suggesting the eating of children to solve the problem; so calling it modest is very ironic. 5 Where does this essay fit on the continuum (Horatian to Juvenalian)? Explain/support your position. The essay is Juvenalian, because it...
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...Very “Modest” Irony and Satire Jonathan Swift was born in Ireland in the 18th century during an era that has come to be known as the Golden Age of Satire. As a writer, he was profoundly influenced by the political climate of his times, especially the plight of the Irish poor, which spurred him to write the satirical, social commentary “A Modest Proposal.” The satirical essay addresses the issue of inequality and poverty experienced by the Irish through an outlandish solution that is “beneficial” to everyone. Verbal is present throughout the essay and even in the title. The proposal is far from modest and is rather shocking which Swift does to grab the attention of the reader. He satirically recommends commoditizing Irish babies to improve the economic outlook by selling poor Irish babies to the rich as a delicious food item. Swift’s proposal in his essay is a technique used to highlight a real issue and bring awareness to it by ridiculing the public (reader) through satire. The definition of satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, and ridicule to expose and criticize people’s vices. In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift does exactly that through clever social commentary on the issue of poverty among the poor in Ireland through the various forms of satire. Swift differentiates the social classes in his writing through imagery, detailing the differences between the rich and the poor. He states, “Prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their...
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...During the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a shift in literature. The Restoration period was during the 17th century and during this time Jonathan Swift wrote “A Modest Proposal”. “A Modest Proposal” is a satire that discusses the issues and solutions of poverty that occur in Ireland. The Romantic period occurred during the late 18th century. A novel that was written during this time period was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Considering that each piece of literature is from a different time period, they both express similarities and differences. Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30th, 1667. Swift grew up fatherless because his father died two months before he was born. Being a single mother, his mom struggled to care...
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...Jonathan Swift 1. Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" under a pseudonym, so who is the speaker here? The speaker is a Protestant and a member of the Irish upper class. 2. Discuss the tone of the piece. Pull examples from the text to support your discussion. Swift showed disgust for the people who would rather beg than take care of themselves. He says, “These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbados.” 3. As you know, effective argumentation appeals to logic (logos), ethics (ethos) and emotions (pathos). Please discuss how Swift uses all three appeals and how these tools impact his purpose. Swift appeals to logic by stating the issue at hand. He also appeals to logic by asking why it is the public’s responsibility to take care of these needy families. Swift appeals to pathos and ethos through the diction he uses when describing the problem. He wants the situation to change but he wants it to change for every party. 4. Explain the irony in Swift’s title, "A Modest Proposal." The title is ironic because the proposal is anything but modest. Swift presets an outrageous solution to an ongoing problem. His proposal calls attention to this problem in an extremely eye-catching way. He seems...
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...Assignment 1: Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” Dr. Anthony McCormack Strayer University World Culture II Gladys A. Reyes July 25, 2015 In the satire “A Modest Proposal’, Jonathan Swift expresses his feelings of frustration with regard to the aggravation and political issues in Ireland. He describes being frustrated with the indifference of Ireland politicians, the wealthy, the English tyranny, and the degradation and poor conditions in which many poor, Irish women and children have been forced to live in. Swift is embarrassed for those that come to the towns and travel the country, only to see the streets full and crowded with beggars. Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” satire is a reality called for the politician, the wealthy, and the people of Ireland to look for way to improve the lives of the poor, to stop the English social oppression, and to ultimately end the indifferences and life inequalities in Ireland (Levine, 1995). Jonathan Swift was born of Protestant, English parents in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667. He was a man that was immersed in the secular world of men and woman, of politics and political intrigue. He was a devoted friend to those he loved as he was an implacable enemy to those he disliked. He lived in London most of his life, but after the death of Queen Anne in 1714, he was offered a position as Dean of St. Patrick’s in Dublin. He held his position until his death in 1745 at the age of seventy eight. He was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Glendinning...
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...Three years after Gulliver's Travels was published, Jonathan Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal," a work grounded in thoughtful satire. Swift describes the destitution that characterized the life of Ireland's poor in the 18th century then renders a brazenly inhumane solution to their problems. He shocks the sensibilities of the readers then leads them to consider the inhumanity of the destitution in the first place. Although he was born in Ireland, Swift considered himself an Englishman first, and the English were his intended audience. Swift used the good reputation afforded him by previous works to expose an otherwise indifferent English public to the circumstances of Irish misery. Unfortunately, many of the English were so predisposed to hatred of the Irish that they would disregard the point of Swift's essay and might go so far as to endorse Swift's proposal. For the people of Ireland, "A Modest Proposal" built upon Swift's earlier Drapier's Letters and made Swift a national hero (Bookshelf). "A Modest Proposal" begins with a description of the state of 18th century Irish life. Ireland was a place where children too often became beggars or thieves to sustain themselves or their families, women had abortions because they could not afford to raise children, few jobs were available to the workforce, and landlords abused poor tenants. As miserable as the picture Swift painted of Irish life was, the brushstrokes of history were even harsher. Actions of the English in...
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...Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” name English 301 December 3, 20xx In “A Modest Proposal” (1729), Jonathan Swift used satire for a double purpose: to attack those that he considered responsible for the financial situation of Ireland, and in the same time, to push those who were in a position of power to take rational measures against poverty in Ireland. In his poem, Swift made use of the image of the Projector; a character whose role is that o designing plans that would lead to some improvements being made in the society. Swift’s narrator in “A Modest Proposal” is an Economic Projector who imagines the entire plan from the point of view of a cold and objective individual. The impersonation’s result is that most often, critics see the Projector as a person who sounds just like Swift when in fact, the truth is that Jonathan Swift was brilliant in making himself sound like a projector(Lockwood 1974). The present paper examines the role of the Economic Projector in the paper, arguing that he does not represent a projection of Swift’s own persona but rather, he is a character through which the author realizes his satirical purpose. The paper further holds that the projector has a central role in creating the meaning of the work. Literary critics and commenters of Swift’s work placed great emphasis on the role of Swift’s economic projector, the narrator who imagines the entire cannibalistic plan described in the poem....
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...A Modest Proposal was a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift depicting the horrific conditions of Ireland and the lives of the Irish people in 1729. Swift writes the satire disguised as a social planner of the time who as Swift satirizes were known to be overly rational rather than compassionate. The author portrays and attacks the cruel and unjust oppression of Ireland by its oppressor, the mighty English and ridicules the Irish people at the same time. However, Swift's opposition is indirectly presented. Jonathan Swift is able to do so by using the persona, irony, and wit in order to expose the remarkable corruption and degradation of the Irish people, and at the same time present them with practicable solutions to their economic problem Swift uses the false persona in order to satire the social workers of the time as he saw them. Swift creates a fictional persona because by hiding his true identity he is able to convince the readers of the significance of Ireland's problem and allow them to see truth and reality. The persona is a concerned Irishman who is very intelligent, sound, and serious. He appears to be a brute and a monster for proposing something evil and immoral very calmly as if it is normal to consume the flesh of another human being. What makes his proposal to be even more depraved is that he proposes to eat the babies. The persona declares, and at exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them, in a such a manner as, instead of being...
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...Satire Throughout “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest satire writers of all time. He demonstrates satire through mathematical proposals and multiple quotations throughout a “A Modest Proposal” to focus on the deplorable situation in Ireland that is caused by the English all while engaging the reader with his own barbaric proposal that he makes seem realistic through description. The readers must understand that Jonathan Swift is using satire because through his satire, Swift illustrates issues in society and announces blame to the rightful owners rather than just the obviously bizarre proposal he is making. Swift’s modest proposal is created “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 Publick,” (2028). More simply put, he introduces the idea of cannibalism to the Irish people. He suggests that the lower class Irish citizens sell their one year old children to the upper class so they can have them for meals. Swift explains the advantages to his proposal as being that the Irish will have property of their own, it will help bring an end to the overpopulation problem, and that his proposal will solve the food shortage problem. Swift lays the framework for his satire to be effective through his unnamed narrator. The unmanned narrator is important because he seems to be sensible and well educated. Yet, he is removed from the situation because he does not...
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...“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift In Jonathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” he provides a satirical look at how to address the issue of the poor in Ireland. Poverty, however, is not the only issue of his time as there is also a question of moral issues among the people, both poor and rich. The focus of Swift’s writing is to unburden both parents and the economy of the over population of children, “instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands” (Swift 3). Swift used this theme of unjust behavior to announce how tragic and real these issues were, he brought poverty into prospective and ridiculed society all at once. Swift starts out his proposal with a back ground description of just what it would be like to simply walk down a street in Ireland and see all the misfortune that was surrounding so many people. Poverty here was not a hidden problem it was not something that took investigation to see it was very noticeable yet no one was looking for a solution. It can be inferred that the upper class, a good example would be the landlords, were being greedy and irresponsible governing their land from England. Swift pokes fun at the landlords and England’s mistreatment of Ireland in general when he states “I grant this food may be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have...
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...divergent approach, authors use humor, irony, exaggeration to bring to light and chastise vices that are related to politics or an essential topic. In “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, who was a well educated Irish author, clergymen and a satirist. “A Modest Proposal” speaks to dilemmas against Irish Catholics, he also addresses his proposals, there overall purpose is to address overpopulation issues of Irish children, while showing the use of over exaggeration, humor and irony. I believe “A Modest Proposal” is a very effective satire because after discerning the atrocious treatment to the Irish, Swift writes exposing the dreadful conditions with his “proposals”; which convey every...
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