A Rhetorical Analysis Of Swift's Proposal By Jonathan Swift

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How does Swift want the reader to view his speaker? That is, how would Swift want his reader to describe the persona he adopts? Swift wants the reader to view the speaker as a reasonable, compassionate and rational person who has a genuine interest in solving the problems of the poor Irish. In the beginning of the essay, the speaker appears to be a concerned person who demonstrates a keen insight into the issues he addresses. However, this is contrary to the fact that the speaker predominantly relies on random and absurd statistics and logic to present his solution. By acting as someone compelled to solve the plight of the poor Irish, the unknown speaker makes his words more effective and establishes himself as someone who would never make the outrageous proposal that follows. At what point in the essay did you recognize that Swift’s proposal is meant to be satiric? Do you think a modern audience would get the joke faster than Swift’s contemporaries did? It becomes obvious that the author was employing sarcastic and humorous ideas in his proposal when …show more content…

Explain the rhetorical purpose of such a strategy. In the beginning of the essay, Swift explains the anticipated results before revealing the actual proposal for several reasons. One possible reason is that Swift wishes to have his speaker stimulate positive reactions among the audience by delaying the outrage until later in the essay. Swift first sets up his proposal in a positive light, which makes him less likely to offend the reader several paragraphs later when he introduces a ridiculous solution. Another plausible motivation is that Swift persuades his audience that the proposal will have positive results so that they will become inclined to support this initiative. Swift's strategy in beginning the essay with his anticipated results is meant to immediately sway the reader into supporting his

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