A Modest Proposal

799 Words2 Pages

Have you ever read a Modest Proposal? A Modest Proposal was written by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift’s purpose is to persuade the poor people of Ireland that babies and young kids are useless, and can be used for more things when they’re deceased versus alive. He says that they’re too expensive for their parents to take care of them and keep them nourished. Swift adopts a serious yet sarcastic tone in order to convince the poor people that babies and young children are useless. He talks about many issues when it comes to having babies and young kids. One of the main issues in Swift’s work is that having babies and children is a big responsibility so the less fortunate people should not have them because they are barely able to provide for themselves, let alone their kids. Swift came up with this idea when he saw how many beggars there are out there and how they all struggle to take care of their families. Swift, who is a writer, made and defended this argument with facts and even his own opinions. He seems to favor babies and young kids because he says they can be used for many things when they’re deceased. Swift’s main point is that babies and young children should be killed because they can be used for a lot of things once they’re deceased, like to eat and even make boots. He argues strongly by saying exactly what he feels and by giving a strong opinion. His purpose is to convince people to agree with his proposal and to get them to go along with it. Swift uses many Pickens 2 facts and even his own opinions in his argument by first stating facts about what’s going on, and then giving his ... ... middle of paper ... ... for boots. Most people love having kids and would not want to hurt them. Another problem would be that no one would want to hurt their babies just to make life easier for them. Their babies are a part of their family and they wouldn’t want them to suffer. In the end, Swift has some strong arguments and valid points. He has good ideas and explains them very well. Some strong points of his arguments would be that his ideas would help the people out and make life easier for them. Also they wouldn’t have to worry about not having and food or water. Even though Swift’s ideas would be helpful to the people, his arguments are not realistic. No one would kill a baby and make it suffer just to give themselves an easier life. Also just the thought of eating a baby is horrible and unjust. If Swift’s arguments were realistic then people might actually go along with them.

A Modest Proposal
961 Words | 2 Pages
There are so many problems with this article, but first would include that Swift is very nonchalant about the murdering of these babies for money. He then goes on to talk about the babies as if they were cattle or a pig that a farmer would fatten up for Christmas dinner. Also, he was trying to be satirically funny at the end when he mentioned he would never be able to do this plan. But, he is plainly mocking the reader and quite frankly thinking that they are stupid, with Swift’s arrogance and inhumane look at these helpless babies that this work has nothing but grave weaknesses. Overall, the author tries to convince Ireland’s poor families to sell their children to the rich to eat for money. Such an outlandish plan that was useless to even consider, yet write about in the first place.
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Rhetorical Analysis in A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
538 Words | 2 Pages
The issue that Swift is addressing is the fact that there are too many poor children in Dublin and that they are becoming such a huge burden for all the poor mothers or parents of the country. Swift then creates his own solution to the problem. He proposes that all poor children who are around one year of age, be cooked and eaten by the people of Dublin, preferably the poor. With this solution, he argues that it will eventually put an end to the overpopulation of the poor young children and it will satisfy the hunger for all the other people. Crazy right?
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Examples Of Satire In Fahrenheit 451
518 Words | 2 Pages
His proposals purpose is to mock policies trying to fix all economic issues with thoughtless proposals. As a result Swift has his own proposal by imitating someone proposing to fix the economy by selling children for food. The author explains, “I Profess in the sincerity of my Heart that I have not the least personal Interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary Work having no other Motive than the publick Good of my Country, by advancing our Trade, providing for Infants, relieving the Poor, and giving some Pleasure to the Rich” (Para 33). He deliberately exaggerates his proposal of selling children as food to point out how outrageous policies to uplift the economy have become. In sum, exaggeration helps Swift prove his
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A Modest Proposal Satire
689 Words | 2 Pages
This was mostly done by his descriptions of preparing the children like they are a chicken, and his list of advantages to eating children. While describing how to prepare a child Swift said, “a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food.” The manner in which he described a human child the same way one would a cow, chicken, or fish. The obvious lack of ethics and morals in this passage cement that this essay is satirical and should not be understood as a legitimate solution to the starvation issue. He later listed the advantages of a system that breeds children for food, these advantages are all very unethical simply based off the fact that they are benefits of eating infants. Swift mentioned ideas including the murder of Catholic babies, eating humans as a fun custom, and giving the poor something of value (their own children). His use of ethos shows the audience that the essay is satirical and emphasizes the extreme ridiculousness of his ideas.
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A Comparison of A Modest Proposal, Tartuffe, and Candide
1124 Words | 3 Pages
The Neo-Classic's logic and reasoning aspect is attacked by Swift's persuasion that eating a child is a valid response to help fix their oppression. His introduction clearly states that his purpose is "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." (Swift 483) His reasoning for the proposal is ultimately satisfied through his sound thinking that evidently has nothing to do with his feelings about the matter.... ...
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Jonathan Swift Dehumanized Analysis
290 Words | 1 Pages
Swift dehumanizes one year old babies in his proposal mainly to take a shot at women, who have these many babies that they cannot afford or support their livelihood. Swift say, “take in the whole number of Infants at a certain Age, who are born of Parents in effect as little able to support them” (Swift). He’s including babies not only of the age one but all babies. Another example of Swift dehumanizing in his proposal is women. He says, “It is true a Child, just dropt from it's Dam” (Swift). He is calling women a “Dam” in other words he is comparing women to an animal’s mother. He compares women to animals again when he says, “that of the hundred and twenty thousand Children, already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for Breed, whereof
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A Modest Proposal
817 Words | 2 Pages
Swift uses satire to give the reader his strange insight. He goes into great detail about how to cure such an overwhelming epidemic. He stylistically uses a very harsh, sarcastic tone when describing what he would do with the poor children of Ireland. “A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore and hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter” (916). He is not only extremely harsh, but he goes into such detail it makes the reader want to cringe.
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Fallacies In A Modest Proposal
511 Words | 2 Pages
One way that Swift tries to persuade the reader that his proposal is normal or ethical is through the fallacies of the scare tactic. Swift uses his proposal as an attack on the economic problems going on in Ireland. In the beginning swift begins to persuade the reader that his proposal is logical and normal. Do we agree on the fact that eating children is morally and economically wrong? He also states that his proposal would make the children “beneficial to the public” (444). Can we agree that Swift is not suggesting that the people of Ireland would really eat their children. More or
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A Modest Proposal Satire Analysis
644 Words | 2 Pages
Swift presents this by describing how there are many children who cannot be fed. He then gives us the possibility of selling the children into slavery, but disagrees with his own idea. Not because it is morally cruel or wrong, but because people will not buy children below twelve years of age. Therefore, for a long period, children cannot be fed because their parents are too poor. And also the children are too small and weak to be sold into work.
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Rhetorical Analysis Of Swift's Proposal
1141 Words | 3 Pages
The point where you see that Swift’s proposal is meant to be satiric is when he starts to talk about the economic gains of selling poor children. It is meant to be a point to address the exceeding amount of poor children that are being sold to slavery rather than an indication to cannibalism. A modern audience
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A Modest Proposal
1099 Words | 3 Pages
Swift begins his argument by stating his view on the situation and displaying his annoyance. He states, "It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country when they see the streets, roads, and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms" (Swift 1). He uses melancholic imagery for the readers to sympathize with the suffering children and to understand their situation. Similarly, Swift displays his disgust for the wealthy by stating that "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… which would move tears in the most savage and inhumane beast" (1). He talks about abortion and shows how ghastly and disheartening the practice is. Clearly, Swift makes use of pathos to slowly gain the reader’s confidence in preparation for his appalling proposal. He knows that many will be emotionally affected by his proposal because no one would want their own c...
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Pathos In A Modest Proposal
755 Words | 2 Pages
Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal is an attempt to bring attention to horrible the condition in which the poor or destitute people in Ireland are living in. His argument that children of these improvised people should be sold to “the persons of quality and fortune” (A Modest Proposal) for consumption, is Swift’s gruesome way of saying you might as well eat the babies, if no one is going to actually try to fix the problems of the poor in Ireland.
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Sarcasm and Irony in Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal
1501 Words | 4 Pages
One of the voices that is present throughout the story is that of irony. The story itself is ironic since no one can take Swifts proposal seriously. This irony is clearly demonstrated at the end of the story; Swift makes it clear that this proposal would not affect him since his children were grown and his wife unable to have any more children. It would be rather absurd to think that a rational man would want to both propose this and partake in the eating of another human being. Therefore, before an analyzation can continue, one has to make the assumption that this is strictly a fictional work and Swift had no intention of pursuing his proposal any further.
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What Is A Counter Argument In A Modest Proposal
1057 Words | 3 Pages
In “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift writes of the poor men, women, and children of Dublin, Ireland crowding the streets due to the years of drought and crop failure. He estimates that 120,000 children are born each year and asks the question of how these people are to be provided for. Then he tells of his proposal. He states that 20,000 of the 120,000 may be reserved for breeding purposes, while the other 100,000 be sold to dine on. Swift offers several advantages to his proposal some being: the poor tenants will have something of value in their home, the wealth of the nation will greatly increase as well as the cost of caring for the child will be eliminated after a year, and eliminating the food shortages the nation is undergoing. The only counter argument he offers is that killing and eating those infants will decrease the population so much that it will make it easier for England to concur them. He finishes his proposal with a statement that he himself is not interested in making a profit since his own children are past the right age and his wife not being able to have any more children.
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Critical Analysis Of Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal'
866 Words | 2 Pages
Jonathan Swift’s, “A Modest Proposal” by is a sardonic piece of work that provides an overwhelming sarcastic solution to the poverty and overpopulation issues that Ireland was having in the 1700s. He gives a sequence of nonviable and simply foolish solutions to the harsh treatment of children. The entire title of this work is, "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Public." This can sort of hint an idea on the bizarre insights that the writer is going to display. His resolution is to “fatten up” the undernourished, unfed children and sell them to a meat market where they will be sold for food. Thus, solving the economic and population problems in Ireland. Swift does this through a very sarcastic and harsh style that was advanced for the time that he wrote it.
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A Modest Proposal