A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

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Some might say that A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift is the “most famous satirical essay in the English language” because of his astounding use of satire throughout the essay in an attempt to bring to light things that he saw needed change. His proposal may not be as ‘modest’ as the title portrays, as he suggests out-of-this-world solutions to the economic and moral problems that Ireland had in regards to the English rule. Swift uses many different techniques to get his message and opinion across to his audience, some being the use of satire, mainly that of verbal irony, his appeal to the people by discussing solutions to their problems, and religious prejudices.

Satire is the core of the entire essay, without it people wouldn’t have been able to understand the solutions that Swift was …show more content…

One can tell that Swift has a lot of experience discussing pressing political matters all the while using satire to persuade the audience to listen to his argument. As he discusses the problems of poverty, and inequality within the government system, Swift manages to come up with numerical statistics to back up his outrageous proposal to solving these problems. Within his essay, his audience isn’t solely aimed at the poorer classes but at the officials too, “The targets of satire are repressive governmental policies which produce worse harm than the problems they set out to solve.” (Atwood 63) His essay reads with a very sarcastic tone, which is an example of the verbal irony that he utilizes while writing. He writes about one specific problem but leaves hints that those problems aren’t the main problem that needs to be solved. The second technique that Swift makes use of is

In a Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, the main objective was to draw
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Swift's opposition is. indirectly presented in the report. The author uses satire to accomplish his objective not only because he is able to conceal his true identity but also because it is the most effective way to awake the people of Ireland into seeing their own deprivation. Firstly, the narrative voice begins the essay by describing the horrible conditions in which the Irish peasants live. He demonstrates there is a serious problem with a great need for a solution.
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A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis
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Pamphlets were often used to spread ideas throughout Ireland in the late 1600s, however, many were discarded and ignored. “A Modest Proposal,” by Jonathan Swift, uses the pamphlets to his advantage by proposing a ridiculous idea to show how messed up the state of Ireland was. Swift proposed that the babies of all the poor would “contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands” or in other words, improve Ireland 's economic problems and standard of living (Swift). His main reason for proposing this drastic idea was because women continued to have children they could not provide food or anything for in some cases and Swift’s idea would make the children “beneficial to the public” (Swift). For these reasons, Swift looks at not only the politicians to blame for the poor conditions but the citizens of Ireland as well. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift uses harsh
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Superiority of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Over The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
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The satire is formatted and organized engages the reader excellently. In “A Modest Proposal” Swift formatted it to engage the reader as if the reader and he were sitting transversely a table and partaking in an enjoyable talk. Opposed to “The Lottery” in which contains an excessive amount of dialogue. An effective satire needs to be engaging and consuming the reader with every word. With dialogue it seems as if you are just presenting a reader something. Swift used the correct decision using the first person view. Especially due to the fact that he is trying to persuade the reader to propose an application to help the poor become middle class. The decision by Swift was exceptionally well done when choosing how to format his satire.
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The Effectiveness of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
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Swift defined satire as; 'A sort of glass wherein the holders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it. " Swift presents his "Proposal" as an entirely reasonable suggestion to aid the Irish, he enumerates the many benefits, counters the objections many may have, uses rhetoric reasoning and proves his humanitarianism views. Swift has written in considerable detail over the degree of poverty in Ireland, he draws attention to the causes of it obliquely and proves in great detail that his "Proposal" will work and in which ways it does work. Ireland was a colony of England; it was economically, politically and militarily dependent on ... ... middle of paper ... ...
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Rhetorical Analysis Of A Modest Proposal
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Even though the sarcastic tone isn’t always explicit, a reader who knows the intended purpose of the essay is able to find examples. For starters, in line 28 Swift writes about the horrors that overpopulation causes. 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! Too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expense than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breast.” This line is written as serious. It calls the death of babies a crime, and describes the “savage” and “horrid” infanticide; yet the thesis of the essay is about the systematic murdering and consuming of one year old children. The sarcasm in this line is that it intentionally misses the point of the thesis it supports, in a way that is almost
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A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift
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They may think it’s true; they may not fully understand that it is satire; they may be offended by the graphic nature of the essay. So, the danger lies with how the audience interprets the meaning and/or purpose of the writing. Some individuals may not understand the underlying meaning, i.e. the true message that the author is trying to get across - the issue that has caused his anger. If the reader is offended, that was Swift’s intention. He wanted the reader to be so offended that he/she would take notice of the issue of Ireland’s impoverished people and that some action would take place. Swift’s motive was that this very serious issue would be brought to the forefront of the Irish
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Juvenelian Satire in A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
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... Proposal as a Horatian satire. The tone is only good humored to an extent and is laden with sarcasm such as “therefore let no man talk to me of expedients: of taxing our absentees”, as well as absurd, morally distasteful logic. Furthermore, as construed above, the use of the urbane voice of the proposer is not a supplement to a sophisticated argument, but one cleverly used in unison with irony and sarcasm. This use of clever diction helps to promote effective discussion among aristocrats and peasants alike in the hope of deciphering the real meaning of Swift’s proposal. The point of the essay was to uniquely grab the attention of observes who have been indifferent to the plight of the lower class. Through the aforementioned reasoning, Swift does this through the clever implementation of Juvenelian satire in way that the straight forward Horatian satire could not.
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Rhetorical Analysis Of Swift's Proposal
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Rhetorically, Swift uses an outrageous argument expressed in a serious and sincere tone to point out an atrocious plan. The thought and rhetoric behind this is that if you present a claim more intense than your own, it may not sound as extreme He is also expressing the attitude of the other countries towards the Irish famine. This makes the essay such a valuable influential document, because it slams the other countries through their own unresponsiveness to the
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A Modest Proposal
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...ture the attention of the audience by means of “political pamphleteering which is very popular during his time” (SparkNotes Editors). The language and style of his argument is probably why it is still popular till this day. By using satire, Swift makes his point by ridiculing the English people, the Irish politicians, and the wealthy. He starts his proposal by using emotional appeal and as it progresses, he uses ethos to demonstrate credibility and competence. To show the logical side of the proposal, he uses facts and figures. By applying these rhetorical appeals, Swift evidently makes his argument more effectual.
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A Modest Proposal Satire And Irony
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Irony is a literary element that contrasts of expectations and reality, and makes the reader think more in debt of it. Irony is important to the story because it helps add some suspense to the story where it might change expectations. An example of irony in the story is “whether they would not at thus day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided such a perpetual scene of misfortunes” (Swift 6). Swift uses this literary element in this part of story to poke fun at the richer economy because they would do bout almost anything to just spend money. Why this is irony is he doesn’t want them to suffer but by killing them it is in some way making them suffer.
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Humor as an Argument: A Modest Proposal
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This essay will have no value unless the reader understands that Swift has written this essay as a satire, humor that shows the weakness or bad qualities of a person, government, or society (Satire). Even the title A Modest Proposal is satirical. Swift proposes using children simply as a source of meat, and outrageous thought, but calls his propo...
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Rhetorical Analysis: A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
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...that the author is sarcastic about his own proposal, any kind of opposing view or counterargument is in reality the voice of reason and intelligence when compared with Swift’s proposal. The argument is in a way weak or flawed because of the sarcasm at hand. Yes, it is full of satire, but in the following argument Swift builds up his proposal only to diminish the value of his argument by blatantly expressing the sarcasm in this piece. This proposal is flawed throughout the text and is in no way a rational or logical solution to the problem as Swift claims it is. In conclusion, Swift’s proposal is a satire filled piece, which he delivers in a dry indifferent style. His arguments, rationally presented, support an irrational solution to the problem and he evokes pathos in his audience by using only logos in his proposal and that is the brilliance of his piece.
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A Modest Proposal Analysis
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Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is considered to be highly satirical. Swift’s proposal of solving the hunger menace through the sale of poor children to wealthy folks is very satirical. He argues that the practice of selling children will solve the poverty problems since the nation will be depopulated. His projector explains the proposal in great depth, portraying Irish children as equivalent to cattle whose carcasses are used to produce ladies gloves and men’s boots. The rationale behind the Irish eating their babies is mocking in the sense that it satirizes people who make absurd claims in the name of solving a problem. As a writer, Swift satirizes himself by making claims of lack of economic gains from his altruistic works.
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Satire of a Modest Proposal
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Irony is a beautiful technique exercised to convey a message or call a certain group of people to action. This rhetorical skill is artfully used by Jonathan Swift in his pamphlet “A Modest Proposal.” The main argument for this mordantly ironic essay is to capture the attention of a disconnected and indifferent audience. Swift makes his point by stringing together a dreadfully twisted set of morally untenable positions in order to cast blame and aspersions on his intended audience. Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” employs despicably vivid satire to call for change in a world of abuse and misfortune.
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Satire
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“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own” (Swift). Such beholders, as Jonathan Swift astutely emphasizes, are intended, through guidance of satiric narrative, to recognize social or political plights. In some satires, as in Swift’s own A Modest Proposal, the use of absurd, blatant exaggeration is intended to capture an indolent audience’s attention regarding the social state of the poor. Yet even in such a direct satire, there exists another layer of meaning. In regards to A Modest Proposal, the interchange between the voice of the proposer and Swift’s voice introduces another medium of criticism, as well as the opportunity for readers to reflect on how well they may fit the proposer’s persona. In such as case, the satire exists on multiple levels of meaning—not only offering conclusions about moral problems, but also allowing the audience to an interpretation of their place among the criticism.
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A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

In a Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, the main objective was to draw