Jonathan Swift is the speaker in the story, A Modest Proposal. He is also the author of many other books and stories. In the text of A Modest Proposal, Swift addresses what he believes to be a big issue in the magnificent country of Ireland, Dublin to be exact. Therefore, he proposes a solution to the problem, however, the solution is not what we would call humane, orthodox, reasonable, or even one that we would consider performing today. Swift wrote this piece for anyone that can read and comprehend what the text implies. 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? The w...
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Show MoreSarcasm and Irony in Swift's Modest Proposal. In his lengthy literary career, Jonathan Swift wrote many stories that used a broad range of voices that were used to make compelling personal statements. For example, Swift, A Modest Proposal, is often heralded as his best use of both sarcasm and irony. Yet taking into account the persona of Swift, as well as the period in which it was written, one can prove that through that same use of sarcasm and irony, this proposal is actually written to entertain the upper-class.
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.
When Johnathan Swift wrote this he wanted to get people to realize that there was a big problem in Ireland and that the Irish needed to fix it. So he suggested an over the top proposal that outraged many people into finding a better way to fix it. Which solidifies the fact that Jonathan Swift in a modest proposal tried to get his audience to see the problem in Ireland by taking the problem, providing an inhumane way to fix it and then using rhetorical devices to bring out people’s emotions.
A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, is a satirical pamphlet that was published to the public in 1729. Its purpose was to shock the citizens of Ireland with an appalling solution to their economic troubles at the time. Swift’s purpose for A Modest Proposal was to present a horrific solution for an ever growing problem in Ireland. He adopts an aloof but eerily serious tone to grab the attention of the lower and middle class.
While the speaker’s proposal to put children on the menu to solve the Irish people’s destitution is not to be taken literally, Swift’s underlying message – a criticism of society and the mistreatment of one class of human beings by another – is.
In 1729 Ireland was subject to English control, which resulted in the Irish facing famine and poverty. Jonathan Swift was of English decent, yet lived in Ireland, which he considered himself to be a loyal citizen to. Swift cared deeply for Ireland and its people, which motivated him to write his satirical piece, “A Modest Proposal,” addressing in full, the issues Ireland faced. Swift’s purpose was not solely to call attention to these issues, but inspire both the Irish and English to bring an end to the suffering at hand.
In this message by Jonathan Swift, he comes up with a brilliant idea to boost the economy and eliminate the burden of feeding hungry mouths of the poor Irish folk’s children, by selling and cooking their children like live stock. The author presents the argument with a simple, easy and cost efficient solution to the underlying problem. Swift ultimately presents that eating the Irish’s babies would solve the poor catholic Irish parent’s problem and would also be beneficial to the public as well. The author also collected data about how many children could to be sold by their weight and price, and the projected consumption patterns. ----Add more!!maybe?
Swift’s article “The Modest Proposal” was a well written informative article on what happens to many poor families in Ireland and many other possible places in the world, and what extremes they go to survive. The article was interesting and affected you emotions very well. “The Modest Proposal” was a very well written article.
Swift wants his readers to interpret his speaker as a kindhearted, sensible gentleman with a sincere concern for resolving problems for the Irish people. In the first eight paragraphs, the reader meets an affectionate man with precise insight into the predicament he will shortly address. By doing this, the speaker establishes himself up as someone who would not make an outrageous proposition. This makes his words even more effective.
Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal is a shocking satire that discusses the dire poverty in Ireland. It says if one is born poor they will stay that way unless society puts them to use. Children are food to be eaten. In an economic slump children will be used to feed and clothe Ireland’s population. Swift’s purpose for writing A Modest Proposal was to call attention to the exploiting and oppressing by the English to the Irish. He wanted to shock his readers by proposing his “modest” proposal. He presents selling babies as food to reduce overpopulation. This causes the reader to disregard this suggestion. Swift wanted to raise awareness on the issue that was haunting Ireland. Throughout A Modest Proposal, Swift effectively uses verbal irony, diction, and sentence structure to achieve his purpose of making people realize that there are problems in society that needed to be handled in a reasonable manner. He also wanted to help advance the country’s trade, provide for infants, relieve the poor and help the rich. Swift ultimately wanted to get people thinking about actual solutions that could solve their current problems.
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a classic piece of satire written in an attempt to draw attention to a serious problem. He does extremely well in providing proof that his solution will be beneficial and instructions as to how it would be implemented. Overall, Swift wrote this proposal to get the people of Ireland to take their predicament seriously and inspire people to come up with solutions that are sincere and will have a lasting and uplifting effect on the country.
A “Modest Proposal” is written by a man who had been exiled from England and forced to live among Irish citizens for many years during which he observed major problems in Ireland that needed a solution. The writer of this piece is Jonathan Swift, and in his proposal, “The Modest Proposal,” Swift purpose is to offer a possible solution to the growing problem of the homeless and poverty stricken women and children on the streets of Ireland. Swift adopts a caring tone in order to make his proposal sound reasonable to his audience, trying to convince them that he truly cares about the problems facing Ireland’s poor and that making the children of the poor readily available to the rich for entertainment and as a source of food would solve both the economic and social problems facing Ireland.
In conclusion, “A Modest Proposal” is a pamphlet by Jonathan Swift with disturbing fantasy and rhetorical irony written on Ireland. In form and tone it looks like a "conventional philanthropic appeal to solve Ireland's economic crisis, but Swift's anonymous speaker suggests a barbarous plan, to cannibalize the nation's children" (An Analysis). The English is eating away the Irish in a never ending process. That process is the act of the oppressor upon the
He proclaims that “whoever could find out a fire, cheap and easy method of making these children” useful “would deserve so well of the public” like a statue. (Line 12-13 Swift). This overstatement of the situation convinces Swift’s audience that this situation is such a burden to society, and the elimination of such scenario would be a present to every citizen; thus, by connecting his audience together under a single issue, the audience would more likely agree with Swift’s upcoming proposal since they expect a revolutionary proposal. Additionally, Swift bombarded his audience with enormous, numerical figures that not only exposes the scale of useless children in the country but also amplifies his apparent knowledge and intelligence. He apparently calculates that are a “hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born”, which subtracts one hundred thousand children who either die prematurely or reside in a fulfilled setting. (Lines 34-40 Swift). These statistical figures exemplifies the narrator’s shrewd nature and the narrator’s keen research; the audience would more likely give attention to Swift since he demonstrates his willingness to research and brianstorm critically about the issue and his upcoming solution. Both of these instances, in general, bolsters the audience’s expectation for a reasoned solution, which causes Swift’s outrageous proposal to be even more
The idea of eating all the youth in the country is obviously self-defeating and is not being seriously suggested by the writer. He is simply trying to show how desperate the lower class is in Ireland. Swift introduces the reforms he is actually suggesting, taxing absentee landlords, of encouraging the domestic economy by buying Irish goods, of discouraging pride, vanity, idleness, by dismissing them in his essay by saying that they are impractical. However, these reforms greatly differ from his ?modest proposal? because instead of the poor sacrificing their children, it would involve the rich sacrificing some of their luxuries. He is trying to point out the fact that reforms that would be practical and beneficial to the people of Ireland are being overlooked for the convenience of the rich.