A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

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In his satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift discusses the poverty that saw all over Ireland in the 1720’s. In addition he talks about the immense amount of children and adults that littered the streets. Swift wrote this proposal in order to expose this problem to the world. He wanted people to know why this was a problem and how it became a problem. He proceeds to give ridiculous solutions so when he discusses real solutions they sound more reasonable and possible. He chose to use a sarcastic tone to make the ridiculous solutions sound even more out of this world and minimize the doubts that would be created by the other more reasonable solutions.
As stated earlier, the issue of Jonathan Swift’s proposal is the rash and sweeping poverty in Ireland that is causing people to lose their homes and starve. What truly hurt Swift about this are the starving children, given that he is a father, and to parents seeing children suffering is unimaginable. This all takes place while he is living in Ireland and sees these sad events happening all around him. In the essay he says, “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars…” Swift makes this argument because he is a citizen of Ireland and Irish born. He is a father and an intellectual. He can see the suffering that is engulfing his homeland and he wants it to stop. He wants to help his people and does not care whom it affects, clearly showing a bias towards the Irish people. His key ideal throughout the entire essay is that the poverty in Ireland must end through any means necessary, even if that would mean cannibalism. He states this by presenting the...

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... things that Jonathan Swift should have considered when he originally wrote this proposal.
All in all, Swift crafted a pretty good proposal whit an outrageous idea. He used rhetorical appeals to connect with his audience on a personal level. He made the people who read this essay truly feel pity for those who were suffering through such hard times. He made us feel for the young children who are out on the streets begging and starving all across the nation. Although this essay does suffer due to the fact that Swift does not address the opposing view of the argument which includes the psychological damage caused by the removal of children from their mothers. To conclude, Swift created a masterpiece to show the poverty that struck the Irish people during the 1700’s and serves as an inspirational piece to inspire us all to get out from under poverty and move forward.

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