A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

562 Words2 Pages

Malcolm Meares
World Literature II
Thursday 8 AM

"A Indecent Proposal, Not Modest" Jonathan Swift was ahead of his time. Most of his stories are satirical and meant to be funny, but were harshly chastised as being a actual idea in the eyes of the general public. His strengths, in writing terms, are irony, overstatement, and good ol' sarcasm. His mannerisms are a expressionistic and simple, to say the least. Every sentence trickles instead of flowing. A Modest Proposal is a attention grabber. It, at first, make the reader think that Swift is legit about selling children. Later on they realize he is addressing a problem in Ireland, that is a famine, and sneakily taking a jab at the English across the pond. In modern times, Swift is considered a rhetorical genius in his writing not to mention getting a point across. England tried to solve many of Ireland's problems, but failed in the most miserable way. They made it worse in fact. A Modest Proposal is a perfect example of how a book can be judged by the cover. …show more content…

What a simple yet effective word for any situation. Swift uses it to convoy that the Irish should be treated better by the English. It is painfully amusing while all the matter powerful. Apparently, the Irish should not treated as mindless animals, yet compared to them. The children should be bought and dressed hot from the knife. The same is for roasting pigs. Also, as a positive "development", Swift lists the diseases, famine, and horrid living conditions as a plus to be cheerful. In modern times a example of irony, this case verbal, is the expression "it's no big deal, my dad just died". That is a big deal to anybody and everybody. The title itself is ironic as Swift tries to play his idea off as "humble", yet in reality, is one that would never work. His methods, to some, are compared to

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