A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

“ A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from being a Burden on their Parents or Country, and For Making them beneficial to the public.” By Jonathan Swift was published in a pamphlet in 1729. The argument is about the problems of the Poor of Ireland and how Swift proposed an fix to help them and the economy. Swift uses satire to get his point across. His thesis is “it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provided for them in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the fedding and partly yo yhe clothing of mnay thousands.” (610)

My thesis is that I belive that Swift’s argument using satire and irony to get his point across is effective. His clever uses of irony and witty comments towars the ways of England against the poor o Ireland is useful in getting his point across. He uses sarcasm and wit to show how oppressed the Catholic peasant s of Ireland ar etearted bu the English.

In his essay Swift has the persona of an economist who suggest how to get rid of poverty and overpopulation in Ireland that children of the poor at the age of one should be sold and as food.

As a result of the population will decrease but also there will be an icrease of income for the poor by selling their children. It is an ironic attempt to find a way to “covert[ing] the starving children of Ireland into being useful to society” . There are many children in Ireland living in pverty because their parents are too poor to keep them fed. Swift provides details of how the children will be fatten until the age of one and be sold providing income to their poor mothers. He provides how many servings a child might provide and how the wealthy can also use their skin for boots and gloves like leather. The childen would be considered a delicacy by both IEnglish and Ireland

landlords.
His sature rallies on as he provdes more and more examples of how beneficial this proposals would be to Ireland and England. Swift first propes this in “ a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed roasted, baked, or bloiled”
This essay didn’t have many weak points….’
The strengths of Swifts essay is that he uses satire and sarcasm effectively to get his point across. He uses his sature ot bring attention to the way the poverty in Ireland is being treated. The Irish are taking abuse from the English rather than taking action. His irony is very well developed. In the end of the essay by wiritng that people should use this proposal and not to suggest other solutions like taxing landlords, or encouraging the domestic economy to buy Irish goods. He exaggerates and justifies his argument bu using satirical irony and sarcasm. Swifts whole purpose was to alert the world of Irelands terrible conditions and he did successfully using irony.
I think that Jonathan Swifts essay “A Modern Proposal” was effective in getting its point across and succefully alerting England and Ireland of of the poor conditions that were being faced by the poor in Ireland.