A Modest Proposal
I believe that Swift wants the reader to view the speaker as a caring and compassionate man with the simple interest of solving of problem in his country because he is just that patriotic about his country and wants to see it prosper. In the first couple of paragraphs, it sounds as if he really wants to make a proposal that will change Ireland forever and will definitely help it economically until there is an unexpected change of events, tone and even idea and at about paragraph 9 is where the real outrages ideas come in.
Swifts diction to me sounds kind of cold and harsh because it doesn't exactly sound like he likes the things hes describing, kind of like when you don't like someone and you refer to them as “girl,” “boy,” or “that person.” First, instead of starting of with saying “women” he says “the female sex” as if it was a sort of martain species. What had really caught my attention was in paragraph 5 where the abortions, to him, where “voluntary” abortions came into play, which if you think about it, he’s kind of like mocking this voluntary abortion thing because
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Any sensitive reader could pick up in the sarcasm in Swifts tone here because it goes from “Let no one judge me until they have come up with a better plan than me” to “I have this vain and cruel thought that I have ‘fortunately’ come upon, *wink* *wink.*
The final paragraph of the essay contributes heavily to his rhetorical purpose because of the simple fact that he excludes himself from his own proposal and sparking some emotion in the reader. At this point, after he excuses himself, it is to have the reader say something along the lines of, “You just made this proposal.. Your proposal.. And YOU the one who made it, won't even participate. What the heck
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.
In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift does not blame everything on the people of Ireland. In fact, he says that the people, politicians, and English were all at fault for the horrendous state the country faced. One annoyance Swift states is that the poor infants, if they survive their childhood years, would “leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain” or “they would sell themselves to the Barbados,” as indentured servants (Swift). He suggests that the lack of nationalism and pride in their country has led citizens to just leave instead of trying to fix the problem leading to the country 's
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.
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 obvious lack of ethics and morals in this passage cements that this essay is satirical and should not be understood as a legitimate solution to the starvation issue. He later listed the advantages of a system that breeds children for food, these advantages are all very unethical simply based off the fact that they are benefits of eating infants. Swift mentioned ideas including the murder of Catholic babies, eating humans as a fun custom, and giving the poor something of value (their own children). His use of ethos shows the audience that the essay is satirical and emphasizes the extreme ridiculousness of his ideas. Swift’s use of these three devices created a captivating and somewhat humorous satire.
In dehumanizing the poor, Swift describes their pitiful lives, and thus paints a graphic humane picture of their condition, driving his main point, and hammering the "condemning social statement" into the reader. Swift goes beyond just describing the socioeconomic distance between the aristocracy and the poor. He goes beyond showing the deplorable state of the country. Swift clearly shows the ludicrous nature of the society in which he lived, the feudal system, religious conflicts, the lack of social mobility, the aristocracy, and overpopulation. In condemning Catholics, he condemns the Irish.
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.
In Swift’s satirical essay he stated the main issue to be the hunger and starvation of Irish country and their lack of money to support oneself. He said the complication was they themselves don’t have food, to many families in poverty, and that the Englishman took their land and charging high prices for rent. Swift makes this argument because he too is an Irish men and he struggles to see his fellow men parish in the streets. He desires his people to stand up against England and take back what’s theirs. He argues that the Irish...
Swift establishes these tones as his proposal of killing impoverished infants through the shock of this idea and by exaggerating the viability of this argument which causes his proposal to evoke laughter. To aid in the creation of tone Swift uses understatement which helps to add subtlety to a crazy idea which makes the argument, of killing babies, more accessible and relatable to the audience. It is a sarcastic tone as he clearly knows that this is a crazy idea. However there is still a sense of seriousness in his tone as it is about poverty and the living conditions of the Irish. “nor offer to beat or kick them (as is to frequent a practice) for fear of miscarriage” appealing to the emotions of the reader and also showing how domestic violence is an issue within Ireland. Prior to this quote Swift also establishes a likeness in the treatment of animals and the treatment that the Irish have received. This shows the fact that while Swift is making jokes and being satirical he still recognizes the issues faced by the Irish community as he stops cracking all these jokes to recognize the fact that many women are abused by their husbands. There are several tones that are working together (the sarcasm as evidenced by the preparation and uses of infants create a comical tone and serious tones like the women facing abuse) to make the argument less harsh and angry which makes people more receptive to his ideas but also draws a reader in to later reveal a sadness and shock that makes a reader
In the first 7 paragraphs, Swift is using qualification. He starts of by saying “female sex” rather than saying women. This promptly reveals a clinical and technical perspective. This statement is also dehumanizing because it is very offensive to women. It makes them sound more like a material in a lab rather than a human being. He then talks about the problem of poverty through numbers, which reveals his overall qualification. He questions the “computation” of “projectors” which continues his technical diction. In the fourth paragraph he refers to a mom as a “dam” which could imply domestic animals. Paragraph 6 provides a model of exposition, supplying evidence and logical explanations. He then discusses some of the costs to sell children into slavery. Through all of the examples that were just provided, it shows the qualification through his
Swift begins his argument by stating his view on the situation and displaying his annoyance. He states, "It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country when they see the streets, roads, and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms" (Swift 1). He uses melancholic imagery for the readers to sympathize with the suffering children and to understand their situation. Similarly, Swift displays his disgust for the wealthy by stating that "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… which would move tears in the most savage and inhumane beast" (1). He talks about abortion and shows how ghastly and disheartening the practice is. Clearly, Swift makes use of pathos to slowly gain the reader’s confidence in preparation for his appalling proposal. He knows that many will be emotionally affected by his proposal because no one would want their own c...
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...
...lready devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.” He tried to make the parents realize that the present they are living in will become the future of their children. Swift’s use of these appeals helped his audience to take such a ridiculous proposal as something serious. If one could see through the veil created by all the sarcasm and satirical diction they would see a man who only wants to aid his nation in its time of need
The issue is that there is a growing number of poor and starving women and children living on the streets of Ireland that are a burden to the public and the country. The context is that these homeless and starving women and children are left to fend for themselves on the streets. Jonathan Swift is making the argument from the point of a concerned citizen who has spent years among the poor in Ireland studying the situation and trying to come up with a solution. Johnathan Swift used the example that those who visit Ireland and see the streets crowded with women and children that are beggars conclude that Ireland is a very poor, overpopulated country full of beggars and that they look down upon their country that is in such poor shape. His bias is that as a citizen living in Ireland, he does not want to be looked down upon by other countries. His targeted audience seems to be the citizens of the country and those in higher up positions who ...
As Swift speaks about the situation he uses poignant words which allude to his satirical