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Rhetorical Analysis Essay: A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

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Rhetorical Analysis Essay: A Modest Proposal Dr. Jonathan Swift places himself as a villain who is willing to do evil deeds to answer hard questions. What pushes Swift to write the essay “A Modest Proposal” is Ireland's economic and social problems. In this satirical essay Swift highlights the problems in Ireland and gives a sarcastic solution to make people feel guilt. Swift’s use of dehumanizing language is used to make the reader oppose Swift’s modest proposal. For example on page 2 Swift says “so as to render them plump, and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends.” statements like this make Swift’s proposal even more outrageous. This is a sarcastic attempt by Swift to make the proposal look attractive, but his statement has an underlying meaning of making the idea look repulsive. Additionally on page 2 Swift states “That a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food.” Swift’s use of food imagery is an attempt to lighten the mood but gives off a abhorrent effect. This is exactly what Swift wants; Swift starts the sentence by saying, “a young healthy child well …show more content…

For instance when Swift says on page 1 “But my intention is very fat from being confined to provide only for the children of professed beggars.” The persona Swift puts on in the introduction is a persona of a goodhearted person of society. This use of this specific persona contributes to the suspense towards the reveal of the proposal. A shift in Swift’s persona can be found on page 2 “that a young healthy child well nursed, is at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food.” This statement shows that Swift has put on a new persona. The new persona Swift puts on is a cold-hearted person who gives mixed messages. The personas Swift puts on make his modest proposal seem more

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