A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” examines the proposal of consuming human flesh in order to solve the dilemma of the Potato Famine, in which drought was exacerbated by crop failures, and this tribulation of the Irish was largely snubbed by English landowners. His ironic persona (speaker), is one of confidence, reason, and worth. In addition, this persona presents a multitude of rhetorical strategies to prepare the audience for this overly deranged proposal, ranging from juxtapositions, to using emotion, reason, and credibility, to persuade the reader. Therefore, the ironic persona in “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift illustrates a wide assortment of rhetorical devices to convey the solution to the Potato Famine, and more broadly, Swift intended this ironic platform to serve as an expository of the avarice of landowners and their gain for self-interest.

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is an essay that intends to draw awareness to the downfall of the Irishmen and motivate readers to find a feasible solution to the problem. The essay was written in a satirical way that has been able to engage readers to read more on the topic and the essay themselves (Smith, 2011). Swift was able to establish a "love-hate" relationship with readers due to being very sympathetic towards the Irishmen in the first part of the essay (Lovin, n.d.). This was able to make readers appreciate the author for his emotions towards the Irishmen. But then, in the latter parts, the author becomes unsympathetic and directed attention more towards the problems that the society faced at the time. His disapproval of Ireland’s

What was the point of writing the essay “A Modest Proposal?” Jonathan Swift wrote this essay to describe the poverty issue of Ireland in 1729. During this time many of the people of Ireland that could not support the raising of their children so they was sold for money. In “A Modest Proposal” the narrator describes his proposal and attitude while Swift calls for a change of the conditions in Ireland while using shocking and exaggerated statements.

Johnathon Swift is often referred to as one of the most unconcealed satirical writers of the eighteenth century. Using irony and exaggeration in his writings, he makes it more evidently the extremes he would take to give his satirical views of society across to his readers. In what many would call one of Swift’s most bazar essays “A Modest Proposal,” he would show just how far he was willing to do so. In his own remarks on Swifts proposal C.J Rawson commented, “The form of title is that of many 'modest proposals ' and 'humble petitions ' which appeared in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 'dealing with economic problems, particularly with problems concerning population, labor, unemployment, and poverty” (2). Swift

In the seventh hundredth, Irish face an economic depression and out control population growth. Jonathan Swift saw that the country of Ireland was going to suffer the greatest economic depression because at every corner in Ireland, he would see a woman bagging for money and some woman had children with them. He decide to propose a modest proposal to how society can end poverty in Ireland. Swift believed in selling children to the rich people and ending poverty for the commonwealth.

Johnathan Swift, a clergyman and a political writer for the Whig Party, wrote the problem/ solution essay, “A Modest Proposal.” Swift has been called the greatest satirist in the English language. “A Modest Proposal” is a prime example of satire because satire is using cutting humor or irony to ridicule or make fun of the vices or mistakes of a person or country. Swift decided to use satire because if he made his proposal legitimate, people would not take it seriously. At the time this essay was written, people were indifferent, so Swift took their indifference and wrote “A Modest Proposal.” The purpose of Swift writing this essay was to bring social justice for the Irish. “A Modest Proposal” begins by deploring the sad fate of the poverty-stricken

When I was in high school, my English class took home the assignment to write an ironic essay. Irony, for those a bit rusty on their literary terminology, is the use of words and imagery in a way that conveys a meaning quite the opposite of the meaning that those images and words would seem to convey literally.

Cat Stevens says, “A person who steals bread during a famine is not treated as a thief.” This situation appears in A Modest Proposal, a satirical essay, written by Dr. Jonathan Swift during the Irish famine in 1729. In this paper, Dr. Swift proposed to eat children as a way to solve the famine and overpopulation. However, Dr. Swift wrote the paper as a way to motivate the lazy Irish to fix their problems. In this essay, Dr. Swift ridicules the Irish with the use of Irony and Sarcasm, in hopes that they will help the poor, suffering souls.

Jonathan Swift’s satirical political essay A Modest Proposal, published in 1729, addresses the issue of Ireland’s current economic plight, by addressing the various internal and external, social and individual, causes that have engendered it, by means of relying upon satire. In particular, on the one hand, Swift presents Ireland’s economic quagmire as deriving from its own “self-destructive tendencies” (Sherman 2431), specifically the individual character of the Irish people, as well as its social institutions, especially the Church. Also, on the other hand, he attributes the country’s stagnated domestic economy to external sources, namely England, in the form of absentee landlords, which is a socioeconomic issue that implicates power inequalities

Satirist, Jonathan Swift in his essay, “A Modest Proposal”, argues that there needs to be a change in the economy in order to reduce and fix the problems with the amount of poor in Ireland. He develops his claim by first bringing up the number of poor children and beggar mothers, then giving his analysis of the problem, then giving his sarcastic plan of child farming in order to give these poor children a usefulness to everyone, and finally stating that he is not so inclined to his own plan that he is willing to hear the plan of others that will resolve the issue. Swift's purpose is to bring about change with his satire in order resolve the issue of the poor and hungry in Ireland. He creates a sarcastic and satirical tone for everyone in Ireland

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is essentially a satire that addressed the issue of the Irish potato famine and poverty in general in the United Kingdom. He essentially proposes that famine and poverty could be reduced all while generating revenue by selling babies as food. Of course he is not serious however, as he proposes several rational alternatives towards the end of the proposal such as imposing a tax of the upper class that would help feed an clothe homeless people which it is clear that his writing has the probable intent of seeking attention from the crown to assist in these objectives. Swift 's ultimate purpose is to garner attention to the issue of poverty and hunger by shocking the reader with an appalling idea then appealing

Supply did little to meet demand, so students regularly plundered graves in the name of learning. Fortunately for students of literature there is no need to go to such macabre extremes in order to further knowledge in their specialist field. Students of English Literature need only burgle the bank of literary treasures left to us by esteemed authors. One of these authors is Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), writer, poet and Dean of St Patrick’s, Dublin. Amongst the gems Swift left for dissection by literature students, is an essay published as a pamphlet in 1729 called A Modest Proposal. Through analysis of the text it becomes apparent that A Modest Proposal is a valuable piece of literature for study by an English Literature student. When first published it caused some minor ripples but the true value of A Modest Proposal, has been realised in later years and is now acknowledged as one of the greatest works of satire in the English language. By studying Swift’s life, the themes and characters he introduces into this work and the literary approach he adopts, it will become clear why this essay is of great value to the student of English

When a social challenge begins to face a country, it tends to have a negative effect on the individuals residing there. This exact situation happened to Dublin, Ireland during the early 1700s, where poverty was the country’s current downfall. Jonathan Swift, a current resident of the country, attempts to help them recover by writing a proposal to England officials in hopes that it will get them to do something about the situation. When the England officials didn’t take notice of his proposals, Swift decided to take a different, satiric route in which would be an extremely, immodest proclamation. “A Modest Proposal” was a written proclamation created by Jonathan Swift that tries to handle the issue of poverty through an explicit, articulated scheme. Swift uses satirical irony accompanied with ethos, logos, and pathos to create a gruesome but compelling argument of poverty, while also steadily unraveling the actual situation involving Ireland’s current economic struggles to the reader. While justifying his proposal, Swift uses a mellow tone to further support that his scheme could’ve been an actual

A Modest Proposal is a satirical work by Jonathan Swift aimed at skewering English reactions to the then-contemporary issues of poverty and famine in Ireland. It revolves around a detailed argument that the problems of poverty, famine, overpopulation and many other social issues could be solved by selling one year old Irish children to be cooked and eaten dressed “hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs” at English dinner tables (Swift, p.386). It was written in the early 18th century when Ireland was effectively an English colony and had been ruled as such for centuries. Colonialism is never benevolent, and under the English yoke poverty and its attendant social evils ran rampant among the Irish, especially Irish Catholics. Jonathan Swift

One hundred years after Swift penned A Modest Proposal the problem of grave robbing was rife in Scotland. Any cemetery in proximity to a University town was regularly plundered for fresh corpses. It was reported that “the persons interred did not remain in their graves above a night” (Rev. W. Fleming, 1821). There was a huge demand for dead bodies for medical students to dissect. Supply did little to meet demand, so students regularly plundered graves in the name of learning. Fortunately for students of literature there is no need to go to such macabre extremes in order to further knowledge in their specialist field. Students of English Literature need only burgle the bank of literary treasures left to us by esteemed authors. One of these authors is Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), writer, poet and Dean of St Patrick’s, Dublin. Amongst the gems Swift left for dissection by literature students, is an essay published as a pamphlet in 1729 called A Modest Proposal. Through analysis of the