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A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Devices

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Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a satire which is a type of a persuasive writing. Satire is a use of irony or humor to expose or criticize people’s bad habits or vices. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift wrote it to surprise English society to awareness of England’s unfair policies against Irish. Swift uses persuasive appeals or techniques to convince the reader that England didn’t care about the Irish at all. It was brutal and merciless. These techniques logical appeals, pathos that is also known as emotional appeals, and ethos that is also known as ethical appeals. Swift uses verbal irony in his essay. “It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through the great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the 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.” (lines 1-5) The irony is he’s pretending to be worried about them. In reality, he doesn’t even see the humans poor, he doesn’t care about their unfortunate …show more content…

“A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer a refinement upon my scheme.” (lines 133-135) Swift wants the readers to be convinced that he is a worthy person. Ethos means the use of details that will convince readers that the writer is fair and trustworthy. Another example is, “...I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich.” (lines 312-317) Swift pointed out the benefits of his proposal. Such as being good for the public, advance trade, provide for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. It makes him a fair person to tell the readers his benefits of his

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