IRONIC SOCIAL TREND: CRIMINLIZING POVERTY
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.
For example, suppose you open your front door to a knock, and before you stands Kevin, a person you find most tedious, obnoxious, and boring. With a warm smile, you then look Kevin in the eyes and say, “Well hello, Kevin. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. Please come in. I can always count on you for an insightful, interesting, and entertaining conversation. Please have a seat. I’ll get us some cold beverages. Now I will have to step out to Antarctica for a few moments to get ice cubes, but I will be back in a flash.”
That’s an example of irony. Got it?
WHEN IRONY WAS IRONY
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The full title of the original piece is, "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick." In that essay, Swift ironically argued that children from poor Irish families should be purchased at the age of one year, fattened for commercial sale, and then marketed as live meat to wealthy landowners. This would control the population, give poor Irish families a source of additional revenue, suppress acts of infanticide and abortion, and provide culinary adventure to the wealthy. By pushing to such extremes the indifference and cruelty that he actually witnessed, Swift created an enduring essay that serves as an historical indictment of English rule in
When Swift proposes the eating of the babies, this goes against all Roman Catholic theology and basically diminishes it. This however is good, mostly because they are taking over our nation and our jobs. While yes, the idea of eating the babies is bad, think about the amount of live stock that we could replenish if everyone just eats a couple of their least favorite kids under the age of 1. If the live stock replenishes that means the market for it will go up, in return boosting the economy market overall. This would solve the economic crisis and eventually the poverty crisis in our beloved country of Ireland.
In “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, there are many disturbing remarks that make the readers uncomfortable. The purpose of his essay was to try to make the Irish people open their eyes so that they would take better care of themselves. At this period, the Irish politicians were corrupt and the people were not willing to fight to regain their country from the recent occupation of Ireland by England. He used the idea of eating the yearling children of poor families in order to accentuate the idea that the only people the wealthy men of Ireland cared about was themselves, and not the lives of the Irish citizens. The author uses logos to his advantage in order to show the overall amount of people that are in poverty and how they would be able
In fact, he refers to “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”(17). As a result, Swift shows that even the most patriotic person to both Ireland and Britain (since Ireland was under British control at the time) realizes that within this current situation of poverty, this proposal is a solution and can be acted out in many different
Mohammed Ismail AP Language Composition Lyons, William December 9, 2014 Rhetorical Devices Used in Jonathan Swifts Modest Proposal The essay Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift perhaps known better for his novel Gulliver’s travels wrote this piece, because during his time he addressed solutions to many contemporary social issues by writing them on pamphlets. Swift’s main purpose in writing this essay is to avert children from being less of a problem to their parents and the public. The author tries not addressing his subject directly, children, instead Swift introduces the concept of a market, livestock, breeders, etc., to address the overcrowding and poverty stricken children in Dublin, Ireland.
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.
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is the narrative of a man named Montresor who seeks vengeance against a man named Fortunato. Fortunato insults Montresor. Next, Montresor meet Fortunato at a carnival, eventually luring him into the catacombs of his home to bury Fortunato alive. Moreover, different types of irony are portrayed in this short story. Dramatic irony consists of the character in the story knowing less about his or her situation than the reader.
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a very interesting take on how the Irish government should cure the famine that the country was then facing. However, the entire proposal was completely bizarre, and the whole point of the essay was to bring attention to the idea that they needed a solution to the all the problems they were experiencing but the proposal was definitely not it. He even had a strongly developed plan as to how his proposal would work which makes the reader feel as if he is serious about selling children, eating them, and using their skins as a fashion accessory; however, ultimately this proposal was not his true goal. Jonathan Swift skillfully used different styles of writing, such as imagery and irony, to show why the
1729, a Papist infected Ireland was being devoured by the taxes that the British placed on them. The taxes were turning into what once was a glorious place into ruins. Jonathan Swift, an Englishman and Irish sympathizer, realized that someone had to do something to wake up the British. This lead to the creation of A Modest Proposal, a pamphlet heavy with irony and juvenalian satire, which was how Jonathan Swift planned on compelling the British to do something about the poor situation in Ireland. His use of rhetorical devices gets his point across in an effective and powerful way.
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a very interesting take on how the Irish government should cure the famine that the country was then facing. However, the entire proposal was completely bizarre, and the whole point of the essay was to bring attention to the idea that they needed a solution to the all the problems they were experiencing but the proposal was definitely not it. He even had a strongly developed plan as to how his proposal would work which makes the reader feel as if he is serious about selling children, eating them, and/or using their skins as a fashion accessory; however, ultimately this proposal is not his true goal. Jonathon Swift skillfully used different styles of writing, such as imagery and irony, to show why the Irish should sell their children to the rich to eat.
Swift’s goal was to gather the underprivileged children and ship them off to rich landowners who could afford
While the poor people of Ireland continue to breed, the rich will have elaborate feasts and dinner parties with the meat of peasant’s children. The idea of the poor raising food for the rich as a solution to poverty is ludicrous as well as highly ironic. The rich will continue to enjoy the luxuries of the upper class such as wealth, power, and fine dining, while the peasants raise their meat for them. The upper class is undoubtedly the British that rule over Ireland, and by eating their oppressed they show their power and superiority. Swift is commenting that British control in Ireland is as treacherous as people eating their own babies as means to survive.
Families in Ireland were living in very poor conditions; Swift came up with an idea to make the young, hungry, children of Ireland, who have their whole life ahead of them if they could escape from the poverty stricken Ireland, very valuable members of society. “sound and useful members of the commonwealth" (Swift, 1729). Swift proposes to feed the starving new-borns to the more wealthy and prestigious people in Ireland. He felt it was an idea that would not only solve hunger problems, but over population too and leading to families having a little more disposable income. Swift gives exact information on how many children should be sold to the meat market and how they should be cooked, he thinks he has it all worked out.
“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it. ”-Frank A. Clark (Psychology Today). A man named Jonathan Swift saw many problems in his government and society. He realized it needed to be fixed. Swift’s strong beliefs pushed him to write satire to try and help Ireland.
The absurd idea of eating children was never Swift real intention. Swift 's real views about how to relieve poverty included solutions such as not purchasing foreign products, taxing English landlords who didn 't live on their Irish land, teaching landlords to have mercy toward their tenants and learning how to love their country. I think his policies involving English landlords leaning to have mercy towards their tenants and paying taxes for not living on their land
Critical Analysis of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” In the work entitled “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the theme of social injustice is enhanced by the use of verbal irony to convey a charged message. The ambiguous title and introduction to Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece does little to prepare the reader for shocking content revealed later in the text. Swift’s work is powerful, poignant and persuasive because it strikes at the heart of the modern readers ethics, as it likely would have done for the author’s contemporary audiences. Jonathan Swift’s 1729 masterpiece is a satirical metaphor centered around the pervasive assertion, “the English are devouring the Irish.” Jonathan Swift gives a more comprehensive exordium concerning his work stating that is it “a modest proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents and country, and for making them beneficial to the public (Swift 1199).