Swift Writing Assignment Angelica Borges pd. 2
In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift’s cold tone and sarcastic and ironic diction directed to his audience supports his claim that the British are devouring the Irish in their economic and social crisis, and that Ireland should take ownership of their own nation. He accomplishes his purpose by making the British and Irish aware of the severity of their problems, and that they need to take several steps to fix it. His satiristic style is extremely effective in persuading his power hungry audience because he exaggerates by including critical metaphors and imagery of having to eat the children of Ireland as a solution to their immense problem.
Right off the bat, Swift is being ironic by titling his passage “A modest proposal”. He was indeed not being modest whatsoever, even though his rationale behind the irony was in fact modest. He introduces his proposal with the appeal of pathos when he illustrates the poor conditions in which the Irish women are in when they have a child who will end up being another failure to the Irish society. By doing so, he already has the readers’ attention by effecting their emotions and formulating a sort of bias in their thoughts of the situation. Soon after he begins his proposal by saying “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boyled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or ragoust.” (pgph 9) From his narrator point of view, his claim is that in order to improve the Irish situation, they should farm and market babies, and eventually even preteens. He uses this outrageous proposal as a way to show that even though the problems being faced in Ireland aren’t as severe as actually eating children, they do somehow have the same sort of effect and that if it keeps up, the situation will most likely be even worse.
The Essay on Modest Proposal Irish Swift Persona
"A Modest Proposal' By Swift Essay, Research"A Modest Proposal' By Swift "A Modest Proposal' was a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift depicting the horrific conditions of Ireland and the lives of the Irish people in 1729. The author portrays and attacks the cruel and unjust oppression of Ireland by its oppressor, the mighty English and ridicules the Irish people at the same time. However, ...
During the early 1700’s, Ireland was under the control of the British. Their economy, government, and even their religion was altered by the British rule. During the time in Ireland there was famine, fuel shortages and emigration. These problems were causing the Irish to lose control of their identity as a whole. Swift’s use of satire in his writing gave an example of how bad the problems were in Ireland and that it eventually came close to actually devour the children of Ireland, just as the British were devouring the Irish. In his proposal he used statistics and logical evidence within the satire, for example in paragraph 29, he explains the many problems the Irish are facing, one of them being “Of using neither cloths, nor household furniture, except what is of our own growth and manufacture.” With this he goes on to other examples of how troublesome life was in Ireland during the time, which made him use such a strong and preposterous proposal that was probably one of the very few solutions to the problem they were facing.
Eventually, Swift closes his proposal by saying “I profess in the sincerity of my heart that 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.” This let readers know that he had no interest in actually doing everything he proposed, but that it was more of an example to the British that they needed a solution for their economic and social problem.
