Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Essay - 1490 Words

In one of Jonathan Swift’s most well-known works, A Modest Proposal, he is proposing a change in Ireland. By using symbols and outrageous language, Swift displays what he is trying to get across to people since no one will listen to basic facts about Ireland’s poverty; he throws in the eating of children. The proposal starts off by discussing the extreme poverty that has taken over Ireland and explains that no one will make changes and England is of no help. Swift’s tone could best be described as cold and rational as he is trying to get his point across. He briefly describes a ‘cycle’ of poverty in which parents are too poor which means their children will be too which leads to the suggestion of eating the poor kids. Jonathan backs up†¦show more content†¦Most of the Irish were illiterate and unskilled which means they couldn’t really function well enough to make livings and therefore became tenant farmers. There were many predictions made, some by Swift, as to what Irelands future would be like if changes weren’t made. â€Å"In 1750, 93% of the land was owned by non-Irish landowners and by 1770, this number was practically 100%. By then, the Irish had become a nation of tenant farmers. One visitor from France noted that nowhere in Europe h ad he seen such poverty as he saw in Ireland. ‘The Irish peasant is poorer than the lowest serfs in Poland and German,’ he said (Kinsella).† Swift wrote this proposal in order to avoid things like this happening in the future, but this is what Ireland had eventually come to. The life of an Irish was one of desperation and deprivation because they lived in small mud cabins without windows. The land owners who basically owned them would divide the land up and then increase rent; So, big families were crunched up together on sometimes less than 1 acre of land paying double the rent. Some people had never even tasted meat or bread; Just potatoes because that’s mostly what they farmed and some of the poor resorted to eating grass. In 1740 there was a period of famine, and 1741 was named the year of slaughter because hundreds of thousands of Irish died. â€Å"The overwhelming majority of the population was Roman Catholic, but the immigrant Protestant minorities had united withShow MoreRelatedA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift Essay836 Words   |  4 PagesIn Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, we are exposed to the timeless issue of homelessness and the state’s role in their social welfare. Swift was a fervent Irish patrio t who was disgusted by the flourishing trend of beggars and hungry children that flooded the streets of his beloved country. This topic is relatable as this is a social issue that plagues many countries in the present age. Swift presents a satirical argument in which he proposes Ireland adopt the horrific practices of eating theirRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1647 Words   |  7 PagesSatire in â€Å"A Modest Proposal† and Different Articles Jonathan Swift, author of â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† tries to present different ideas in order to change the situation of Ireland. Through his proposal, he is able to get people’s attention, and the way he uses satire throughout the article made his argument more successful. He wrote this essay to show how ignored and bad the state of Ireland and its social classes are. In â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, Swift effectively uses rhetorical exaggeration to expressRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift982 Words   |  4 Pages Jonathan Swift, author of â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† tries to present different ideas in order to change the situation of Ireland. Through his proposal, he is able to get his point across. He wrote this essay to show how undeveloped and bad the state of Ireland is and the social classes. In â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, Swift effectively uses insincerity, sarcasm, and rhetorical exaggeration to reveal his annoyance of politicians, papists, and overall citizens of poverty-stricken Ireland in the late seventeenthRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift813 Words   |  4 PagesJonathan Swift, author of the satirical piece â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† organized an outrageous proposal to the people of Ireland. In this pamphlet, Swift offered his personal views on how to overcome Ireland’s issue of overpopulation and poverty. By raising nationwide attention, Swift plan to shock the readers by emphasizing the idea of cannibalism as a way to deal with Irelandâ€℠¢s problems. Swift’s technique of audience, tone, and pathos help determine the advantages and disadvantages of â€Å"A Model Proposal†Read MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1333 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"A modest proposal† by Jonathan Swift is an essay, which was written to elaborate the poverty of people in Ireland. Where poor viewed as having an absence of worth in the public eye, playing no essential part in more noteworthy else s benefit of the people. Swift uses situational irony in this essay which also represented a work of satire. By definition situational irony happens when the final outcome is opposing to what was expected. Basically his proposal was for poor children roaming around theRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift860 Words   |  4 PagesI was informed to read â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift as an assignment for creating annotated bibliographies, I began to develop an interest on how Swift came about the matte r of his request into rebuilding Ireland s economy and way of life. I believed that Swift added cannibalizing children to the subject matter to give his proposal a more profound and eye-opening effect, but my readings further piqued my interests on the topic. As a result, I researched Jonathan Swift’s motives and styleRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1057 Words   |  5 Pages A Modest Proposal â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, written in 1979 by Jonathan Swift, is a fascinating sardonic, overwhelming hyperbole. He explores the miserable fate of poverty-striven Irish whose struggle in vain in an effort to feed their huge emaciated families. In the essay, Swift advocates that the penurious Irish should sell their babies to the rich ladies and gentlemen and obtain monetary power required to ease their economic predicaments. The straight-faced parody that features predominantly in theRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1340 Words   |  6 PagesA Modest Proposal was written in the year 1729 by the famous satirist Jonathan Swift. In his work he outlines the pros of eating unwanted children of Ireland for economical benefits in a time of great poverty. While the reader can obviously discard the idea of eating children, in his proposal, in a roundabout way, Swift speaks to hard pressing issues of the time. The state of Ireland is well described by Swift in this piece. He speaks of woman who â€Å"instead of being able to work for their honestRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1795 Words   |  8 PagesHave you ever thought about eating an infant to ease your economic hardship? You’re not the only one! Jonathan Swift wrote an entire pamphlet about it (satirically, of course). Satire has the ability to point out societal inadequacy and ridicule political policies in a way that is humorous in its absurdity while masking its true intent. In A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, the author’s use of exaggeration and irony to draw attention to the meaningless lives of the Irish people to English ruleRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1032 Words   |  5 PagesJonathan Swift’s satirical pamphlet, A Modest Proposal, as a way to ironically find a way For the CommonWealth of Ireland to benefit from the starving children. He proposes the idea that an un wanted child should be fattened up then feed to landlords or have their meat sold in the market. In turn curing the nation’s problem of overpopulation and contribute to the economic well-being of the nation. Swift’s satire exploits the fundamental human function of eating. The need to eat is a driving human