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A Modest Proposal 1729 By Jonathan Swift

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A Modest Proposal 1729 By Jonathan Swift
A Modest Proposal written in 1729 by Jonathan Swift is a Juvenalian satirical essay. Swift’s purpose in writing this proposal was to point out the problems in Ireland, which was poverty and overpopulation of poor people. He sarcastically suggested that the solution to solve these problems was to eat children. Thus, this is what makes his satirical essay Juvenalian. It is Juvenalian because it is filled with dark moral indignation and absurd suggestion of murdering thousands of innocent children and feeding them off to the upper classes. Unlike Horatian satire, this proposal is not lighthearted and it is not aimed to produce a wry smile to the audience. Instead, many people actually find this proposal morally unconventional, shocking, and offensive

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