Preview

Summary Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
98 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal
In his renowned pamphlet, “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift brings attention to the poor conditions in Ireland. Being a native of Ireland, Swift remained loyal to his country. Upon noticing the terrible conditions in Ireland, he took it upon himself to address the issues at hand. Among these issues, involves the sickly and insufficient children in his homeland. Incorporating statistics to support his claim, Swift attempts to persuade his readers to support his outrageous plan to solve a dire situation. As a result his “logical” and preposterous plan created mixed reactions in both the past and the present.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analysis Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal
    • 76 Words
    • 1 Page

    Analysis Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

    Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ talks about how children of poor people are a burden to their parents and how the parents should fatten up their children and then feed them to Ireland’s rich land-owners. But in the last sentence of ‘A Modest Proposal’, “I have no children, by which I can propose a single penny; the youngest being nine and my wife past child-bearing” is one example of the verbal irony in the whole pamphlet.…

    • 76 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Swift's "A Modest Proposal…" Essay Example
    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Swift's "A Modest Proposal…" Essay Example

    Swift's Modest Proposal for the Preventing the Children of Poor People from being a burden to their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public is a satire of the English opinion of the Irish, barbarians. Though this is a satire, Swift has a good point about eating children. In the world today there are approximately 6 billion people, many being children. By the year 2050, according to the World Population Profile: 1998, the population will reach 9.3 billion. Consumption of children would help this and many other problems that afflict our society as a whole.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift
    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

    Jonathan Swift's 1729 satirical pamphlet, “A Modest Proposal from Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick” under the pseudonym of Dr. Swift, has been regarded as an important historical text, exploiting the conditions of Ireland in the 18th century. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift proposes to the Irish public that to lessen the burden of poverty in Ireland they must sell their children as food and sustenance to feed the country’s wealthy. As it is a satire, Swift's approach and proposal suggests the dire economic conditions of Ireland during the 18th century, and provides a context for Ireland’s culture during this time and a framework for how people lived in all sectors of the economic classes.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Swift's Satire In A Modest Proposal
    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page

    Swift's Satire In A Modest Proposal

    However, lest one think that Swift's satire is merely the weapon of exaggeration, it is important to note that exaggeration is only one facet of his satiric method. Swift uses mock seriousness and understatement; he parodies and burlesques; he presents a virtue and then turns it into a vice. He takes pot-shots at all sorts of sacred cows. Besides science, Swift debunks the whole sentimental attitude surrounding children. At birth, for instance, Lilliputian children were "wisely" taken from their parents and given to the State to rear. In an earlier satire (A Modest Proposal), he had proposed that the very poor in Ireland sell their children to the English as gourmet…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis
    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

    “A Modest Proposal” is a strongly written satire by Jonathon Swift. In the essay, Swift applies nearly all of the elements of satire. Some of the most obvious elements are his use of creating a persona and his exaggeration. Beginning by analyzing the title, “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public”, it is a reasonable topic for the essay. However it is not at all modest. Swift absurdly creates suggestions to make the poor children beneficial. His primary goal in this essay is to shame the English, bring up the issues of poverty and motivate the Irish.…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mr. Swift's A Modest Proposal
    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mr. Swift's A Modest Proposal

    Your Majesty King George II, as you may have previously heard, Jonathan Smith has been relinquishing his robust opinions of this great town's administration. He titled his work "A Modest Proposal," embracing an abundance of sarcastic locution and introducing a morbid proposition. His claims question the eudaemonia of the community casting a dishonorable judgment upon it. Mr. Swift builds his argument by implying that the women of the population are merely breeders. His blunt accusations exhibit a sense of sexism towards women as he compares them to animals. Mr. Swift further articulates the plentitude of breeding that occurs in the community by concentrating on the children inhabiting it. He specifically refers to the children as "professed…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

    Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” incorporates satire in his writing that exposes England’s economical exploitation of Ireland. The full title includes, “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 Public” (Swift 558). His essay, very skillfully, brings shame to and sheds light upon the impoverishment of the Irish people at the hands of England’s greed for profits. He employed satire and irony as an effective tool to make the reader understand the state of oppression of the Irish using the most extreme statements. In his writing, although grotesque, Swift’s use of satire effectively confronts the abuses and shortcomings of the political and economic structure of the time, and he successfully uses sarcasm as a constructive method to criticize the social issues faced by the poor Irish natives.…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis
    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

    In his satirical essay "A Modest Proposal," Johnathan Swift examines treatment of the poor in Ireland during the eighteenth century: “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 boiled, and I make no doubt, that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or ragout.” (Swift 763) In his essay, Swift describes a repulsive suggestion for dealing with the children of the poor in Ireland. Swift describes in detail how poor children should be raised and sold to the wealthy at age one. He details how the children should be and how they should be prepared for the wealthy to consume. Swift's abhorrent proposal for the poor children not only points out the awful treatment of the poor in Ireland during the eighteenth century, but also Ireland's inability to devise a more desirable plan for the poor. His use of statistics and graphical depiction of the poor children's lives adds to the credibility of his essay.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of A Modest Proposal
    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of A Modest Proposal

    An Anglican priest known for his political pamphlets, Jonathan Swift, in his essay, “A Modest Proposal”, suggests that the infants of poor mothers should be sold as food on the market. Swift’s proposal is to call attention to the horrid living conditions in Ireland to convince the English to stop exploiting the Irish. He accomplishes this by encouraging the audience to believe he’s creditable, using statistics and the advantages of his proposal to appear logical, appealing to the emotions of the reader.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis
    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

    Johnathan Swift writes this satirical proposal to "prevent the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or the country" and to make them "beneficial to the public".…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

    Jonathan Swift, a celebrated name during the eighteenth century, was an economist, a writer, and a cleric who was later named Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Although Swift took on many different roles throughout his career, the literary form of satire seemed to be his realm of expertise. Because satire flourished during the eighteenth century, Jonathan Swift is arguably one of the most influential political satirists of his time. In one of his famous essays, A Modest Proposal, Swift expresses his anger and frustration towards the oppression of the Irish by the English government. In order to gain attention from his audience, Swift proposes the outrageous thesis that the solution to Ireland’s problem of poverty is to feed children of the poor to the wealthy, aristocratic families. To whom Swift is directing his satire…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Satire In A Modest Proposal
    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Satire In A Modest Proposal

    In “A Modest Proposal”, the theme of the short story is all but modest. The proposal is that the people of Ireland should start eating babies in order to dilute the population and to provide money (to, for example, the renters) for the poor who cannot afford food. John Swift uses this ironic satire in order to catch the reader's attention. It is his way of saying ‘here is a ridiculous idea, now think of an actual solution’. The solution that Swift proposes is one that would work but is deemed immoral.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Jonathan Swift Convey The Marginaliised In A Modest Proposal
    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Does Jonathan Swift Convey The Marginaliised In A Modest Proposal

    The use of wit, sarcastic humour, irony, and ridicule to criticise and point out faults is used by the renowned author Jonathan Swift to once again, enthral the audience and readers with a proposal that is not so very modest. A Modest Proposal is considered by many to be one of the most well written and finest example of satire in world literature. His mere proposal for cannibalism as a method to bring justice and allow the citizens of Ireland at a time of depression, is insanely absurd however taking the persona of a well-intentioned economist and publishing it in the form of a pamphlet, the idea itself seems quite justifiable.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift
    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

    “A Modest Proposal”, by Jonathan Swift is a graceful, frank and delusional piece of literature. It was written in the 1800’s to both comment on the ever-growing list of ridiculously useless and uninformed proposals written to help the Irish out of their temporary rut of poverty and famine, and to “Under the present situation of affairs, it is utterly impossible by all methods hitherto proposed…” Swifts calm and straight forward manner would lead a reader - not paying close enough attention, to view his proposal as logical and written to ‘honestly’ help as was the case with many other educated Englishmen of the time, who all wanted to give their superior advice to help their lesser peoples of Ireland. Through use of certain words and phrases,…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift
    • 1462 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analysis Of A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

    To expound on A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift begins with his use of sarcasm in the first sentence. “It is melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the road 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” (Swift 431). Swift asserts it is a “great town” but then he continues on to imply it is not by saying “the road and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex” (Swift 431). The 1720s were a time of general economic difficulty in Ireland, marked by three periods of particular crisis. The first, initiated by the Mississippi crash and South Sea Bubble in 1720, gave birth to proposals for a national bank, initially accepted –though ultimately rejected –by the Irish parliament.…

    • 1462 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics