A Modest Proposal Essay
Rhetorical Analysis of A Modest Proposal
The late 1600s and early 1700s in particular were a difficult time for Ireland. Catholics made up most of the Irish poor who constituted 80 percent of the population and owned less than one-third of the land. As the Protestant English landowners took over in the 1700s, the Irish Catholics dove deeper into lives of famine and poverty. In “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift presents several claims and supporting evidence that the consuming of the Irish nation’s growing number of children will solve the poverty epidemic as well as decrease religious enemies. As any serious proposal to solve a problem does, "A Modest Proposal" includes a discussion of the advantages of raising children for food and includes a number of reasons and arguments to prove that his solution is not only practical but beneficial. For example, one of the main arguments behind his proposal is that Ireland is very over-populated and that the poor are already committing infanticide and abandoning their children frequently because they cannot feed them. Swift asserts that: “A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish; and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled in the fourth day, especially in winter.” (2) Swift is demonstrating a form of logos here. If we deleted the word "child" and inserted "pig," this paragraph would be considered a very well thought out discussion of using pork in an economical way. Swift even includes seasoning and preparation advice. This direct advice gives credibility to the entire proposal. It only doesn't when we remember what the dish really is. Swift has been so thorough in his analysis that he was even able to discuss why the availability of children may increase because Ireland is a predominately Catholic country. He states: “. . .there are more children born in Roman Catholick
The late 1600s and early 1700s in particular were a difficult time for Ireland. Catholics made up most of the Irish poor who constituted 80 percent of the population and owned less than one-third of the land. As the Protestant English landowners took over in the 1700s, the Irish Catholics dove deeper into lives of famine and poverty. In “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift presents several claims and supporting evidence that the consuming of the Irish nation’s growing number of children will solve the poverty epidemic as well as decrease religious enemies. As any serious proposal to solve a problem does, "A Modest Proposal" includes a discussion of the advantages of raising children for food and includes a number of reasons and arguments to prove that his solution is not only practical but beneficial. For example, one of the main arguments behind his proposal is that Ireland is very over-populated and that the poor are already committing infanticide and abandoning their children frequently because they cannot feed them. Swift asserts that: “A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish; and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled in the fourth day, especially in winter.” (2) Swift is demonstrating a form of logos here. If we deleted the word "child" and inserted "pig," this paragraph would be considered a very well thought out discussion of using pork in an economical way. Swift even includes seasoning and preparation advice. This direct advice gives credibility to the entire proposal. It only doesn't when we remember what the dish really is. Swift has been so thorough in his analysis that he was even able to discuss why the availability of children may increase because Ireland is a predominately Catholic country. He states: “. . .there are more children born in Roman Catholick