A Modest Proposal

Irony is continually present in A Modest Proposal, not least in the title since, if intended seriously, Swift’s proposal would be far from modest but very radical indeed. He writes that his idea...

In Jonathan Swift's famous work of satire "A Modest Proposal," he suggests that the conditions of poverty in Ireland might be solved by the cannibalization of its infants. Be aware, Smith's purpose...

Probably, as far as many of his contemporaries were concerned, this proposal did go too far, especially if they did not understand the text's ironic and embittered tone. Swift's point is that the...

In this essay, in which an unnamed speaker suggests that the poor Irish sell their babies to the rich English as a new food source, Swift seeks to draw attention to the plight of the impoverished...

The question asks for three examples of either sarcasm, hyperbole or understatement in "A Modest Proposal." I have chosen three examples of sarcasm. Sarcasm means saying the opposite of what you...

In a “Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift recommends a remedy for the great number of paupers’ children in the streets. He thinks that these children can serve a useful purpose and become less...

There are numerous metaphors in Swift's "A Modest Proposal." In addition to the two mentioned above, Swift uses mataphor when he writes: I grant this food will be somewhat dear [costly], and...

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift develops his argument through satire. Swift's purpose is to criticize the English response to the severe poverty in Ireland that occurred as a result of the draught...

Swift, in the persona of a learned scientist, attempts to tackle the chronic problem of over-population in Ireland. In turn, this problem leads to lots of other problems, such as poverty,...

The last paragraph is designed to convince the reader of the author's absolute sincerity in advancing his "modest proposal." To the untrained eye it may seem that what he's proposing is pretty...

The first thing to remember about Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is that it is a satire. He doesn't actually mean what he writes. Or least that's what all of my teachers told me. I suppose he could...

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is a satire. This means that when the narrator suggests ways in which the Irish will benefit by selling babies for food or eating them, Swift does not actually...

Swift makes his argument so effective, in part, by making his narrator completely ridiculous. First, it is the narrator who ostensibly titles this piece "A Modest Proposal," and the idea that this...

When Jonathan Swift makes the nature of his proposal clear, a reader would immediately understand that the essay was meant to be satire. At first, it seems like Swift is really intending to make a...

The clueless narrator of "A Modest Proposal" lists some other "expedients" (solutions) to the problem of poverty after he has outlined his own proposal in great detail. His proposal is to fatten,...

The proposal being made by the narrator is that the poor Irish sell their babies to the wealthy English as a food source. The narrator suggests that this would rid Ireland of many ills as well as...

The speaker describes the problem of poverty in Ireland, which he attributes to the lack of opportunities to earn money. He writes of mothers, trailed by hungry children, forced to beg for food,...

Swift's narrator begins the essay by professing all of the myriad reasons that he believes his proposal to be a sound one: a plan that will benefit the country of Ireland and its people (with no...

Although it's important to understand that these three strategies often overlap--that is, any one sentence or idea within a piece of text could simultaneously demonstrate two or even all three of...

The speaker that Jonathan Swift creates for “A Modest Proposal” is an intellectual, a philosopher, and probably a man of science. Although in Swift’s day the social sciences had not yet been...

There are several forms of irony, but the kind most frequently employed by Jonathan Swift in this work is verbal irony. Verbal irony is when someone says something which is the opposite of what...

Readers who don't catch the sarcasm in Swift's A Modest Proposal would think him a cruel and barbaric man, indeed. This type of sarcasm which is used to criticize others' ideas is actually called...

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift uses satire to savage the English establishment for its treatment of Ireland as well as mock what he sees as the pretensions of the gentleman scientists of the Royal...

Swift’s central argument in A Modest Proposal is that children should not eternally remain the financial burden of their parents, and that the people and government of Ireland should take steps to...

In this paragraph, the speaker mentions another proposal that he heard from a person he holds in high esteem as both a patriotic and virtuous individual. This man suggests that the shortage of...

After stunning the reader with his tongue-in-cheek "proposal" that Irish children be raised and sold for food, Jonathan Swift offers six advantages to this plan. The first, he assures the reader,...

This depends on whether you are taking it literally (which is a fairly obvious genre mistake) or not. On a literal level, one could start by suggesting that eating babies is morally wrong. Next,...

The elevated style of A Modest Proposal—a parody of scientific papers presented to the Royal Society—indicates that Swift's audience consists of men much like himself: learned, intelligent,...

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift writes that he (or, more accurately, the persona he has assumed for the satire) has "been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London" that a...

While Swift's 1729 piece is a social satire, it also employs dark humor to help him get his point across: A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines...

Excellent answer above concerning your writing an essay in the manner of Swift's "A Modest Proposal." One thought comes to mind. Your satire should have targets, as Swift's does: English...

Swift employs dramatic irony——irony created when the reader knows more or understands something that the character does not ——to masterful effect when he creates his narrator. Think of the narrator...

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is a brilliant example of satire from one of the undisputed masters of the craft, and it's primary logical fallacy is an Appeal to Authority. Essentially,...

First, it is most important to realize that Swift most emphatically does not believe in the "modest" proposal his clueless narrator makes about eating the children of the poor. He creates a...

Swift quantifies the number of children it would it take to feed the thousands and calculates the saved expenses by enacting his proposal. He begins by counting the population and the number of...

Of course Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is not intended to be taken seriously, not by those who originally read it and not by modern readers. Swift's use of irony serves to shock his readers...

The narrator of this piece actually doesn't suggest that the Irish eat their own children; he suggests that the Irish sell their children to the English as a source of income. Not only would it...

It is important to realise the different meanings that the word "modest" can have. Here, Swift ironically uses "modest" to mean "limited in scope." Note how throughout his pamphlet, Swift...

Swift's narrator seems to anticipate possible rebuttals to his proposal toward the end of the essay. He outlines a number of other suggestions that people might make rather than submit to the...

I found three references to the word dressing in the essay. The first reference, below has to do with the serving of roasted children, much in the same way that roasted pig is served, and carving...

Taken as a whole, I would suggest that in "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift's satire works on two distinct levels. First, Swift is addressing the problem of poverty within Ireland (a problem that...

In paragraph 21, the author of the Proposal tries to sell his big idea by suggesting that it would be a useful way of reducing the number of Roman Catholics in Ireland. If poor Catholics can breed...

Swift's callous and clueless speaker emphasizes both "ease" and "thrift" as positive attributes of his proposal that poor mothers sell their children when they are one year old to be killed and...

After using a more serious voice to attempt to bring change to impoverished Ireland, Swift felt that his ideas were not being heard and turned to satire in order to shed light on the problems...

Even before the narrator expresses this hope, he begins to outline the importance of his plan as well as some of its intended benefits, though not the plan itself. He describes poor Irish mothers...

A normal person would end this sentence after the word food, because he would have the sensitivity not to get too graphic about his proposal. However, the fact that the narrator actually adds that...

Most readers would agree that Swift's satirical piece is hyperbolic in the sense that it is premised on showing a persona that is an exaggerated example of cruelty and hypocrisy. The speaker, under...

Swift's real reason for writing "A Modest Proposal" was to shame the wealthy people of Ireland and England who were responsible for the sufferings of the poor of Ireland. However, he chose to...

The full title of the satirical essay "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or...

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader knows more than the character. Some might find it difficult to argue for the existence of dramatic irony in this essay, but if you were going to...