tablesetting complete with forks, knives, and spoons, and a baby on the plate in the center above the words "A Modest Proposal"

A Modest Proposal

by Jonathan Swift

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A Modest Proposal Questions and Answers

A Modest Proposal

Examples of literary devices in "A Modest Proposal" include satire, irony, and hyperbole. Swift uses satire to criticize British policy towards the Irish, irony to highlight the absurdity of treating...

12 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift employs ethos, logos, and pathos ironically to highlight the inhumanity of his argument. Logos is most prevalent, as dispassionate calculations of children as...

6 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" employs irony and satire to critique the British treatment of the Irish during a famine. The irony becomes apparent when Swift suggests eating infants as a...

14 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Two metaphors in Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" are "devoured" and "title." "Devoured" compares landlords financially destroying tenants to physically eating them, while "title" compares the...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Reactions to Swift's "A Modest Proposal" vary. Some find it a brilliant and hilarious satire that effectively condemns the English wealthy and government. Others, lacking background knowledge,...

3 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The audience of "A Modest Proposal" is the wealthy Anglo-Irish landowners who refused to take even simple steps to alleviate the suffering of the poor.

5 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift uses a satirical tone to criticize the British exploitation of the Irish. The proposer, characterized as an intellectual and reformer, ironically suggests...

5 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift employs a satirical voice through a fictional narrator to critique the social and economic conditions in Ireland under English rule. Swift's own voice intrudes...

11 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift uses "dressing" in three distinct ways. First, he describes "dressing" roasted children like pigs, emphasizing the grotesque satire of his proposal. Second, he...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

The purpose of the last paragraph in "A Modest Proposal" is to reinforce the author's feigned sincerity and seriousness about his satirical suggestion. Swift emphasizes that the proposal is not for...

5 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" employs satire to criticize the English response to Irish poverty. In the final paragraph, Swift uses irony and litotes to highlight his deep concern for the...

27 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal is a masterful work of satire that uses irony and a formal, logical style to highlight the dire situation of the Irish poor under English oppression. Swift's...

7 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The irony of the word "modest" in the title of "A Modest Proposal" lies in the extreme and outrageous nature of Swift's suggestion to solve poverty by eating children. The proposal is anything but...

6 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" employs logical fallacies and satirical quotes to criticize British policy towards the Irish. It uses absurdity and irony, such as proposing the poor sell their...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift suggests several alternatives to his satirical plan, including taxing absentee landlords, promoting local goods, instilling a sense of patriotism, and...

5 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift uses satire to critique societal attitudes towards the Irish poor by having his narrator rely on dubious authorities to bolster his outrageous proposal. The...

4 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift suggests several other solutions besides eating children, including taxing absentee landlords, encouraging domestic goods production, and promoting frugality and...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

In Jonathan Swift's satirical essay "A Modest Proposal," the landlords represent the wealthy Irish who exploit the impoverished. Swift sarcastically suggests that these landlords, who metaphorically...

4 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The narrator of "A Modest Proposal" is an unnamed, satirical persona who presents themselves as a rational and concerned economist. This perspective allows Jonathan Swift to critique British policy...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In paragraph six of "A Modest Proposal," Swift uses the term "breeders" instead of "mothers." This choice of word reflects the dehumanizing view of Irish women, reducing them to their reproductive...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The person who suggested eating well-nursed babies in Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is identified as "an American acquaintance in London." This reference is politically significant as Swift, a...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

"A Modest Proposal" alludes primarily to Ireland, addressing its social and economic issues, and the tensions with England. The speaker sarcastically suggests cannibalism as a solution to poverty,...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" satirically criticizes the exploitation of the Irish poor by English and Irish landowners. He suggests eating babies as a grotesque solution to poverty,...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift, in "A Modest Proposal," suggests that anyone who can devise a solution to the problem of child poverty in Ireland would be considered a "preserver of the nation." This person,...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," ironic inversion is used when Swift suggests landlords eat children since they already exploit their parents, while bathos occurs when he claims no personal gain from his...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," the narrator satirically suggests that Irish children, facing bleak futures, should be sold as food to the wealthy. The grim alternatives for these children include crime,...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

Swift extends the sentence after "food" to amplify the satire in his proposal by graphically detailing various cooking methods for children. This exaggeration highlights the narrator's insensitivity...

3 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

To write a proposal essay with humor and satire inspired by "A Modest Proposal," focus on addressing a serious issue with an exaggerated, ironic solution. Use hyperbole, wit, and a tone of...

3 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The effect of using the first person in "A Modest Proposal" is to highlight the cruelty of treating the poor as if they are no more than an economic problem to be solved. The speaker clearly thinks...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

In the context of "A Modest Proposal," outrageous solutions to the drug crisis include requiring addicts to overdose in front of non-addicts to stir sympathy, legally mandating drug use to eliminate...

5 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Swift chooses to bundle his real suggestions into A Modest Proposal rather than stating them outright because he hopes they will look appealing in contrast to the shocking idea of eating the infants...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," the "expert" is an unnamed "very knowing American" whom Jonathan Swift cites to lend credibility to his satirical argument. This appeal to authority is deliberately ironic, as...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift's satire becomes apparent when he discusses selling children for consumption, which seems unrealistic. Initially, readers might suspect the proposal's absurdity when...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

The speaker's proposal in paragraph 17 does not include objections related to the loss of able-bodied workers or the prohibitive cost of fattening teenagers. Instead, it acknowledges that many...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

The speaker's tone in his proposal is earnest and matter-of-fact, using logic and factual information to support a shocking and satirical suggestion. He appears completely serious and lacks any...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The speaker in "A Modest Proposal" finds it "melancholy" to see impoverished women and their children begging on the streets of Ireland, highlighting the widespread poverty. This sentiment is...

3 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

The "great town" referred to in the opening paragraph of Jonathan Swift's satirical essay "A Modest Proposal" is Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The essay, written in the 1720s during the Irish...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

The narrator's suggestion of baby consumption in "A Modest Proposal" is a satirical critique of English policies towards Ireland, particularly mercantilism. Swift uses verbal irony to highlight the...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

To parody Swift's "A Modest Proposal," you might satirize modern issues like obesity or homelessness. For example, target the fast food industry by suggesting that obese individuals be hired as...

2 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

An example of asyndeton in “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift can be found in the fifth-to-last paragraph, in which Swift lists ten alternate ideas and ironically dismisses them.

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

To rewrite the passage informally, start with "Everyone agrees that too many kids are a problem for the kingdom..." For a formal tone, use "All parties acquiesce to the fact..." In a journalistic...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

To create a proposal similar to Swift's "A Modest Proposal," choose a contemporary issue and propose an outrageous, satirical solution. For structure, follow Swift's format: define the problem and...

3 educator answers

A Modest Proposal

Agreement is necessary to establish satire in "A Modest Proposal" because it initially aligns the reader with the author's seemingly reasonable observations about Ireland's poverty. By agreeing on...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift’s idea of using children as a food source in his satirical essay may have been influenced by John Locke’s writings on ancient societies that allegedly consumed children. In the essay,...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

Reliable narrators provide clear, objective accounts, making it easy for readers to trust and understand the narrative. Unreliable narrators, as seen in A Modest Proposal and "Shooting an Elephant,"...

1 educator answer

A Modest Proposal

In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift highlights the unfavorable balance of trade with England, where Ireland's resources, such as food and crops, are exported to England, leaving the Irish...

4 educator answers