William Swift s A Modest Proposal - 1483 Words

Argument Analyzation of â€Å"A Modest Proposal† In the 1700s, Ireland was under the control of the British. They also owned Northern Ireland. The British were causing immense numbers of problems for the Irish people because their policies were leaving people homeless and starving. Jonathan Swift was a man who was born and raised in Ireland during these times. He engrossed himself in Irish politics especially during this time. Swift saw the struggles of the Irish people and became outraged by their conditions. He decided to fight against the British’s actions in a unique way, hoping that it would end this time of extreme poverty for the Irish. To do so, Swift wrote the satirical essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, using the voice of an upper class†¦show more content†¦The first way Swift does this is by using logos throughout his essay in a way that seems ridiculous, but is quite simple to catch his meaning. On the second page of his essay, Swift calculates the numbers of â€Å"children of poor parents annually born† (Swift 764). Though his voice and main purpose is of annoyance and heading toward the solution of eating the children he’s presenting the numbers of poor children in his country, which he concludes is 120,00. This is highly effective for the argument Swift is making because it causes the readers to be aware of the large numbers of poverty right outside in a more subtle than straightforward way. Another attempt at logos is when Swift argues that, â€Å"infants’ flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Swift 765). Swift explains that according to a French physician, after lent an even larger amount of children are born. This is supposedly an exceptional proposition in the speaker’s perspective because there would always be an abundant number of children to eat. Swift’s actual purpose, though, is to show the audience how insensitive it is to ig nore the needs of all these starving children. Pathos is used very effectively when Swift describes the homeless on the streets of Dublin in the first sentence; â€Å"It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in theShow MoreRelated Naked Lunch and A Modest Proposal Essay1420 Words   |  6 PagesNaked Lunch and A Modest Proposal In 1729, Jonathon Swift published an essay titled A Modest Proposal, which dealt with the issue of homelessness among the poor families of his country. His satirical proposal to control the population of homeless children stirred a debate on the morality of his proposal. Two hundred and thirty years later in 1959, William S. Burroughs published a novel entitled Naked Lunch, which dealt with the desperate struggle of drug addiction and the governments role inRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1340 Words   |  6 PagesA Modest Proposal was written in the year 1729 by the famous satirist Jonathan Swift. In his work he outlines the pros of eating unwanted children of Ireland for economical benefits in a time of great poverty. While the reader can obviously discard the idea of eating children, in his proposal, in a roundabout way, Swift speaks to hard pressing issues of the time. The state of Ireland is well described by Swift in this piece. He speaks of woman who â€Å"instead of being able to work for their honestRead MoreLiterary Analysis : Jonathan Swift1425 Words   |  6 PagesII Oct. 27, 2015 Literary analysis The author I decided to write about is Jonathan Swift for he had a keen sense for effective sarcasm. 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The journal, â€Å"Spaces for Famine: A Comparative Analysis in Ireland and the Highlands in the 1840’s† by Liz Young states that â€Å"if the crop was poor or failed, familiesRead MoreThe War of the Ants1689 Words   |  7 Pagesapproximations based on Amazon.com listings) Henderson, Bobby, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (New York: Villard, 2006). ISBN: 0812976568. $11.16. Strunk, William, and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed. (Needham Heights: Pearson). ISBN: 020530902X. $9.95. Swift, Jonathan, A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (Mineola: Dover, 1996). ISBN: 0486287599. $2.00. Course Packet (provided on first day of class--but which will expand throughout the course)Read MoreHistorical Archaeology Of The 19th Century1917 Words   |  8 Pageslong, expensive wars between King James and who would later be referred to as king William in Ireland. After the defeat of King James laws were passed that made it so that Catholics could not hold positions of power, own land or event vote. And Presbyterians could own land but could not vote. The land that could not longer be owned by the Catholics The defeat of James forces by his Protestant son-in-law, William of Orange, Ireland had become a Protestant-dominated country by the end of the seventeenthRead MoreGulliver ´s Travels by Jonathan Swift: Biographical Summary1982 Words   |  8 PagesGulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift – Biographical Summary Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Ireland to English parents, Jonathan and Abigail. His father, Jonathan, died shortly after his birth, leaving his mother to raise him and his sister alone. In Ireland, Swift was dependent on a nanny for three years because his mother moved to England. The young man was educated because of the patronage of his Uncle, Godwin Swift. Godwin sent him to Kilkenny Grammar School at age six, which