A Modest Proposalby Jonathan SwiftIntroducing the SelectionLiterary Focus: Verbal Irony Reading Skills: Recognizing Persuasive TechniquesFeature Menu

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan SwiftAnd unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it. Ernst Fischer (18991972)

Opening Others EyesA Modest Proposal by Jonathan SwiftWhat if you had good ideas for solving a terrible social problem, but no one would listen to you? How would you get peoples attention?

Irish harvests had been poor for years.Jonathan Swift faced such a situation in the late 1720s, when starvation was widespread in Ireland.Farmers couldnt pay the rents demanded by their English landlords.A Modest Proposal by Jonathan SwiftBeggars and starving children filled the streets.Englands policies kept the Irish poor.

Appalled by the misery in Ireland, Jonathan Swift set out to make the English more responsive to their neighbors suffering.He wrote a pamphleta shocking satire that offered an outrageous solution to the problem of famine.A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift[End of Section]

Verbal irony occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but really means something quite differentusually the exact opposite.A Modest Proposal Literary Focus: Verbal IronyYou overslept, forgot to feed the dog, and are coming down with a bad cold. Someone asks you how youre doing, and you respond, Just great. I wish every day could be just like this one. You have just used verbal irony.

Writers cannot depend on tone of voice to convey sarcasm, so they often use irony to make their point.A Modest Proposal Literary Focus: Verbal IronyIs this writer being sarcastic? How can you tell?

The irony in Swifts essay begins with the title: A Modest Proposal.A Modest Proposal Literary Focus: Verbal Irony[End of Section]Here the word modest means not bold; limited in size, amount, or scope.Youll find that Swifts proposal is anything but modest. To the contrary, it is outrageous and extreme to the point of absurdity.

A Modest Proposal is a classic example of persuasive writing used for the purpose of satire. Watch for these persuasive techniques:A Modest Proposal Reading Skills: Recognizing Persuasive TechniquesLogical appeals use evidence such as facts or statistics to support a position.Emotional appeals use words that arouse strong feelings.Ethical appeals establish the writers sincerity and qualifications.

As you read, note some of the persuasive techniques and their ironic effects using a chart like this one:A Modest Proposal Reading Skills: Recognizing Persuasive Techniques[End of Section]

PassageType of AppealIrony . . . of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couples whose wives are breeders. . . . logical (uses statistics) The word breeders is dehumanizing, yet Swift is actually making the point that women are human beings, not animals.

Swift makes his proposal all the more outrageous and forceful by A Modest Proposal Backgroundusing a straightforward, sober style while presenting appalling content pretending to be objective, sensible, and kindassuming the voice of a practical economic planner

Ultimately, Swift is protesting against Englands lack of compassion for the poor in Ireland.[End of Section]A Modest Proposal BackgroundHe risks appearing as a monster himself in order to expose the monstrous behavior of others. According to Swift, a numerical or statistical view of poverty is unethical; it reduces people to breeders and babies to meat. Swift uses statistics in his proposal as a satirical device.

Vocabulary

Previewing the Vocabularysustenance n.: food or money to support life.glutted v. used as adj.: overfilled.deference n.: respect.scrupulous adj.: extremely careful and precise in deciding what is right or wrong.censure v.: condemn.expedient n.: convenient means to an end.A Modest Proposal Vocabulary

Previewing the Vocabularydigressed v.: wandered off the subject.procure v.: obtain; get.brevity n.: being brief; shortness.animosities n. pl.: hostilities; violent hatreds or resentments.A Modest Proposal Vocabulary

Vocabulary Activity: Intensity ChartYou can understand a word better by comparing it with other words that have similar meanings.One way to compare words is to pair them according to intensity of meaning: A Modest Proposal Vocabulary

High IntensityLow Intensityscrupulouscarefulexpediteplan

[End of Section]Vocabulary Activity: Intensity ChartFill out the chart using the Vocabulary Words listed. glutteddeference censureanimositiesbrevitydigressedcensuredeferencegluttedanimositiesdigressedbrevityA Modest Proposal Vocabulary

High IntensityLow Intensitycriticizeadmirationfull

High IntensityLow Intensitydisliketurnedcurtness

Meet the Writer

Jonathan Swift (16671745) was born in Dublin of English parents. As a child, Swift was abducted by his nurse and taken to England for three years. He was later returned to Ireland, where he was cared for by his uncle. As an adult, Swift regarded himself as more English than Irish.More About the Writer[End of Section]A Modest Proposal Meet the Writer

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