Outline: a Modest Proposal Essay

Furthermore, Swift also creates a strong argument throughout this essay, with the use of logos; appealing to logic and his use of statistics. Swift states that the “number of souls in this kingdom…of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couples who wives are breeders”; furthermore proposing that an infant can be sold for “two shillings per anun” and “with eight shillings net profit the mother will also benefit and be fit for work to produce another child.” Another quote that implies the reader of his logic and reason , is when he states in these lines that an infant’s flesh can be seasoned throughout the year “with a little pepper or salt…especially in the winter.” He also states that the carcass

To me, Swift challenges the status quo in the story the most by saying how we should eat children. In the story, Swift states that at that time it costed families two shillings a year to raise a child. Jonathan believes that a man would have paid ten shillings for a “good fat child.” Within the same paragraph, he has calculated that one child will amount to approximately four meals that are extremely nutritious. Those four meals would keep the man and one person of company with full stomachs. At one point in the story the author says that an infant's flesh will be in season around march. Throughout the story there are countless examples where the author refers to eating children. In my opinion, it was not okay to eat children then, nor is it acceptable now.

His way of argument and thinking is incorrect and lack validity in what is proposing. This is evident in this pamphlet on line 69 to 73, ‘that a young healthy Child well Nursed is at a year Old, a most 71 delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food, whether Stewed, Roasted, 72 Baked, or Boyled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a Fricasie’. He notes down that a young healthy child is a delicious food to be roasted, stewed and boiled to be served and eaten. Secondly, he has computed twenty thousand children to be reserved for breeding. This dehumanizes the children to be like

In “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan swift’s choice of ridicule is the ignorance of the wealthy and of the politicians. The satirical technique used to establish this is socratic irony. This is presented when Swift proposes that children of poor Irish families should “contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing of thousands” to revamp Ireland (Swift, paragraph 4) . In all Swift forces the people of ireland to take a good look at the reality of what their society's economic conditions. The idea stated that for the socially rich part of ireland to thrive they have to feed on the starving population in order for their own survival is absurd. Plus the fact that they only eat the children of the poor goes with the social standard of the lower class doing all the work while the upper class abuses their money and power.

Swift goes on to number the population, in order to highlight the grave economic crises facing the country, before performing calculations that proclaim—even after allowances are made—“there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders” to further emphasize the sound reasoning of his argument… despite the likely arbitrary nature of his numbers and math. (Swift, 1).

In his modest proposal, Jonathan Swift uses logical fallacies, repetition, metaphors, humor, parallelism, sarcasm and satire. The devices are effectively used to examine the attitude of the rich people towards the poor in the society. Jonathan starts by mocking the mothers for strolling in the streets begging for alms instead of looking for jobs and putting something on the tables for children to eat. Jonathan predicts that when the kids grow, they might turn out to be thieves as nobody taught these kids to earn an honest living. He uses logical fallacies to try and make the proposal modest though his line of thinking is not correct. He points out that a year-old child is nourishing and wholesome food. That a healthy child is delicious food to be prepared using any method of food preparation is outrageous. He proposes that 20,000 children preserved for bleeding purposes. This is dehumanizing children and comparing them to animals. He outlines how slaughterhouses should be build and butchers be employed to do the slaughtering of children. In his exaggeration, he goes to the point of saying that the kids will be roasted like pigs. ( ) Swift also uses irony when he says that there are about 200,000 couples whose wives are just breeders. ( ) He proposes that an arrangement is made to the rear and provide for these children. Here he compares women to animals because human beings are not bred for commercial purposes. Here he dehumanizes human beings by use of satire. He gives reasons as to why this is a good idea. First, he says that the method will decrease the number of useless Catholics in Ireland. Secondly, he claims that the government will earn from exports of the meat from Ireland. The mothers will also earn something from this breeding and a burden will be lifted off their shoulders. He also foresees that the new delicacy will be welcomed in the taverns. The marriage institution will also be enhanced because mothers will put in more effort in raising the best kids because they would fetch good prices in the markets. To support his argument, Swift is sarcastic that some parts of children's body are good for eating. He further notes that these

Swift provides many examples of why he thinks eating children should be a common practice in Ireland. He says that the poor people, who bear many children, can earn large amounts of money by selling their children for food. An excess of children wouldn’t be a problem because the mother and father could make some profit from it. He additionally believes that the

Jonathan Swift, the writer of the satirical essay A Modest Proposal, grew up and lived in Ireland during times of famine and economic struggles (Conditions). Growing up with a single mother and no father, Swift knew what hard times and struggles were like (Jonathan Swift: Biography). His essay proposes an easy solution to the economic problems going on in Ireland for both the wealthy ruling classes and the poorer classes, although his intentions and the meaning behind his words are not what would be originally thought when initially reading the essay. Through his word choices and the description of specific events of his time, Swift uses satire to grab his audience’s attention and get his own personal ideas and opinions out about all the

“A Modest Proposal” is a satirical essay by Jonathan Swift written in 1729. In his essay, Swift proposes that the people of Ireland eat and sell their children to help better the living conditions. To justify his proposal he explains the problems Ireland is facing and illustrates the horrible condition Ireland is in. Swift’s proposal is justified because Ireland is in a poor state, there are advantages to it, and it is the best solution. Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is an eye-opening essay that gets readers motivated.

Said by the Guttmacher institute in “Induced abortion in the United States”, 42% of women who who have an abortion are below the federal poverty level. Lawrence B. Finer and Lori F. Frohwirth in, "Reasons US Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health,” asked women why they received abortions. 73% replied that they could not afford to raise a baby, and 38% said it would block their career and educational dreams. In a multitude of incidents, a termination is not only chosen because a woman can’t raise a baby, but she may not be able to handle the emotional stress of giving birth to an unwanted baby. In certain cities, the adoption system is poorly managed and many people adopt a child just for the

The welfare of the human being as members of a community has historically been addressed in a variety of literary forms. Jonathan Swift in his essay “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country” (The Art of Writing: A Modern Rhetoric, edited by Cosmo F. Ferrara, Random House, 1981, pp. 155-170) employs savage irony to present his societal commentary. Written in 1729 to expose the tragic conditions of the lower classes, the satire attempts to manipulate readers with its sense of ridicule and scorn. A plea for human indecency, the essay he subtly suggests their responsibilities to society in a manner which remains applicable to America.

This proposal does acknowledge views against Smith’s work mostly answering questions such as, “How can one make a profit by doing this?” and, “How many people would one infant feed?” Smith never really encounters the moral values of killing off infants and eating them, in fact, Smith may not think there is anything wrong in the first place.

In the story “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift has an interesting plot. The poor children are sold at different prices due to their age and size. The breeders will only provide for their children for one year before they are sold for someone’s dinner. The rich and wealthy usually eat the best and purist infant. The main ideas for this essay are breeders, children, and the wealthy men.

With one hundred twenty thousand Irish children out of the population being set aside for dinner, the solution will also help to resolve the issues of overpopulation and unemployment in Ireland, giving the Irish economy a much needed boost, while making it easier for England to deal with its unruly Irish subjects. Swift uses this outrageous concept of selling children as food to deliver a message. One of the most impacting satirical methods Swift utilizes is the statistical analysis he provides in an effort to enhance his satire. Swift goes on to offer statistical support for his proposal and specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price- “I have reckoned upon a medium that a child just born will weigh twelve pounds, and a solar year if tolerably nursed increaseth to twenty-eight pounds… nursing a beggar’s … be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat… the mother will have eight shillings net profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child” ( Swift 7-8). He even suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new meat, reasoning that, with innovative cooks generating ever more and delicious new dishes, it will expand and improve the culinary experience of the wealthy, resulting in a healthier and happier population as a whole.

one year in poverty over his or her lifetime, and for more than 5% of