A Modest Proposal Summary "I have too long digressed," says Swift, and so he continues to enumerate the advantages of his proposal. It will reduce the number of "Papists" (Catholics), who form the majority of the poor population and who tend to have large families.
Full Answer
Why does Swift continue to enumerate the advantages of his proposal?
"I have too long digressed," says Swift, and so he continues to enumerate the advantages of his proposal. It will reduce the number of "Papists" (Catholics), who form the majority of the poor population and who tend to have large families.
What are the advantages of Swift's plan for the Catholic Church?
The first centers around demographics, with Swift writing that his plan will serve to decrease the Catholic population, which he refers to both as "the principle breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies." From here, his next few advantages are chiefly economic in nature.
What is swift's literal argument in a modest proposal?
A summary of Swift's literal argument is that the poor Irish should sell their children as food to solve their poverty. His satirical argument is that the wealthy landowners "devoured" the Irish with their cruelty, so Swift suggests they do so literally. How does Jonathan Swift use satire in A Modest Proposal?
How does Jonathan Swift use satire in a modest proposal?
Jonathan Swift uses satire in A Modest Proposal by suggesting that the poor Irish sell their babies as food. He develops his satire through the use of irony and word choice. What are the 6 advantages in A Modest Proposal?
What does Swift anticipate his proposal will reduce?
The author now anticipates an objection to his proposal--that it will too drastically reduce the national population. He admits this, reminding the reader that such a reduction was in fact one of the goals.
What is Swift's proposed solution to the overpopulation problem?
Summary of 'A Modest Proposal' As a solution to the poverty in which these families are forced to live, by virtue of having so many mouths to feed, Swift suggests that these poor Irish families should fatten up their children and sell them to the rich English land owners.
What are papists in A Modest Proposal?
"I have too long digressed," says Swift, and so he continues to enumerate the advantages of his proposal. It will reduce the number of "Papists" (Catholics), who form the majority of the poor population and who tend to have large families.
What does Jonathan Swift propose in A Modest Proposal?
In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift proposes that the Irish should eat their children, as it will produce several benefits. He claims that it will help with population control, making money, prevent crime, and make fashionable clothing out of the children.
What is the main problem in the modest proposal?
The problems in "A Modest Proposal" are that people are out of jobs, they are struggling to feed their children, and the country is overpopulated. To solve these, the modest proposal is for parents to sell one-year-old children as food for the wealthy landowners.
What is the problem Swift is trying to solve?
Jonathan Swift's attack on the British government's inability to solve the problem of poverty in Ireland is one of the literary canon's most famous examples of satire.
Is A Modest Proposal effective?
Despite its power as a piece of rhetoric, A Modest Proposal did not lead to any lasting changes for Ireland's rural poor. Just over a century later, thousands would perish in the Great Famine.
What is A Modest Proposal criticizing?
Summary Analysis. In A Modest Proposal, Swift vents his mounting aggravation at the ineptitude of Ireland's politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English, and the squalor and degradation in which he sees so many Irish people living.
What is the author's purpose in writing A Modest Proposal quizlet?
The purpose of Swift's satirical essay is to call attention to the problems that were being experienced by the people of Ireland. He wanted the English (who ruled Ireland) to realize what they were doing and to put in place reforms that would solve the problems they had helped to cause.
Who is being mocked in A Modest Proposal?
In this inflammatory, satirical essay, Swift proposes that the starving poor of Ireland sell their excess children to the rich as food. Swift assumes a hyperbolically heartless tone that mocks those with negative opinions of the Irish poor, namely the Irish rich, politicians, and British officials.
What was the problem that Swift was addressing in his essay?
Eighteenth century writer Jonathan Swift was a master of satire, and his essay, A Modest Proposal, addresses the poverty and oppression suffered by the Irish people at the hands of their English landlords. Swift uses satire to draw attention to the issue; he then presents real solutions to the problem.
Why does Swift most likely say this proposal is of no expense?
Why does Swift most likely say his proposal is "of no expence and little trouble"? To remind readers that each human being is valuable.
How does the title A Modest Proposal tell the reader that the piece is satirical?
How does the title, "A Modest Proposal," tell the reader that the piece is satirical? The author's proposal is actually extreme and violent, not gentle as the title says.
Which statement best describes Swiss use of understatement in this excerpt?
Which statement best describes Swift's use of understatement in this excerpt? He states that sending children to the butcher would be as simple as "roasting pigs."
What is Jonathan Swift's argument in A Modest Proposal?
A summary of Swift's literal argument is that the poor Irish should sell their children as food to solve their poverty. His satirical argument is t...
How does Jonathan Swift use satire in A Modest Proposal?
Jonathan Swift uses satire in A Modest Proposal by suggesting that the poor Irish sell their babies as food. He develops his satire through the use...
What are the 6 advantages in A Modest Proposal?
In A Modest Proposal, Swift suggests his scheme of selling Irish babies as food has 6 advantages, including reducing the number of Catholics, allow...
What is the main point of A Modest Proposal?
The main point of A Modest Proposal is that to ease poverty among the Irish, they should sell their babies as food. He proposed this ridiculous ide...
What is Swift's objection to the mercantilist idea that the people are the most valuable resources of?
Swift reveals that his objection is not so much with the basic mercantilist idea that the people are the most valuable resources of a nation, but rather with Ireland's failure to value that resource in any meaningful and nationally constructive way.
What is the proposer's allegiance to the wealthy?
The proposer's allegiance is to the interests of the wealthy, and it is at the upper classes that Swift aims his sharpest barbs. Swift's contempt for the irresponsibility, greed, and moral indifference of the wealthy is matched only by his disgust at the utter failure of Ireland's political leaders.
What are the indirect consequences of eating children's flesh?
An indirect consequence of eating children's flesh will be an increase in exportation of beef, and well as a rising standard for other meats, which "are in no way comparable in Taste, or Magnificence, to a well-grown fat yearling Child.".
What is the purpose of Swift's modest proposal?
As a solution to the poverty in which these families are forced to live, by virtue of having so many mouths to feed, Swift suggests that these poor Irish families should fatten up their children and sell them to the rich English land owners.
What is the lesson of Jonathan Swift?
Lesson Summary. Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' is a satirical essay meant to underline the problems of both the English and the Irish in 17 29. Satire is the use of irony, humor or exaggeration to criticize the ideas of others. In his essay, Swift argues that children could be sold into a meat market as early as the age of one, ...
How does Swift make his point?
Swift makes his point by stringing together an appalling set of morally-untenable propositions in order to cast blame far and wide. He offers up cannibalism as a means of solving Ireland's social and political ills, mocking the political opinions and ineffectual remedies proposed by others.
What does Swift's declaration about the British landlords have already 'devoured' the Irish economically mean?
Yet Swift's declaration that the British landlords have already 'devoured' the Irish economically implies that his proposal to eat their children is no more than a more literal continuance of what is already happening.
What is the satire in a modest proposal?
'A Modest Proposal' uses an approach called satire to make its point, which is the use of irony, humor or exaggeration to criticize the ideas of others. Swift obviously doesn't sincerely want the people of Ireland to sell their children as food, but he's using the outrageous concept to deliver a message.
What is the advantage of Swift's proposal?
An added advantage of Swift’s proposal is that it substantially and voluntarily reduces abortions thereby appealing to the Republican base.
Who wrote the modest proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland?
Based on: A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick by Jonathan Swift