At a first glance, the term a modest proposal gives the reader the initial idea to think that this piece of work will be lighthearted and humble. But it is more outlandish and grotesque, by making an ironic claim to cannibalism to stabilize the economy and reduce the overpopulation issue. But this is not exactly what Jonathan Swift’s claim is about. This “proposal” can help people see the reality of the issue and figure out how to resolve the matter.…
The story is filled with different types of emotion; for example, the reader first feels sadness and guilt, and then the reader begins to develop anger at the thought that a person could think of such atrocities. By using pathos in the story, Swift gets the audience to feel bad for the children and for the mothers whose children are selected or used for harvest. Swift tells, “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a 60 fricasie, or a ragoust” (Swift 2). These gruesome details stir the innate human tendency for the need to protect children whether they be their own or otherwise. By reading the proposal, people realized that there needs to be change and that if there is not a change then it will be the children, the future of the country, that suffer or are punished.…
In the “Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift had an idea that the best way to prevent poor children in Ireland from being a burden, is to eat them. He proposes, what we fatten up these famished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land owners. Also, these children could be sold into a meat market starting from infant to twelve. Throughout, this essay he offers statistical support for his proposal and gives specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and pricing.…
Swift proposes “he shall take in whole number infants at a certain age who are born of parents in effect as little able to support them as those who demanded our charity in the streets”() Though, who said those parents want to hand over the children to be the communities meat market. Swift also introduces another “great” advantage to his scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, although this is not a logical or rational thought. If the practice of eating children were to happen people who no longer perceive each other the same – one could just consider everyone eating flesh! Also, what Swift doesn’t realize is if selling children for food were to happen, the abortion rate might go down but that might correlate to people having…
In the distant future, mankind will one day be able to create a digital restoration point. A place where the minds of those past, present, and future will be able to live in a utopian like world where they will be able to continue to grow and flourish, even if the physical world is no longer habitable. In this digital restoration point, magnificent minds that belonged to Barack Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Oprah, and many more will be able to converse with one another to discuss what was once was, what will be, and what is present. In the restoration point, Jonathan Swift, the author of “A Modest Proposal”, and Plato, father of “The Allegory of The Cave,” would be sitting across from…
A proposal is the act of suggesting an idea or plan to be executed. Jonathan Swift a noted essayist and satirist, was born in 1667 in Ireland, Dublin to Anglo-Irish parents. Swift often traveled to England where he dabbled in politics and immersed himself into writing. Written and published anonymously in 1729, Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” suggest a plan to help address the growing problems of poverty, starvation and overpopulation in Ireland with the consumption of Irish babies stricken by poverty. Swift’s particularly morbid yet genuine tone serves to evoke the moral compass of his audience (both the English and the Irish) and initiate thought about more practical solutions to the many problems plaguing 18th century Ireland.…
Sometimes, in life, a person can be influenced and pressured by societies standards. In “We Ate the Children Last,” Yann Martel, the protagonist was influenced by his medical team to get a trial surgery that will change his life. The narrator, Patient D, was pressure by his doctors then the poor and lastly, the rest of society. His response to those influences was positive as he escaped from the horrors of the world. For one thing, the narrator was impacted by the French Medical Team as his cancer was terminal and the transplant was his only option.…
Ireland’s Despair in Poverty Although still problematic in some parts of the world, the idea of poverty and famine cease to cross the minds of most people today. The issue certainly remains persistent in Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay “The Modest Proposal” regarding Ireland’s vast amount of female beggars along with three to six children each (63). A solution provided in the text includes children, one year of age, be sold for cannibalism and the production of clothes or shoes out of skin. Provided the proposal is concrete with proper calculations and supportive claims, it is wise to consider an alternate solution due to the health concerns related to the practice of humans consuming other humans. Despite the limited effect of protection used in this era, individuals may obtain a slight amount…
Also, he states that he is not bent on his real ideas alone to fix the problem. Therefore, he says if there are any better ideas, that others should do it. He did not refute the opposing claims to leave room for those who may have better ideas than Swift and therefore, he is not so bent on his ideas. The weakness in Swift’s argument is that it does not account for how the people would feel about helping the poor. They may not feel the need to do anything for the poor; such as feeding them or giving them food.…
Jonathan Swift was a famous author whose works greatly influenced society during the Enlightenment period. Swift was a satirist who wrote a lot about the English monarchy, who was confiscating parts of Irish land to sell them to English families. At this time the Protestants and Catholics did not get along. The Protestants did everything they could to prevent the Catholic religion from growing by depriving them of what American’s see as basic rights today. This issue was crucial for Swift because he was a protestant born to an English family.…
Throughout the passage, Swift uses calculations he made to not only prove his credibility as a narrator but the credibility of the proposal. In one particular section, Swift lists the six advantages to his proposal. In this list, Swift is able to continue his appeal to every citizen of Ireland. He criticizes the papists, offers money to the poor, shows the economic gain, the relief of burdens on poor families, the refinement of the meat in recipes for the wealthy, and a social improvement for the commoners and poor. The proposal of eating infants seems less absurd, and in fact, it would greatly help improve Ireland.…
My first honest reaction to reading Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” was repulsion. Once I read, “a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food” my stomach turned (Swift). Call me soft, conservative, stubborn, or what you may, but I cannot appreciate something of this topic. I cannot understand why someone would take the time to write something like this, even considering the era in which it was written. Eating babies and children contains no humor and the detail in which Swift used made it even further nauseating.…
In clergyman Johnathan Swift’s essay, A Modest Proposal, Swift presents a proposal that small children should be sold for food. Swift supports his proposal by providing examples of how selling the small children would be beneficial, describing how his proposed system would be set up, and also by supporting his proposal with logical evidence that shows he spent time creating a well-crafted argument. Swift’s purpose is to present an absurd proposal in order to show how absurd the poverty level in Ireland. He hopes to inspire an improvement in the country with the repeal of many penal laws set by Ireland’s mother country England.…
Introduction: An Irish author, clergyman and satirist, Jonathan Swift, described the economic inequality in Ireland and England. His purpose on this satirical essay regarding cannibalism is to bring awareness to the discrimination amongst the undervalued. On the other hand, the English philosopher, Francis Bacon, expresses intellectual fallacies people were believing in his time. Bacon's intention was to highlight the corruption, illusions, and error these people were not realizing at the time. He wanted people to recognize the fallacies they were believing, so they could understand true reality.…
The book I chose to read and to write my paper on was “Consuming Kids: Protecting our Children from the Onslaught of Marking and Advertising” by Susan Linn. This book seemed the most interesting to me after reading the descriptions of the other two books to choose from. I chose this book because, I myself care about the well-being of children. I really dislike how marketers target children and use them to sell more and more products. I felt like this book is a great way to learn about how marketing affects children and also their families and how to prevent it from happening.…