A Modest Proposal, a famous satire written by Jonathan Swift cunningly tells of the tragedy that is taking place in Ireland. Swift’s descriptive storytelling and whimsical tone bring life to this satire. These two reasons are why I chose to use A Modest Proposal as my text to analyze. To have a better understanding of how to analyze this satire the literary element of my choosing will be style, tone, and irony.
Style, tone, and irony each have specific distinct ways to allude the reader to what is actually going on but ever so slightly. On the first page, Swift leads the reader to interpret the town as a poor crime ridden area by using words such as beg, helpless, thieves, and horrid. When seeing just those four words appear, the tone is set, until a further change of events. Having a gloomy or depressing tone prepares the audience to sympathize with the protagonist, however, Swift’s unique writing style reduces or rather lightens the somber tone. An example of the shift of tone can be found in this quote, “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 fricasie, or a ragoust” (316). On my first reading, this statement left me baffled and threw my current understanding of …show more content…
However, after learning that A Modest Proposal was a satire the second reading was much more enjoyable. I was fully able to understand the irony of the few similar statements which only added to
Style, tone, and irony each have specific distinct ways to allude the reader to what is actually going on but ever so slightly. On the first page, Swift leads the reader to interpret the town as a poor crime ridden area by using words such as beg, helpless, thieves, and horrid. When seeing just those four words appear, the tone is set, until a further change of events. Having a gloomy or depressing tone prepares the audience to sympathize with the protagonist, however, Swift’s unique writing style reduces or rather lightens the somber tone. An example of the shift of tone can be found in this quote, “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 fricasie, or a ragoust” (316). On my first reading, this statement left me baffled and threw my current understanding of …show more content…
However, after learning that A Modest Proposal was a satire the second reading was much more enjoyable. I was fully able to understand the irony of the few similar statements which only added to