University College Dublin

If one were to wander the streets of the Irish capital today, they would witness signs of urban decay, homelessness, drug abuse and uneducated, impoverished youths floating aimlessly around the inner city, left to fend for themselves by the Irish state. In relating to such, it is still incomprehensible that one of the greatest pieces of satire ever composed, Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ is still as relevant today in society as it was 285 years ago. Written in 1729, in an era of Irish…

Throughout his short story “A Little Cloud,” James Joyce considers the ramifications of remaining sedentary in Dublin through his characters Little Chandler and Ignatius Gallaher. That Little Chandler and Gallaher seem so antithetical, despite their proximity and similar upbringings, invites the reader to question whether Joyce intends to insinuate that success is only possible outside of Dublin, and that ambition and Celtic nationalism are incongruous. Having left Ireland at twenty years old,…

stories, “Ivy Day in the Committee Room,” “A Mother,” and “Grace,” focuse exclusively on public life. In Joyce’s eyes, public life in Dublin was run by politics, art, and religion. While each of these stories takes on a different subtopic of public life, they share an overarching theme. “Ivy Day in the Committee Room,” “A Mother,” and “Grace” suggest that public life in Dublin is driven by the connection of politics, art and religion, and that that connection is falling apart. Joyce begins his…

Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal certainly carries a very strong impact and is a powerful piece of writing that can leave an audience stunned. It is a satirical narrative, about overpopulation and famines in Ireland, and Swift’s opinion on what can be done to solve it. The “proposal” he had in mind was that people simply fatten up and eat the children, because he believes that they serve no purpose and in actuality are merely contributing to the complication at hand. Swift also uses…

The restoration period was an era of poetry. Poetry was mainly used to increase knowledge. Satire is a literary manner which blends a critical attitude with humor and wit for the purpose of improving human institutions or humanity. Its function was to acknowledge a problem in society and attempt to reform the problem in a comical manner while still educating the public. Johnathan Swift was the godfather of satire. A Modest Proposal is a prime example of satire used throughout the era of…

An Extreme and Convincing Proposition Brittany Moletz Argument and Research Professor Gardner September 18th, 2015 In 1729, Jonathan Swift released “A Modest Proposal” in order to take a satirical approach to the serious problems that were occurring in Ireland during the eighteenth century. The political pamphlet begins with his version of people walking through the streets of a small Irish town. Unfortunately, the paths are filled with malnourished beggars fluctuating in ages from the…

In the 18th century, during the height of the British Empire, Ireland had become subject to deplorable conditions under the rules and regulations of England because they were predominantly Catholic (Baker). Life for catholics in Ireland during this time was difficult. Jonathan Swift wasn’t first author which wrote about this issue, several authors tried to show the truth, but they were ignored. But in 1720 Swift broke nearly 20 years of silence to develop rapidly into the strongest voice of…

“A Modest Proposal,” a treatise written by Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, is a social commentary that criticizes the apathetic attitude of England towards the Irish poverty crisis under the guise of a logistically sound yet ethically decrepit solution. Drawing attention to the issue through the proposal’s sheer absurdity, Swift constructs a targeted criticism of England’s apathetic attitude towards the state of Ireland under the guise of presenting cannibalism as a cure for poverty and…

com/articles/padraigpearse.htm) He was a nationalist and firmly believed that Ireland should be its own country. He was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (a group that wanted to use force to break the link with England). Pearse was executed at the age of 36 in Dublin, Ireland. After his death, he became the personification of the uprising against England. (White, E-Study Guide For: Terrorism and Homeland Security) 2. How did he come into a position of power or influence?…

Journal Example on “A Modest Proposal”, by Jonathan Swift Style: Swift’s use of Satire to Drive his Point Swift’s use of satire is what truly makes his message so powerful. I can imagine that there were many do-gooders at the time breathlessly trying to convince the greedy British government that they need to act at solving the humanitarian crisis in Ireland, but that none likely got quite as much airtime as Swift’s outlandish essay. Through satire he must have shocked the upper class into…