"A Modest Proposal,” is about describing the sad fate of the poverty of the Irish who have to spend all of their time looking for food to give their kids. Mothers beg for money and food with a crowd of small children in their arms. The majority of the people are poor and not many are employed. Poverty drives the people of Ireland into crime. The whole story is very sad.
Rhetoric is defined as an art of finding ways of persuading an audience and that is one thing I noticed Jonathan Swift uses to make his proposal less serious, like when he describes infant’s meat as a sort of delicacy and that certain parts of a child’s body is particularly good to eat, especially for special occasions. Swift also comments that a child’s skin would make “admirable gloves for ladies” and “summer boots for fine gentleman”, which gives them a sense of a delicacy. His word choice of “admirable” and “fine” can be seen used aggressively towards the wealthy because of how they flourish from the poor. Swift also uses words that emphasize that the “babies” that are to be eaten and used for clothing are more of a delicacy in that they are worth “ten shillings.”
Jonathan Swift not only uses rhetoric to dehumanize the children throughout the proposal, he also uses his sarcastic tone, and idea of how ridiculous the proposal is to make his argument not serious. Jonathan Swift portrays the poor living standards in Ireland as well as the corruption in the social classes within “A Modest Proposal”. In the proposal, Swift recommends that women sell their children as commodities because they were unable to support their children. To me I feel that is awful, because a parent is supposed to find any way possible to protect their child and not give up.
Rhetoric is defined as an art of finding ways of persuading an audience and that is one thing I noticed Jonathan Swift uses to make his proposal less serious, like when he describes infant’s meat as a sort of delicacy and that certain parts of a child’s body is particularly good to eat, especially for special occasions. Swift also comments that a child’s skin would make “admirable gloves for ladies” and “summer boots for fine gentleman”, which gives them a sense of a delicacy. His word choice of “admirable” and “fine” can be seen used aggressively towards the wealthy because of how they flourish from the poor. Swift also uses words that emphasize that the “babies” that are to be eaten and used for clothing are more of a delicacy in that they are worth “ten shillings.”
Jonathan Swift not only uses rhetoric to dehumanize the children throughout the proposal, he also uses his sarcastic tone, and idea of how ridiculous the proposal is to make his argument not serious. Jonathan Swift portrays the poor living standards in Ireland as well as the corruption in the social classes within “A Modest Proposal”. In the proposal, Swift recommends that women sell their children as commodities because they were unable to support their children. To me I feel that is awful, because a parent is supposed to find any way possible to protect their child and not give up.
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