Irony You use verbal irony whenever you say one thing, but mean something completely different. When you speak, your tone of voice signals listeners that you don’t really mean what you are saying. Writers don’t have the option of using a sarcastic tone of voice to convey irony. Instead, they might make so many shocking or unbelievable statements that the reader can’t possibly miss the point (SATIRE).

Satire Satire is a literary technique in which people’s behavior or society’s institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of bringing about social reform. Swift uses a mocking, ironic tone to comment on specific political and cultural concerns that angered and offended him.

While we Read… Although “A Modest Proposal” is a satire, it is written like a serious problem-solution essay. It identifies a problem AND a solution. Problem: Proposition to solve problem: Support for proposition (textual evidence): - These children can help feed and clothe thousands” (543)