A Modest Proposal

“A Modest Proposal" is an essay that uses satire to make its point. A satire is a literary work that attacks or pokes fun at vices, abuses, stupidity, and/or any other fault or imperfection. Satire may make the reader laugh at, or feel disgust for, the person or thing satirized. Impishly or sardonically, it criticizes someone or something, using wit and clever wording—and sometimes makes outrageous assertions or claims. The main purpose of a satire is to spur readers to remedy the problem under discussion. The main weapon of the satirist is verbal irony, a figure of speech in which words are used to ridicule a person or thing by conveying a meaning that is the opposite of what the words say.

Jonathan Swift wrote “A Modest Proposal” to call attention to abuses inflicted on Irish Catholics by well-to-do English Protestants. Swift himself was a Protestant, but he was also a native of Ireland, having been born (1667) in Dublin of English parents. His mother struggled to provide for him, however, so he was raised by his Uncle in order to have a better life. He was a member of the Anglo-Irish ruling class, so he received the best education possible in Ireland and became a dean of the St. Patrick Cathedral in Dublin. He wanted a position in England and considered his placement in Ireland as a form of exile.

Swift's Ireland was a country that had been effectively controlled by England for nearly 500 years. The Stuarts had established a Protestant governing aristocracy amid the country's relatively poor Catholic population. Denied union with England (meaning it could not have free access to the empire) in 1707 (when Scotland was granted it), Ireland continued to suffer under English trade restrictions and found the authority of its own Parliament in Dublin severely limited. Swift, though born a member of Ireland's colonial ruling class, came to be known as one of the greatest of Irish patriots. However, he considered himself more English than Irish. He was often ambivalent towards Irish politics. Eventually, he becomes more invested in the Irish situation due to its worsening state. “A Modest Proposal”, published in 1729 is in response to these debilitating conditions.

In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift satirizes the English landlords with outrageous humor, proposing that Irish infants be sold as food at age one, when they are plump and healthy, to give the Irish a new source of income and the English a new food product to bolster their economy and eliminate a social problem. He says his proposal, if adopted, would also result in a reduction in the number of Catholics in Ireland, since most Irish infants—almost all of whom were baptized Catholic—would end up in stews and other dishes instead of growing up to go to Catholic churches. Here, he is satirizing the prejudice of Protestants toward Catholics.

In the summary provided to you, you will see the major elements/breakdown of Swift’s satire. In pairs, or individually, answer the following questions: 1. What is Swift's attitude toward the beggars he describes in the opening paragraph? 2. Where do the speaker's allegiances lie in this essay? With what social groups does he identify himself? 3. What sort of persona does Swift create for the "author" of A Modest Proposal? 4. If Swift does not actually think the Irish people should eat their children, what does he think they should do? 5. Who is the audience of this work? 6. Who will be the beneficiaries of this "Modest Proposal"? 7. Find 2 examples of each appeal and explain their effect.

Writing Prompt Write a persuasive essay of your own that uses some of Swift’s rhetorical strategies. For example, you should adopt a persona or profess opinions that you do not hold as a way of strengthening your real arguments. In essence, you will be writing your own Modest Proposal regarding a current issue of your choice. The scope of your vision is entirely your own making – you can address topics that range from our current classroom situation to our state as a nation. As you begin to write your proposal, remember to use Swift’s devices – sarcasm, lampooning, and irony. Remember his chief appeal to credibility as well. Moreover, stick to the style, form, and structure of the original work.