ELA 10 H - “AMP”

[Layla Dang]

In “A Modest Proposal,” by Jonathan Swift, he employs a rational tone to discuss Ireland’s economic problems, and the absurd solutions that came with solving them. The tone can be seen as satirical, and critiques British policies and the attitudes of the wealthy towards the poor. Swift’s essay is written logically and contrasts the unbelievable resolution of selling and consuming the infants of Ireland due to overpopulation problems, and the poor being worth less than the wealthy. In the essay, it states, “A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food.” The detached manner in which describing a child as a food product dehumanizes the infant and makes readers feel uncomfortable, and even impacts the audience in a greater way. Swift’s exaggeration proposes the real absurdity and cruelty of the policies and attitudes of the time. Also, enhancing the satirical message forces readers to think and unveil the logic used to justify exploitation and neglect, making his critique of British policies, and societal attitudes more powerful and memorable.

[shelby m]

In Jonathan Swift's narrative, "A Modest Proposal", he discusses the idea of comparing poverty and wealth to feeding children like animals. On the first page, one quote talks about making children more useful members of society, and later on talks about fattening them up and eating them or turning their flesh into clothing and accessories. The main type of satire used in this entire essay is Juvenal because of how morbid and gross his examples are and how they make the reader feel. One sentence from the text says, "We should see an honest emulation among the married women, which of them could bring the fattest child to the market. Men would become as fond of their wives during the time of their pregnancy as they are now of their mares in foal, their cows in calf, or sows when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them (as is too frequent a practice) for fear of a miscarriage" (Swift 10). I find this quote very interesting because it speaks a lot about how people think of children or animals if wealth and power is involved.

[Timothy Wu]

In Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, the ironic tone amplifies the satire of a shocking solution he presents to Ireland’s economic problems. Swift says that Irish families in poverty should sell their babies as food to the rich and wealthy. Obviously this should’ve been taken ironically rather than literally as no one would actually eat babies. The ironies that Swift uses achieves things such as criticizing the landlords who have exploited the Irish peasantry. For instance, “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children”(Swift 7). This quote shows how the landlords are wealthy while the majority of the Irish families are impoverished due to the exploitation. Swift also uses irony to point out the hypocrisy of the English government as they treat the Irish very poorly. This can be seen in the beginning of the writing, “...that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas, too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expense than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breasts” (Swift 6). In this quote, Swift picked on the wealthy in England by saying that they’ve sacrificed the poor Irish through exploitation. This highlights how the English government treated and landlords treated the Irish like a piece of garbage, caring only about their own wealth instead of people’s lives. At last, the ironic tone in “A Modest Proposal” makes the satire effective by showing the reality of the issues based on the Irish poor and the English government.

[Lauren Park]

In the short story “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, he uses an ironic tone to amplify the satire of the economic problems of Ireland using sarcasm and exaggeration. He suggests that the economic condition of the country can be improved by eating infants and fattening them for sale. An example of sarcasm shown in satire states “Infant’s flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after” (Swift, 7). This also explores the idea of Juvenelian satire while also showing how infants are being prepared to be eaten.