a modest proposal is an ironic essay the author deliberately

A Modest Proposal and Other Satires

“a modest proposal” is an ironic essay: the author deliberately writes what he does not mean. what is the real thesis is there more than one.

His real thesis is that the British, by their treatment of the people in Ireland, are taking away from the Irish every good thing they might have. They are essentially "cannibalizing" the country on every level.

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What is the Real Thesis of a Modest Proposal

?“A Modest Proposal” is an ironic essay: the author deliberately proposes the opposite of what he means. What is the real thesis or argument? What is Irony? “A Modest Proposal” itself is ironic since no one can take the proposal seriously. This irony is clearly shown at the end of the story when Swift states that the proposal is not going to affect him since his children are grown and his wife is unable to have any more children. It would unfathomable to think that a human being would want to partake in eating another human being. Therefore, Swift obviously had no intention of perusing this proposal.In my opinion, the real thesis of this essay is generating attention to the poverty issue in Ireland.

Swift was drawing attention to the vast poverty issue that we all face all over the world. What are the “six points” Swift outlines in support of his “Modest Proposal? ” First, it will decrease the number of dangerous Catholics. Second, it will give the poor some property.

Third, it will increase the nation’s overall wealth. Fourth, the mothers will be free of the burden of bringing up children. Fifth, the new food will be welcomed in taverns and culinary circles.

Sixth, it will enhance the institution of marriage as women take better care of their infants so that they may be sold, and men will take better care of their wives so that their wives can make more babies to sell. What effect, do you think, the brutally no-nonsense tone of the “Proposal” has upon it’s readers? What (if anything) is the advantage of writing about a very serious social issue in a satirical way? To begin with, Swift says that the Irish should not be treated like animals, he compares them to animals, as in this example: “I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs. Also, to point out that disease, famine, and substandard living conditions threaten to kill great numbers of Irish. Swift’s “modest proposal” is how to solve the famine in Ireland and the social problems too. Swift says that many Americans have assured him that a healthy 1 year old child can be converted into a “nourishing and wholesome” dish to eat. This is how Swift comes up with a system of using some of the Irish children as an alternative food source, leaving many other children for breeding.He is very descriptive in the way that a child can be used in to feed a many people over a period of time.

He talks about the cost of “infant flesh” and also who exactly will be eating the “infant flesh”. He talks about how much it will cost and how money will be saved by cooking the children in many different ways. Obviously Swift is not being serious. He is using this “humor” to make a point. At first I was turned off but his writing, but then once I got more involved in the story and understood his humor, I actually enjoyed the reading.

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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Modest proposal #1, 5 comments:.

I may not be correct in my thought with this one, but I think Swift is not writing what he means because in reality his thesis is that no human problems can simply be solved with only sane or normal thinking. There has to be more to it. So in his writing it is almost as though he is being foolish with saying what he does not mean.

He doesn't really mean that people should eat babies, he is just making fun of the horrible living conditions and basically say,wow there really is no future for anyone so there is no point in bringing anyone else into this world if they have to live the way things currently are.

I think the real thesis is to grab society's attention. He comes across his point in a negative way in order to shed light on the real problems of the society. He wants people to think critically about their values, morals, and Ireland's economy. He doesn't really want people to eat babies, but the drastic proposal opens up eyes and calls for support in helping the social and economical problems of Irelend

I think that not only was Swift tring to get people's attantion to the conditions of the people in Ireland, but he was also making fun of the "civilized" society of the British Empire for allowing these conditions to pass. He refeers a lot to the British markets and the higher up people in a society that would be appaled of the idea of eating babies, yet he's making a connection to the fact that it is no better whether your eating them or letting them starve, your killing them.

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