Swift, Jonathan."A Modest Proposal." New York: Morrow, 1985. Rpt. in Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 354-361.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
End World Hunger: Eat Babies!
Jonathan Swift’s excerpt, A Modest Proposal is believed to be the most admirable selection of irony in the English language. Irony can defined as the opposition between the literal and intended meaning of a statement. In the passage, A Modest Proposal Jonathan Swift writes: “As to our city of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife as we do roasting pigs.” (A Modest Proposal 357) 
The following statement is ironic because the author is comparing an infant to an animal that can be cooked for dinner. Many of those who are Irish in the “kingdom” slave like animals for meager pay in return. The author makes this connection in order to emphasize the poor conditions and poverty of the Irish who live under British rule.
Swift, Jonathan."A Modest Proposal." New York: Morrow, 1985. Rpt. in Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 354-361.
Swift, Jonathan."A Modest Proposal." New York: Morrow, 1985. Rpt. in Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 354-361.
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It's crazy how he talks about infants as if they were animals and goes into detail about how to prepare them for dinner.
ReplyDeleteI really like the detail you went into with just a few sentences. He spoke so candidly about slaughtering young children and your blog really emphasised that, especially the quote you chose.
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