I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs.

A Modest Proposal One of Swift’s most famous and best nationalistic essays Uses the persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos Employs Juvenalian satire named after the Roman satirist Juvenal at the end of the first century CE Juvenal and Swift are termed misanthropic satirists who believe that evil is rooted in man’s nature and the structure of society The misanthropic satirist (one who hates or distrusts mankind) finds life contemptible

Terminology ETHOS: an appeal based on the character of the speaker; an ethos-driven document relies on the reputation of the author PATHOS: an appeal based on emotion; advertisements tend to be pathos-driven LOGOS: an appeal based on logic or reason; scholarly documents are often logos-driven IRONY: a contrast between expectation and reality UNDERSTATEMENT: a technique of creating emphasis by saying less than is actually or literally true STEREOTYPE: an oversimplified image of a person, group, or institution

A view of poverty in the 1700s. . .

William Hogarth’s Gin Lane (1751) The lives of the poor are filled with disillusionment Notice: a child is run through on a skewer, the buildings are falling down, and everyone is intoxicated This highlights the abuse of the poor at the hands of the elite “The English are devouring the Irish”

The conditions in Ireland . . . Poor harvests led to poor revenue Farmers were unable to pay rent to their English landlords Starving children and beggars populated the streets Money was in short supply (England = $$) England’s policies kept the Irish poor.

Parody: the imitation of a work of literature, art, or music for amusement or instruction Usually uses exaggeration or inappropriate subject matter to make a serious style seem ridiculous Utilizes the role of the benevolent humanitarian to appear “practical” Readers see the contrast between its straightforward style and its appalling content Swift protests the purely statistical view of humanity

Use of Persuasive Appeals & Literary Devices Swift’s plan will eliminate abortion and infanticide (ethical/emotional) Children are an easily renewable food source (logical) Children are priced to sell (understatement) The proposal is called “modest” but is instead outrageous (verbal irony) The very idea of selling a child for food is a reversal of all that we value (situational irony) Swift mimics the language of business (parody) KEY IDEA: Swift claims that society as a whole, including the Protestants, the landlords, the tavern owners and wine merchants, and the poor themselves will benefit. In truth, the poor would suffer horrendously.

Not a single sentence deviates from the essay’s bitter tone Its persuasive power lies in its irrefutable indictment of Irish and English indifference and sheer folly in the face of unspeakable injustice and misery Its immediate attraction is its wildly original and creative idea

An actual plan to solve Ireland’s problems was suggested by Irish patriot, Colonel Edward Despard Despard suggested that he could solve the country’s problems through a separation of the sexes Swift satirically proposed that the Irish institute a system of regulated cannibalism Despard very seriously proposed racial suicide, which, had it been instituted, would have eliminated the entire Irish population in a few short generations In Colonel Despard’s suggestion, what had been ironic in Swift became theoretical truth, for it was seriously proposed