1. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Feature Menu
Introducing the Selection
Literary Focus: Verbal Irony
Reading Skills: Recognizing Persuasive Techniques

2. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

3. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.
—Ernst Fischer (1899–1972)

4. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Opening Others’ Eyes
What if you had good ideas for solving a terrible social problem, but no one would listen to you?
How would you get people’s attention?

5. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift faced such a situation in the late 1720s, when starvation was widespread in Ireland.
Irish harvests had been poor for years.
Farmers couldn’t pay the rents demanded by their English landlords.
Beggars and starving children filled the streets.
England’s policies kept the Irish poor.

6. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Appalled by the misery in Ireland, Jonathan Swift set out to make the English more responsive to their neighbors’ suffering.
He wrote a pamphlet—a shocking satire that offered an outrageous “solution” to the problem of famine.
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7. A Modest Proposal Literary Focus: Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but really means something quite different—usually the exact opposite.
You overslept, forgot to feed the dog, and are coming down with a bad cold. Someone asks you how you’re doing, and you respond, “Just great. I wish every day could be just like this one.” You have just used verbal irony.

8. A Modest Proposal Literary Focus: Verbal Irony
Writers cannot depend on tone of voice to convey sarcasm, so they often use irony to make their point.
It will be most beneficial to student athletes if they are allowed to coast through school. After all, why take up precious space in their brains with math or social studies when they have a whole playbook to memorize? Getting a college degree is overkill when you already know how to protect a quarterback, shoot free throws, or pitch a shutout.
Is this writer being sarcastic? How can you tell?

9. A Modest Proposal Literary Focus: Verbal Irony
The irony in Swift’s essay begins with the title: “A Modest Proposal.”
Here the word modest means “not bold; limited in size, amount, or scope.”
You’ll find that Swift’s proposal is anything but modest. To the contrary, it is outrageous and extreme to the point of absurdity.
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10. A Modest Proposal Reading Skills: Recognizing Persuasive Techniques
“A Modest Proposal” is a classic example of persuasive writing used for the purpose of satire.
Watch for these persuasive techniques:
Logical appeals use evidence such as facts or statistics to support a position.
Emotional appeals use words that arouse strong feelings.
Ethical appeals establish the writer’s sincerity and qualifications.

11. A Modest Proposal Reading Skills: Recognizing Persuasive Techniques
As you read, note some of the persuasive techniques and their ironic effects using a chart like this one:
Passage
Type of Appeal
Irony
“. . . of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couples whose wives are breeders ”
logical (uses statistics)
The word “breeders” is dehumanizing, yet Swift is actually making the point that women are human beings, not animals.
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12. A Modest Proposal Background
Swift makes his proposal all the more outrageous and forceful by
assuming the voice of a practical economic planner
pretending to be objective, sensible, and kind
using a straightforward, sober style while presenting appalling content

13. A Modest Proposal Background
Ultimately, Swift is protesting against England’s lack of compassion for the poor in Ireland.
According to Swift, a numerical or statistical view of poverty is unethical; it reduces people to breeders and babies to meat.
Swift uses statistics in his “proposal” as a satirical device.
He risks appearing as a monster himself in order to expose the monstrous behavior of others.
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14. Vocabulary

15. A Modest Proposal Vocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary
sustenance n.: food or money to support life.
glutted v. used as adj.: overfilled.
deference n.: respect.
scrupulous adj.: extremely careful and precise in deciding what is right or wrong.
censure v.: condemn.
expedient n.: convenient means to an end.

16. A Modest Proposal Vocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary
digressed v.: wandered off the subject.
procure v.: obtain; get.
brevity n.: being brief; shortness.
animosities n. pl.: hostilities; violent hatreds or resentments.

17. A Modest Proposal Vocabulary
Vocabulary Activity: Intensity Chart
You can understand a word better by comparing it with other words that have similar meanings.
One way to compare words is to pair them according to intensity of meaning:
High Intensity
Low Intensity
scrupulous
careful
expedite
plan

18. A Modest Proposal Vocabulary
Vocabulary Activity: Intensity Chart
Fill out the chart using the Vocabulary Words listed.
glutted deference censure animosities brevity digressed
High Intensity
Low Intensity
criticize
admiration
full
High Intensity
Low Intensity
dislike
turned
curtness
censure
animosities
deference
digressed
glutted
brevity
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19. Meet the Writer

20. A Modest Proposal Meet the Writer
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was born in Dublin of English parents. As a child, Swift was abducted by his nurse and taken to England for three years. He was later returned to Ireland, where he was cared for by his uncle. As an adult, Swift regarded himself as more English than Irish.
More About the Writer
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