What kind of argument is a modest proposal

Those who are more thrifty as I must confess the times require may flea the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen. 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 very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer a refinement upon my scheme. But with due deference to so excellent a friend, and so deserving a patriot, I cannot be altogether in his sentiments; for as to the males, my American acquaintance assured me from frequent experience, that their flesh was generally tough and lean, like that of our school-boys, by continual exercise, and their taste disagreeable, and to fatten them would not answer the charge.

Then as to the females, it would, I think, with humble submission, be a loss to the publick, because they soon would become breeders themselves: And besides, it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure such a practice, although indeed very unjustly as a little bordering upon cruelty, which, I confess, hath always been with me the strongest objection against any project, how well soever intended.

Neither indeed can I deny, that if the same use were made of several plump young girls in this town, who without one single groat to their fortunes, cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at a play-house and assemblies in foreign fineries which they never will pay for; the kingdom would not be the worse.

Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed; and I have been desired to employ my thoughts what course may be taken, to ease the nation of so grievous an incumbrance. But I am not in the least pain upon that matter, because it is very well known, that they are every day dying, and rotting, by cold and famine, and filth, and vermin, as fast as can be reasonably expected.

And as to the young labourers, they are now in almost as hopeful a condition. They cannot get work, and consequently pine away from want of nourishment, to a degree, that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labour, they have not strength to perform it, and thus the country and themselves are happily delivered from the evils to come. I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return to my subject. I think the advantages by the proposal which I have made are obvious and many, as well as of the highest importance.

For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we are yearly over-run, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country, than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate.

And the money will circulate among our selves, the goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture. Fourthly, The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year.

Fifthly, This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns, where the vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for dressing it to perfection; and consequently have their houses frequented by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their knowledge in good eating; and a skilful cook, who understands how to oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please.

Sixthly, This would be a great inducement to marriage, which all wise nations have either encouraged by rewards, or enforced by laws and penalties. It would encrease the care and tenderness of mothers towards their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor babes, provided in some sort by the publick, to their annual profit instead of expence.

We should soon 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 sow when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them as is too frequent a practice for fear of a miscarriage.

Many other advantages might be enumerated. But this, and many others, I omit, being studious of brevity. The essay satirized other economic proposals of the time that Swift saw as treating people as commodities. That way no one will get hit by cars. Using this phrase is an effective way to put a spotlight on a problem or a situation that you consider worthy of ridicule.

Remembering the satirical suggestion that inspired the phrase—selling children as food—will help you to know if you or others are using it in a truly satirical way.

Swift wrote his satirical essay in a straight-faced manner, and most people offering a modest proposal today also try to sound serious in order to increase the humor. A modest proposal: if either manager even thinks about making any decisions based on pitch count, in game seven of the World Series, they should be shot without trial. Bacon Johnubacon October 31, A modest proposal: in recognition of the harassment all women will face in their lifetimes, we present each one at birth with a wolf companion.

Is a modest proposal used appropriately in the following sentence? In another year, stories about the strange new face of an A-list actress might draw chortles and cackles. Now-a-days it is the bankrupt who flouts, and his too confiding creditors who are jeered and laughed at. The king was struck with horror at the description I had given him of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made.

This leaves many Irish parents jobless or without decent jobs to support their children, so they spend all their time walking the streets to beg for money. Brian Dickerson, a free press columnist, does just that to bring the readers over to his side. Dickerson uses emotional appeal in a tricky way. He deffinatly needs a different approach to this situation. In conlusion, A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is a semi-good piece of work that attempts to solve the problems that face Ireland.

Throughout this article in my opinion the biggest flaw ,which ironically makes it famous, is the use of satirical writing to address the issues at hand. It unfortunaltly for me destroys his credibility and therefore prevents me from taking him seriously and therefor defeats the purpose of writing this article if no one takes it seriously in the first place. A few years after immigrating to the United States because their families believed they would find their fortune here, his Irish family moved back to Ireland in hopes of a better life.

They were met with only more hardships in their native country. His book shows the struggle and small joys of daily life with siblings, school friends, and the adults in his life. It also provides much insight into the way the people in Ireland lived at that time. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality.

The issue is that there is a growing number of poor and starving women and children living on the streets of Ireland that are a burden to the public and the country.

The context is that these homeless and starving women and children are left to fend for themselves on the streets. Jonathan Swift is making the argument from the point of a concerned citizen who has spent years among the poor in Ireland studying the situation and trying to come up with a solution.

Johnathan Swift used the example that those who visit Ireland and see the streets crowded with women and children that are beggars conclude that Ireland is a very poor, overpopulated country full of beggars and that they look down upon their country that is in such poor shape.

His bias is that as a citizen living in Ireland, he does not want to be looked down upon by other countries. His targeted audience seems to be the citizens of the country and those in higher up positions who The argument is in a way weak or flawed because of the sarcasm at hand.

Yes, it is full of satire , but in the following argument Swift builds up his proposal only to diminish the value of his argument by blatantly expressing the sarcasm in this piece.