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Grace Maloney
Ms. Thompson
AP Lang Block 1, Skinny B
March 30, 2015
Swift Draft 2
Satirical Writings
In the early eighteenth century, several European countries were seriously
struggling- financially, economically, health-wise, et cetera- and Ireland was definitely
not exempt from this. Throughout the early 1700s, the Irish had a huge drought, which
led to major crop failure and, ultimately, loss of money, food, and even people. Although
thousands of Irish citizens starved to death, Irelands neighbors, the wealthy, land-owning
English, were ignoring their struggles and not looking for a way to help. As a politically
satirical author and poet, Jonathon Swift wrote A Modest Proposal to catch the
Englishs attention through its absurdity, so that England might aid Ireland in its
desperate time of need. Throughout the text, Swift makes his point of the English needing
to act through his straightforward and simplistic organization, business- like yet ironic
tone, and absurd imagery.
In paragraphs 20 through 26, Swift outlines the advantages to his proposal- sell
and eat most of the Irish children once they reach the age of one- using a straightforward
organization. Almost like a list, Swift lays out six Advantages to eating the children.
Through his simplistic style in these paragraphs, Swift straight out says for first,
secondly, fifthly, sixthly, and the like to make this completely absurd idea seem
like an actual business plan (Swift 413). However, Swift of course did not actually want

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the readers (the English) to believe his idea was brilliant and worthy; he wanted the
readers to notice that if he could create this absurd of a plan to action, the English should
be able to come up with a REAL course of action to put the country in a better place.
Without the simplistic organization tied with the absurdity of eating the children, Swifts
ACTUAL purpose- to get the wealthy, landowning English to do something would never
have happened. Similar to organization, Jonathon Swift writes beautifully using a
businesslike tone with an underlining of serious irony. From the very beginning of the
essay, Swift lays it out to the reader by using language like I think the advantages by the
proposal which I have made are obvious and of the highest importance (Swift 413). In
this excerpt, he outlines real life reasons for why eating the children would be beneficial
to all citizens, and the country as a whole, including lessening the umber of papist, poor
tenants, will have something of value, kids are expensive, the population explosion
problem would be solved, etc. (Swift 413, 414). Swift writes with a tone and style that
makes what he is saying sound official and important through his natural stylistic flow of
claim to warrant to support, complete with real statistical evidence, or how this could
actually solve the countrys problems. Yet of course, it slowly becomes evident that this is
all situational irony.
Finally, if it were not for Swifts vivid (and disturbing) imagery, the situational
irony and REAL reasoning to eat the children would not be revealed to the reader. From
the very beginning of the essay, Swift slowly slips in little glimpses to how his proposal
might actually look and disguises these sections in with the business- like talk/ diction.
From talking about a lavish feat complete with a one-year-old baby to the gross

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conditions of the poor, it was the imagery that really let the reader know of the real
purpose to get the help of the English.
In conclusion, Swift was a brilliant writer, and without his use of rhetorical
devices, like diction, style, organization, tone, and imagery, and his point would not have
been evidence to the reader.