Analyzing Satire and Rhetoric in Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal'

This essay delves into Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal', examining how he employs satire as a persuasive rhetorical device to address the issue of poverty in Ireland and the government's ineffective response. The essay explores Swift's use of ethos, irony, and understatement to shock and persuade the audience. It highlights how Swift presents the dire conditions of the people and proposes a shocking solution to highlight the severity of the problem. The analysis also discusses the essay's structure, the use of persuasive techniques, and the impact of Swift's satirical approach in critiquing societal issues. The conclusion emphasizes the power of persuasion through writing to bring attention to generalized and diverted subjects by those in power. The essay cites several sources to support its arguments and provides a comprehensive understanding of Swift's literary techniques and their effectiveness.

Running Head: SATIRE AS PERSUASIVE RHETORIC IN JONATHAN SWIFT’S ‘A
MODEST PROPOSAL’
Satire as Persuasive Rhetoric in Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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SATIRE AS PERSUASIVE RHETORIC IN JONATHAN SWIFT’S ‘A MODEST
PROPOSAL’
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Persuasive Rhetoric in ‘A Modest Proposal’...................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
Works-Cited.....................................................................................................................................4

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SATIRE AS PERSUASIVE RHETORIC IN JONATHAN SWIFT’S ‘A MODEST
PROPOSAL’
Introduction
Persuasive rhetoric is not a new term but one 2000 years old concept in literature brought
about and explained by none other than Aristotle in his ‘Treatise’ as the process of pursuing the
readers and the audience about a particular subject. But, the process is not direct but mostly
pointing out the opposite or by pointing out the starkness of topic which convinces the reader to
think about it (Hedrick). In Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ published on 1729 is a
persuasive work by him written using the persuasive device of satire to emphasize on the subject
of poverty faced by Ireland and the government’s inefficacy towards it.
Persuasive Rhetoric in ‘A Modest Proposal’
Jonathan Swift known for being the master of satire during his time penned the work
using Cicero’ mode of persuasive rhetoric where we see him at fast laying out the condition of
the people and poverty that has bought them on the road begging to make sure they provide
bread to their children at the end of the day. But he does not simply lay down the fact, he points
towards the fact that the most worthy among the commonwealth will be the one who will be able
to solve the problem of the dreary sight of these children from the roads which is not good for
the image of their nation. By putting up this part he completes the first part of the process of
persuasion by proving the allegations. This is also known as ethos where the author proves his
authenticity for this description gathers the attention of the reader for they are inclined to believe
that he will be advising on the solution (Shorten).
The second part of the essay enumerating the detail about how these children not only
add to the grievances of the country at the moment but are most likely to grow up to become
thieves or worst become one of the contender to fight for the pretender.

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SATIRE AS PERSUASIVE RHETORIC IN JONATHAN SWIFT’S ‘A MODEST
PROPOSAL’
“They can very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing till they arrive at six years old.
Except where they are of towardly parts; although I confess they learn the rudiments much
earlier, during which time they can however be looked upon only as probationers…” (Swift, pp.
6)
So, in regard to the fact he becomes serious in his affair of writing where he ironically calls all
his work as being a diversion from important issues and puts up the proposal that the two major
problems of the nation- poor people and shortage of food can be solved with plan that he devised
(Lei and Wang). Here, he stuns the reader by saying that children aged one and less can be
bought up by wealthy landlords who can very well afford to buy these kids for ten shillings out
of which the parent can utilize two shillings on their kids and they will make for a really nice
meal for their family.
Conclusion
The use of persuasive rhetoric in ‘A Modest Proposal’ is not limited to the traditional and
classic devices but contains metaphors, understatement as well as irony as the center of the work.
The audience’s conscience is shaken and are made to think about the fact that the author has
deemed the use of the carcass as well flay of the children to be used to add to the fashion of the
ladies of the society. Persuasive elements in the text comes around completely showing the
power of persuasion which can be utilized by the writings to bring to attention the subjects which
are generalized and diverted by the people who are in power.

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SATIRE AS PERSUASIVE RHETORIC IN JONATHAN SWIFT’S ‘A MODEST
PROPOSAL’
Works-Cited
Hedrick, Elizabeth. "A Modest Proposal in Context: Swift, Politeness, and A Proposal for giving
Badges to the Beggars." Studies in Philology 114.4 (2017): 852-874.
Lei, Guo, and Wang Lan. "A Study of the Persuasive Arts in a Modest Proposal." Humanities
and Social Sciences 4.2 (2016): 60.
Shorten, Richard. "Reactionary rhetoric reconsidered." Journal of Political Ideologies 20.2
(2015): 179-200.
Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal & Other Short Pieces Including a Tale of a Tub." Secret-
satire-society.org. N.p., 2020. Web. 10 Jan. 2020.