A Modest Proposal Response - 846 Words

Modest Proposal Response Emily Pendyk Parsons AP English 11 December 18, 2011 Dear Mr. Smarmy: I am writing in response to your request of the elimination of Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† from the classrooms, libraries, and the school system as a whole. Let me begin by telling you that I took what you said into deep consideration, but after discussing with the work with some of the English teachers at Martin’s Groves Junior High School and conducting research on my own time, it’s become clear that Swift’s purpose of writing is not to encourage people to eat children, because it is satirical writing. I can reassure you that if Swift was really promoting cannibalism, I would remove it immediately from the curriculum. It is†¦show more content†¦For example, in paragraph 27, Swift claims one of the advantages of his proposal would be the improved treatment of wives by their husbands. Once the women are pregnant, the men see an important role of their wives in the economy. Their wives could potentially give bi rth to a fat, profitable child that could be worth a lot of money. This is humorous because Swift compares the men’s admiration towards their pregnant spouses to, â€Å"their mares in foal, their cows in calf, or sow when they are ready to farrow.† The comparison of children to livestock is completely absurd, but because Swift isn’t really proposing that to be true, it is a humorous situation. I hope you consider my explanation when you review Swift’s essay in the future, and understand the irony he uses in this purely satirical piece. My intentions in this response were strictly assisting you in understanding the purpose and techniques of Swift, and not offending you in any way, shape, or form. I appreciate your participation and concern in your child’s education, however I stand by the board’s decision to include â€Å"A Modest Proposal† in the curriculum, because it serves as a symbol of morality and decency against corruption thro ugh it’s use of self-mocking irony. I hope you agree. Sincerely, Dr. Fredrick F. Farquarie,Show MoreRelatedResponse To A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift Essay examples770 Words   |  4 Pagesmeasures, and proposals of desperate measures are often met with swift criticism if they are found to be without rational thought and merit. It is unlikely that anyone in their right mind would consider, for any amount of time, the proposal of rearing children, or properly raising them, as food to help alleviate poverty-stricken Ireland in 1729. Yet, Jonathan Swift’s suggestion was satirical brilliance, and it was a modest proposal for illuminating the cause of Ireland’s woes. The proposal was not actuallyRead MoreHardship in Ireland in A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift850 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"A Modest Proposal† written in 1729, he writes of the hardships faced by the lower class and proposes a solution to help it out. Living in Ireland, Swift witnessed many hardships suffered among the poor, such as stealing and begging. Howe ver, not too far away, the British royalty was living a lavish lifestyle, and by doing so, it was sucking the life out of the poor. Jonathan Swift saw this enormous unbalance of wealth and wanted to do something about it. Therefore, in his article, â€Å"A Modest Proposal†Read MoreModest Proposal Assignment Sheet958 Words   |  4 PagesAP English Language and Composition Ms. Bond Modest Proposal Assignment After reading Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† it is time for you to be the satirist. First think of a major problem in modern society (It can be a domestic or international struggle). Then create an absurd solution but effectively argue that solution with ethos, logos and pathos. Do not be afraid to experiment with so-called experts, fantastic statistics and confusing syllogism (when you come to a conclusion from two differentRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift813 Words   |  4 Pagesthe satirical piece â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† organized an outrageous proposal to the people of Ireland. In this pamphlet, Swift offered his personal views on how to overcome Ireland’s issue of overpopulation and poverty. By raising nationwide attention, Swift plan to shock the readers by emphasizing the idea of cannibalism as a way to deal with Ireland’s problems. Swift’s technique of audience, tone, and pathos help determine the advantages and disadvantages of â€Å"A Model Proposal†. To begin with, SwiftRead MoreA Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children Of Poor People1458 Words   |  6 Pagesin his works of literature is Jonathan Swift, whose hard-hitting essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick† is one of the most popular and analyzed texts within the world of satire, and truly makes one think about the art. One article that explores Swift’s use of satire within â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is Paddy Bullord’s â€Å"The Scriblerian Mock-Arts† This essay delves deeplyRead MoreThe Satirical Nature of Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal Essay example662 Words   |  3 Pages A Modest Proposal The satirical essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal† written and published in in 1729 by an Anglo- Irish man named Jonathan Swift, in response to the worsening conditions of Ireland, was one of his most controversial and severe writings of his time. The narrator in Swift’s essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal† argues for a drastic and radical end to poverty in Ireland. Swift’s proposal suggests that the needy, poor people of Ireland can ease their troubles simply by selling their children as food toRead More Self Representation and the Self-Defeating Speaker in Jonathan Swift1735 Words   |  7 Pagesdeath prepare! What has he left, and who’s his heir?† (153-154). This morally questionable response to the death of a friend is specifically placed to show the insincerity of the speaker. The speaker is, in this sense, self-defeating, but rather than reflecting on to Swift himself, as it does when he is his own speaker, it is projected outwards onto his frien ds and fellow poets. The speaker in â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is similarly indirectly self-defeating. As in â€Å"Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, D.S.PRead MoreEssay about A Swift Change Is Imminent1714 Words   |  7 PagesAt a first glance, a misogynist’s paradise is apparent when perceiving Jonathan Swift’s The Lady’s Dressing Room and a cannibalistic one in A Modest Proposal. However, Swift’s intricate feelings do not depict Ireland’s crude social convention, but rather for Swift’s revolutionary vitriolic satire, which permeates humanity’s blindness through political stand points. By using grotesque metaphors, to open the figurative eyes of the public, Swift’s poetry forced society to analyze the ways of livingRead MoreA Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift and Tartuffe by Moliere850 Words   |  3 PagesJonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, arranging marriages as seen in Moliere’s Tartuffe, or 3RD TEXT, it can all be considered some kind of commerce. The presence of commerce in Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is anything but modest, but nonetheless it is there and it does take a certain side on finding a solution for society’s main problems at that specific time. In the early 1700’s, conditions in Ireland slowly began to worsen, hence his satirical, scathing response to the lack of solvingRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1340 Words   |  6 PagesA Modest Proposal was written in the year 1729 by the famous satirist Jonathan Swift. In his work he outlines the pros of eating unwanted children of Ireland for economical benefits in a time of great poverty. While the reader can obviously discard the idea of eating children, in his proposal, in a roundabout way, Swift speaks to hard pressing issues of the time. The state of Ireland is well described by Swift in this piece. He speaks of woman who â€Å"instead of being able to work for their honest