A modest proposal – SOAPSTone

Subject
-The idea that is presented in "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is to use
one year old babies as a source of food and clothing due to the famine in
Ireland.
-The Proposal is about what the benefits and outcomes of eating babies will be.
For example, one of the benefits of his proposal is that the Irish economy will
greatly improve.
-In his proposal, Swift uses satire, which is the proposal of eating babies, to try
to persuade the readers that they have to start doing something about the
famine in Ireland.

Occasion
-"A modest Proposal" was first written as a pamphlet in 1729.
-3 years before writing the proposal, he wrote a prose satire, "Gulliver's
Travels".
-When this piece was written, Ireland was in a bad state due to England
exploiting the people of Ireland.
-Swift was angry at England for exploiting Ireland, although he was also angry
at Ireland for not standing up for their country.

Audience
-The Audience of the Proposal is the people living in Ireland.
-In the proposal, Jonathan Swift is persuading the people of Ireland to start
fighting back against England for exploiting Ireland, which was causing the
famine.
-Most of the audience objected Swift's proposal and believed that it was rude,
including the Queen.

Purpose
-The purpose of the proposal was to and persuade Ireland to rally against
England for exploiting them.
-Another motive for writing "A modest Proposal" was that Swift was enraged at
Ireland for not standing up to England.
-Swift's anger intensified when England exiled him to Ireland, which caused him
to write the Proposal.
-Swift wants the readers to be informed and motivated to revolt against
England.

Speaker
-Jonathan Swift is the author of "A Modest Proposal", however, the speaker is
an unknown Irish man.
-Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1667.
-He was known as a Satirist and he believed that human nature was flawed, but
he still loved people.
-Throughout his lifetime, he suffered from a brain and ear disease. Near the end
of his life, he suffered a stroke.
-In 1745, Jonathan Swift died.

Tone
-Swift appealed to the readers in the proposal by using a sarcastic tone.
-His sarcastic tone is shown when he adds,"I rather recommend buying the
children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife as we do roasting pigs".
-Throughout the story, his tone chances to an aggressive tone.
-He starts to use an aggressive tone when he talks about the advantages of his
plan and how no one should disapprove of his idea.