A Modest Proposal

Gavin Addeo

Mrs. McGinn

AP Language and Composition

11 October 2016

"A Modest Proposal" Journal

The speaker clearly has pride for his or her country. Clearly proud of his or her idea and all the sense it makes. Due to prior knowledge of this piece, I am aware it is satire (I wish I could've had the chance to read this believing it is a serious proposal). The speaker proposes many advantages to the plan. Murdering innocent children of whom the mother cannot take care is eliminated. Children now are no longer burdens to their parents; they are now contributing to society. Uses math and logos to support his claim of the usefulness of the proposal. Proceeds to suggest skinning children and making clothes and such outs of them. Begins to list advantages. Goes through them. In the speaker's head, there is no flaw in the logic.

II.

1. The proposal is not a modest one, it is absurdly outlandish and suggests something that is the opposite of modest. Words like small, reasonable, sensible, and more appear in the paper to describe it. It is a proposal, not in the marital sense, in that it suggests an idea, in this case to fix a problem. The paper constantly attempts to back up the main proposal with facts and logic about why it makes sense.  
2. The speaker appears to love his or her country very much. The speaker is very serious and fact based which is contrasted by the absurd idea. Swift is critical of the lifestyle the people there must live and his views are separate from those of the speaker. The speaker's audience is people who are willing to make the proposal a possibility. The audience is also the people affected by it, because the speaker explains the logic. Swift's audience is both the English ruling party and everyone. He attempts to raise awareness to the problem, thus exposing England.

III.

S: proposing selling children to solve Ireland’s problem

O: Ireland is poorly treated by England and this problem needed exposure

A: England, to show the moral injustice that existed

P: Irish are treated terribly by the English.  This paper exposes those problems

S: Unnamed person who proposes idea

Gavin Addeo

Mrs. McGinn

AP Language and Composition

11 October 2016

An Unmodest Proposal

        In the most famous piece of satirical writing, Jonathan Swift employs various writing styles to expose the problems Ireland was facing with the mistreatment they received from England. He employs a speaker that is separate from himself to give a different view. This other speaker takes the "modest proposal" with utmost seriousness and proposes numerous points and reason why the idea makes sense and solves Ireland's financial problems. Swift brilliantly uses this strategy to write perfect satire.