Draft to A Modest Proposal English 102

I believe that Swift’s article was an affective appeal because he uses his outrage he uses emotional logical and ethical appeal to persuade his audience to do something about the economic situation. I wanted to know more about what was going on so I found these articles in my research. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/388/     you have to copy and paste this is a 287 page down loadable book written by James Ward. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Ireland and http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_audience_of_Jonathan_Swift%27s_a_modest_proposal

At first reading I found the writing to be sarcastic but after researching the writer and the time of the writings. Swift may have been more serious than I imagined. I believe that this audience was the Irish government but it is actually the British government and the church a futile cry for help. Ireland had been invade by the church and England. The British greed did not care to hear the cries of the children. They became rich at the expense of the starving. Swift’s writing seems savage and the first look. “a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.”(Swift)  Which is more humane. To rear child to be eaten shortly after their first birthday or starving a lifetime.

Swift was calling on people to stop the insanity. “The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year.”(Swift)

  Calling those on who have the means to help to do so, but to no avail. Swift’s disgusting proposal is shouting “Hey, look how we are being treated in the name of Christ. Someone HELP!!!” Swift suggests to his audience there is little value of the Irish people at the time of his writing. The fact they are human was of little value to the British. Swift’s idea of marketing of the children at a year old, before they needed more than mother’s milk. After a year old it cost too much to feed them. There was no food. Swift is putting in the face of the church and British what they have done. While I believe Swift was being sarcastic, it does make me wonder if this reading maybe has given Gein and Donner some ideas for their main course. I believe Swift is really trying to shock the audience to take another look at the poor and do something to remedy the problem. I think Swift is making fun of the church, landlords and the wealthy. In a sick and sad way this proposal is logical. Swift gives many reasons that one is that child abuse will be less and a man would value wife because the man can profit off the child. There was little the Irish could do themselves at this point.

Cited work ;Ward, James Gearard (2004) Reading Swift and Ireland, 1720-1729 : constituences, contexts and constructions of identity in Jonathan