A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

Often in persuasive writing, it is notable that authors – in accordance to their personal experiences, historical contexts, and insights – write in order to increase their readers’ awareness about the socioeconomic, political and cultural outcomes that have shaped the present world. Similarly, Johnathan Swift in his essay titled “A Modest Proposal Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to Their Parents, or Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Public”– stood as being very persuasive and attempts to educate his readers about the appalling socio-political situation in Ireland under the British administration around the early 1700s. Although dark and bitter, Swift’s satire is recognized as one of the finest pieces of satirical writing in American literature as it excelled in several areas such as the ideological and physical structure, the tactical usage of stylistics devices, and the presence of relevant evidence to support and reinforce his ingenious solution to end misery in Ireland. Nevertheless, Swift failed to properly acknowledge the …show more content…
Throughout Swift’s satire, it became evident that the objections he examined and poorly answered to were weak and somewhat easy to debunk. Therefore, there was insufficient, unclear and questionable information on the counterarguments he outlined. It is also important to realize that his original intentions, which were to restore equality and prevent further England’s exploitation, failed miserably as Ireland remained under the British management for another hundred years. Lastly, his proposal does not demonstrate complementarity and its actual implementation remained unclear, even though it does not reflect Swift’s personal judgment or interest (since his kids are too old to make money from) on how to solve Ireland’s political and social