Text 22- A Modest Proposal

Text 22- A Modest Proposal

1. Contexts of production

   • A peice of Satire written by Jonathon Swift suring the 18th Century famine in ireland
   • Humorously puts forward the idea of cannibalism as a solution for the famin, suggesting also a mockery of the government and society of the time.
   • Draws attention to the nature of the rich and the English, who controlled Ireland during this period, and exploited the famine for their own gain
   • Purpose is to pursuade, social commentary, Rhetorical, Argumentative
   • Poor/Rich people in he 18th century and government/polititions
   • Draws attention to the pronlem in Ireland through the use of dark humour
   • Irish are generally roman catholics, meaning they have a lot of children

2. Form and Stucture

   • Prose essay form, full of unsound evidence to convince people of the merits of using children as food
   • Argument begins by calculating the number of children born each year in ireland, and points out that they are unfit for employment, therefore the population is a burdern to the state.
   • Moves onto the acutual proposal, concludes that children should be eaten
   • Writen from first person perspective, use of 'we' includes the reader, suggesting them to be a part of the government, persuding them to make a change.

3. Word Choice and grammar

   • Words from the lexical field of economics have been used, making the text seem legitimate and a political proposal
     • The statistics back up his arguement and he employs a rational tone
   • Text is written as though a political peice of writing, highlighted by the complex sentences are use of paragraphing. The syntax makes the text formal, as does the structuing.
   • No colloquial language is used, however shorter sentences are often used as a form of emphasis
   • 'Humbly Propose' juxtaposes against actual idea
   • 'male' and 'females'- back to savages
   • Lengthy complex sentences- intended to shock the audience as they are filled with detail
   • The food will be expensive- will suit landlords as they are the cause of the problem
     • 'Devoured most of the parents' metaphorical reference
   • Archaic Language- 'hitherto' 'Repine'
   • Solution to the problem is extreme- intended to shock the audience into realising the seriousness of the problems in Ireland

4. Figurative Language

   • Dehumanisation- people often referred to as stock at the beinning of the text. Women are reffered to as breeders
   • Men and women from upper class can wear the chidlren- he blames them for the famine