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Lesson: Modest Proposal

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

 Write definitions for Vocabulary

 Sustenance- Providing the means of survival

 Deference- Having empathy for other feelings

 Digress- Loss focus ion a cause or objective

 Burthen- Burden

 Importuning Alms- The act of begging consistently and urgently

 Raiment- Expensive and decorative clothing.

 Towardly- Promising or Pleasant

 Probationer- An individual in a new position such as in a job.

 Papist- Roman Catholic.

 Repine- an expression of dissatisfaction or unhappiness

 Flay- A condition or situation of criticizing and issues

 Expedient- Means to an end

 Mandarins- powerful and influential officials

 Vintner- An individual in selling wine

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 Parsimony- Extreme miser or a person that does not want to share with others.

 After You Read, Textbook Pg. 13

Comprehension

1. Recall What is Swift’s proposal for easing poverty in Ireland?

The proposal addresses the Ireland government and proposes the solution to

reduce poverty if for Irish to eat children

2. Recall How will the proposal benefit Irish parents?

The proposal according to Swift benefits parent since the burden and excess

responsibility of raising their children will be removed. Also, they will earn enough

money by selling the children to help them own property and live a decent live.

3. Clarify Reread lines 222–229. Why does Swift feel that his proposal is superior to others

that have been put forward?

Swift feels that his proposal is superior since it is new, soli and real, and presents the

current situation of social problems and solutions. It shows that there is no expense, simple ideas

to implement, and the power rest on the affected groups hand to fight for changes.

Text Analysis

4. Examine Verbal Irony What verbal irony does Swift use in each of the following parts

of “A Modest Proposal”?

• The title of the essay

The tittle of the essay is ironic since the proposal is not modest. It is misleading the

readers to believe otherwise and can take it literary and practice the issues raised as the reality

instead of using them to reinforce protest for equality.

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• lines 59–60 (“I shall now . . . least objection.”)

The lines are ironic since Swift proposed thoughts are not humbly presented.

• lines 135–145 (“Some persons . . . evils to come.”)

The lines are ironically presented as Swift victimizes those that are believed to suffer

from inequality in the society and paint a bad picture of evil to people that subject the poor to

hardship despite having the resources and means to support them.

5. Interpret Satire Instead of directly attacking injustice and flawed behavior, Swift uses

irony to convey his ideas indirectly. What conclusions would you draw about his attitude

toward each of the following?

• Irish landlords (lines 79–81)

Swift dislike the Irish landlords since they are group that are money hungry and selfish.

They accumulate wealth from the peasant hard work and pay them small wages that cannot

sustain their basic needs.

• The way most English and Irish Protestants view Irish Catholics (lines 82–89)

They view Irish catholic as disposable and expandable since they are too many of them.

• Irish Protestants living abroad (lines 149–155).

Swift attitudes towards the protestant living abroad support the enemy and promote

poverty and that they are coward to face the reality by fleeing their country.

6. Evaluate Proposition and Support Review the chart you created as you read.

Regardless of your emotional response to the essay, do you consider the proposal to be

well supported? Explain why or why not.

The proposal that Swift provides is well supported. He has a list of different

convincing advantages to the proposed ideas on ending poverty. It includes having less
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Baptist, increase stock by 50,000 pounds yearly for each child asset. Also, people will

own property, increase breeders as mother will give birth and sell children which would

increase customs and business. However, if the proposed ideas are practical it will have

these mentioned advantages.

7. Compare Texts Recall that on page 609, you learned the difference between Horatian

and Juvenalian satire. Compare the tone of The Rape of the Lock with the tone of “A

Modest Proposal.” Why is Pope’s poem considered Horatian and Swift’s essay

considered Juvenalian? Support your answer with examples from the texts.

Pope’s poem is considered Horatian due to its use of consistent with and irony to

provide the issues of conflict over material possestion and power. On the other hand

Swift’s essay is juvenalian since it is addressing the evil of the society in savage and

pessimistic manners with sarcasm and irony such as selling children for food to reduce

poverty in the society.

Text Criticism

8. Historical Context The 18th century is often called the Age of Reason because advances

in science and technology fueled belief that governments could apply rational thought to

solve many social problems. Swift, a traditionalist, was often skeptical of new ideas. In

what ways does “A Modest Proposal” reflect this attitude?

Swift traditionalist aspect provides skeptical of new ideas that are still facing Irish

people which is poverty. The government understands the condition of the people,

exploitation, and hardship, but remains inactive to find solution to social problem. Swift

proposal raises question and opposition which provides the people with a reason to

rethink other alternatives to solve poverty without selling children.

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How can we fight injustice?

Based on “A Modest Proposal,” Swift’s satirical response to the problem of poverty in Ireland,

do you think satire is an effective means of fighting injustice? Why or why not?

The use of satire provides an ironic situation on poverty problem. The proposal of selling

the children to reduce poverty and improve life is effective to fight injustice as it is uncommon

aspect and against the beliefs of seeing children suffer due to poor governance and incompetence

of government to improve the lives of its citizen.

Summarize the story

Swift’s essay "Modest Proposal" is ironically and savagely written to portray that then

situation involved in socioeconomic issues in Ireland. It proposed finding an easy, fair, and

cheap method to help the starving children in Ireland into proper and useful members of the

common wealth. It indicates that poor Catholics children across the country are living in

impoverished conditions since the families have no access to basic resources to keep the children

fed and clothed. The proposal will help reduce number of Catholics, allow poor to pay rent,

relieve poor parent from the hardship of nurturing children, and improving the life of people

which will prevent increasing number of poor people in streets, abortion, and extreme poverty.

The main point the modest proposal provides is that to eliminate and ease poverty in Irish

population, the poor families should sell their babies as food to sustain the remaining members.

It is a ridiculous idea used to make the point on the situation of Irish people. It is an irony that

wealth people mostly the landowners are treating the Irish in an inhumane way without

considering their wellbeing and are forced to sacrifice all they have to survive.
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The main point of A Modest Proposal is that to ease poverty among the Irish, they should sell

their babies as food. He proposed this ridiculous idea to make a point about how wealthy

landowners treat the Irish.