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Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Date A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Question One Jonathan Swift offers insights on different challenges that face the Ireland society that struggles to identify the distinction between economics and morality. The desire to strike a balance between moral consideration in decision making and the underlying financial difficulties in society elicits the controversy in rethinking their ways of life for working strategies towards eliminating poverty. Question Seven The readers accusing Swift of monstrous cruelty fail to identify the ironic intent that is supposed to pass a significant message to the people that will guide them towards financial freedom. Works Cited Swift Jonathan. A modest proposal and other satirical works. Courier Corporation 2012. [...]
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A Modest Proposal By Johnathan Swift Discussion Questions: 1. What implicit assumption about the treatment of the Irish underlies Swift's proposal? Do expressions such as "just dropped from its dam" (para. 4) and "whose wives are breeders" (para. 6) give the reader a clue? 2. In this essay, Swift assumes a persona; that is, for the purposes of the proposal he makes, he pretends to be a different person. Describe the characteristics of that person. Point out the places in the essay that reveal them. 3. In several places, however, Swift reveals himself as the outraged witness of English cruelty and indifference. Note the language that seems to reflect his own feelings. 4. Throughout the essay, Swift recites lists of facts, many of them in the form of statistics. How do these facts contribute to the persuasiveness of his argument? How do they affect the reader? 5. What social practices and attitudes of both the Irish and the English does Swift condemn? 6. Does Swift offer any solutions for the problems he attacks? How do you know? 7. When this essay first appeared in 1729, some readers took it seriously and accused Swift of monstrous cruelty. Can you think of reasons that these readers failed to recognize the ironic intent?
Subject Area: English Language
Document Type: Paraphrasing