Research Paper on:
Analysis of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
"three, four or six children, all in rags" (Swift). After establishing that a remedy for this situation that transform these children from a "grievance" to a role that would be  "useful" to the commonwealth, Swift goes on to make one of the most outrageous proposal of public policy ever penned; and, in doing so, makes the point that the British  governments policies toward the Irish at that time were barbaric and inhumane. His satire is so outrageous, so blunt and horrific that it is as if Swift took the entire  British readership by the shoulders and shook them hard, forcing them to see beyond their prejudices, biases and self-interest. The following examination of Swifts use of language in the essay  analyzes how Swift accomplished this purpose. First of all, however, the construction of Swifts essay should be understood in terms of the many proposals that were being circulated at  the time concerning the poor. George Wittkowskys analysis of Swifts proposal argues that it is wrong to assume that Swift is referring strictly to conditions in Ireland, as his true  target is to satirize the "set of theories and attitudes which rendered such conditions possible" (Wittkowsky 76). In particular, Swift is lampooning the "can-do spirit" of the era, which inspired  people to propose a number of ill-conceived schemes that would "fix" social and economic ills with miraculous ease (Wittkowsky 85). Therefore, the true targets of Swifts satire are of the  would-be reformers who "regard people as commodities" (Wittkowsky 101). Swift quickly establishes a tone for the essay that is reasonable, logical, that is, driven by appeal to logos. However, there  are also appeals to ethos, that is, appeals based on authority or the character of the person to whom information is attributed. Having introduced the plight and problem of the