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| Jonathan Swift by Charles Jervas |
Have you ever considered eating a baby for food? Jonathan Swift proposed that this was the way to overcome the problem of overpopulated poor people in his society of Scotland. Some may say this is wrong. Some may actually entertain the thought. The audience was the rich who despised the poor and didn’t want them overpopulating their society. They were the people Swift was trying to get the attention of and they would take this in those two ways. The whole reason he wrote “The Modest Proposal” the way he did was to over exaggerate the overpopulation and to give a satirical way to solve that problem. Swift’s proposal was ineffective in persuading his audience because it was too satirical, overlooking the real problem, and playing it down as if it wasn’t a problem.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very hard assignment. It's not easy writing about a subject or story we are not comfortable with. You have a very catchy topic sentence, it gets the reader involved. Your summary was very good as well. You may want to check your sentences, a few of them didn't flow as you read them. " They were the people Swift was trying to get the attention of and the would take this in those two way". The country that Swift was trying to save was Ireland, not Scotland. I think your argument that Swift's proposal would be ineffective because it was too satirical was vey good. I hope I was of help to your final draft.Thank you for your blog. Good Luck.
If he was overlooking the real problem, what was the essay about? Your approach kind of confuses me, but it's interesting. I guess I don't really understand how something could be too satirical because I don't know what that entails. I'm sure you have evidence to back up your claims though.
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The point I was trying to make was that he was overlooking the problem that there really was overpopulation but making it seem as if it was "easy enough" to eat babies to solve that problem, if that makes sense.
DeleteHello Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this is going to be a very interesting essay and I had the same thoughts about not exactly being thrilled about the text, it shall be a challenge. I have to say that I loved your introducing sentence and it definitely caught my attention! I thought that your paragraph was good but there were a few sentences that could be changed or reworded. I was able to identify your thesis statement easily. Good luck on your paper!
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI am right there with you - in fact my last week blog post points out my disgust with the whole idea of this assignment. I wish we had a different satirical piece to be able to write about. I am finding this assignment almost impossible because of the subject matter. Good luck to all of us!
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, this will be a very interesting essay. Swift audience are the people of Ireland, not Scotsland. Overall, I do bellieve you have a good start. Can't wait to read the whole essay.
Thank you for pointing out it is Ireland, not Scotland! :)
DeleteIs it possible that by presenting the proposal the way that he did Swift is allowing the audience to "save face" by not outright telling them it is their fault and that they should be doing something about it. Instead he may be allowing his audience to take it in what he has to say and make their own decision.
ReplyDeleteI like the stance you are taking for this essay. I think you made some valid points and I can see where you are going with your essay. This ill be a very interesting essay, however your topic sentence immediately captured my attention and made me want to continue reading. You have a good start to your essay, my only criticism for you in to read over and strengthen some of your sentences.
ReplyDelete