Modest proposal essay

Academia Interamericana de Panama
Sede Cerro Viento

"English Work
A Modest Proposal"

Miriam Diaz #4

Alejandro Samaniego #16

Teacher: Celia Forester

12ºA

27/5/2010

Introduction

During the period of 1660 to 1800 the Restoration and the Age of Enlightenment develop.England had endured civil war and 0liver Cromwell began to rule. A new age based on science and reasoncalled Enlightenment, was born.Theater reflected the life of the upper classes and the first newspapers were published. England had a class system, the hereditary nobility at the top and the poor at the bottom.The industrial revolution was creating overcrowded slums and miserable working conditions. Comedies appealed to men and women of fashion.
A modest proposal was written during this periodof reasoning by Jonathan Swift who was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. This essay was written in a difficult period in which Irland poor people doesn`t have anything to maintain there families and the money they government recived was send to England. In the followinf work you will learn more about theunhuman conditions in which poor people live and what cause the author to write this essay.

A Modest Proposal
Biography
Jonathan Swiftwas born at No. 7, Hoey's Court, Dublin, and was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift and wife Abigail Erick, paternal grandson of Thomas Swift and wife Elizabeth Dryden, daughter of Nicholas Dryden and wife Mary Emyley. He was an Anglo-Irishsatirist, essayist, political pamphleteer poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. He study in Trinity College, Dublin. . Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He is alsoknown for being a master of two styles of satire: the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
He is remembered for works such as:
Gulliver's Travels
A Modest Proposal, perhaps the most notable satire in English
A Tale of a Tub, the most important in prose
Drapier's Letters
Others

Background

In the late 1720, Ireland suffered from several years of poor harvests. Farmers couldn`t pay the rentimposed by the English landlords.Childrens and aldults were forced to beg or starve. Most of the money collected by the landlords was send to England ;very little was spend in Ireland in locally produced goods.

Summary
In a modest proposal Swift pretends to be an economic planner who suggest a shocking solution to the problem of making more opportunities for the poor class.. Because so manyIrish parents cannot find decent jobs to support their children, they spend all their time walking the streets to beg alms of passersby. Meanwhile, the children grow up to become thieves or emigrants.
.......This situation presents a serious problem for Britain, especially since there are so many Irish children. Each year, several hundred thousand babies are born to Irish parents. If you subtractthose who are born to rich parents, those who are stillborn, and those who die after birth as a result of disease or accident, you are still left with about 120,000 babies who have to be supported by poor parents.
.......Of course, a mother can feed her child for one year with breast milk. But after that, she must beg food for the child. However, Swift have a modest proposal to solve thisproblem. Here it is:
.......I have been told by a knowledgeable American that a year-old-infant is a “most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout."
.......Therefore, I suggest that of the 120,000 new infants of poor parents, 20,000 be reserved for breeding and the rest be sold to...