Modest Proposal Essay

Submitted By jacobwatkins327
Words: 501
Pages: 3

Taylor Ditmer
January 14th, 2014
AEL­3
Mrs. Skinner
“A Modest Proposal” Precis

“A Modest Proposal” was a piece written by Jonathan Swift was a satirical piece written to help cure the great potato famine in Ireland in 1729. The country at the time was going through a famine as all the potatoes had died off that year, and most of the country was left to starve. England who had control of them at the time, sat back and watched as thousands if not millions died from starvation and the poverty rate severely increased dramatically. Swifts proposal? At the time, birth rates where at a major peak and children where being born left and right. Most of these children though would die, or if they where to survive, would be born into poverty and “grow up to become thieves” as said by Swift. To cure the hunger, a new line of work for women would arise known as
“breeders”. These womens’ sole purpose was to get pregnant, and to make the child as plump and chubby as they could within the first year of its life. After this year of its life, the child would be sold and would continued to be devoured by the family or group of people that bought the kid. Not only did he believe that the child should be devoured, but went into depth as for what each part of the child would be used for, and how it could serve the family purpose. He believed that this should become a tradition in
Ireland, and that this is something that the country should look at as something that sets it apart from others. He even goes into the detail on how much money this could make not only the breeders, but how this could profit all of Ireland and help bring an end to the amount of poverty. ● Inducement (26) ­ a thing that persuades or influences someone to do something. ● Enumerate (27) ­ mention (a number of things) one by one.
● Christenings (28) ­ give (a