Pathos In The Modest Proposal

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The Outrageous proposal by Jonathon Swift
The modest proposal by Jonathan Swift is a satire which proposes a disturbing plan to help Ireland from its economic problems. Jonathon swift intends to convince the audience that this proposal is possibly the best solution to the economic crisis. His argument is that we should eat our children and sell them as a proposition for the famine crisis. The place was very iconic because the setting takes place when Ireland was struggling to feed the people. At the time England had almost total control of Ireland which also added to the cause. Many people at the time would have actually agreed with Swifts argument based on the extreme circumstance they were in but others would have been totally degusted by …show more content…
(Swift,3,734) The image that Swift expresses of Children being cooked alive further demonstrates his use of pathos appeal. Jonathon swift strongly appeals t pathos n this passage by referring to children being cooked alive. His goal was to specifically make the reader feel sympathy for the children if this proposal were to happen. Swift further reinforces his ethos appeal by the word choice he use like “dressing the hot from the knife.”
In conclusion, though Swift begins the essay by effectively persuading his readers of the economic hardships in Ireland by using ethos, logos and pathos, he loses his credibility at the end, where he needs to strengthen his argument the most. Readers are aware of the economic hardships by reading the story. However his shift from sadness to sarcasm at the end where we find out that Swift has no purpose to promote this work confuses the reader. The reader will no longer take this seriously and look at it as a joke by Jonathon Swift. Swift could have had a inhumane solution to Ireland’s economic problem such as redistributing the wealth and by doing so would made him more credible at the

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