Callaway
AP English Lang and Comp
23 January 2015
1.) In Ireland the gap between the high class and the low class is very large and copious, as many people are economically poor, and few rich. Swift hints at the greed and unfairness that the rich exert onto the poor is the cause of this, as he does say that after all they've done for the poor, they might as well eat their children too. 2.) I believe modern society would understand the joke and be less offended because of all the satire we have in our media, and how accustomed our cultures are to sarcasm. We as modernized people find humor in taking serious matters/current events and twisting them into jokes 3.) I believe the sixth one, talking about how men and women would be more committed to marriage would be the most sardonic because the country's people are very religious, or at least a vast majority of them, and one major point of religion is loyalty in marriage. Swift makes the general assumption that they are not loyal, and uses this suggestion of economic gain to make it less of a derogatory statement.
4.) He uses stereotypes and jokes against Irish Catholics and the economy. His argument that something must be done with infants because they are too young to steal implies that this is a common employment of Irish Catholics and the idea of overpopulation coming from the stereotype that Catholics tend to have a lot of children. 5.) His overall purpose is to call attention to the problems that were being experienced by the people of Ireland. He wanted the English to realize what they were doing and to put in place reforms that would solve the problems they had helped to cause