1 / 11

Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal. Jonathan Swift. 1667-1745 Born in Dublin, Ireland, but considered himself English Abducted by his nurse right after his birth and spent 3 years in England until being returned to his uncle in Ireland He was poor, but uncle paid for his education.

hart
Download Presentation

Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Jonathan Swift:A Modest Proposal

  2. Jonathan Swift • 1667-1745 • Born in Dublin, Ireland, but considered himself English • Abducted by his nurse right after his birth and spent 3 years in England until being returned to his uncle in Ireland • He was poor, but uncle paid for his education

  3. Jonathan Swift • Had a BA, MA, then doctorate • Was an ordained Anglican priest • Very involved in political parties • Desperately wanted to a career in England, but as an Irish priest, assigned to remote areas of Ireland • thought Ireland was culturally deserted • escaped to England whenever possible

  4. Jonathan Swift • Hoped to be made an English bishop, but friends fell from power • named head of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin • held office for remaining 30 years of his life • Did not write for fame or money • most books and pamphlets were published anonymously

  5. Jonathan Swift • Swift’s purpose in writing was to improve human conduct • wanted to make people more decent and humane • Gulliver’s Travels is most famous book • A Modest Proposal is most famous pamphlet

  6. Jonathan Swift • His final days were sad • Suffered from disease of inner ear • deaf • disoriented • dizzy • Buried in his cathedral in Dublin, tourists can see his epitaph every day: • “Go, traveler, and imitate, if you can, one who strove with all his strength to champion liberty.”

  7. A Modest Proposal • In 1720s, Irish harvests had been poor for years • farmers couldn’t pay rent of English landlords • beggars and starving children appeared everywhere • money in short supply; England got most of it • England kept Ireland poor

  8. A Modest Proposal • In response, Swift wrote a pamphlet offering solution to these problems • outrageous; pretended to be serious about a shocking solution • used shocking satire to make English society aware of these wrongs • hoped it would be corrected

  9. A Modest Proposal • Verbal Irony--contrast between what is said and what is really meant. • Like sarcasm (what Mrs. Reynolds loves) • you can’t hear tone of voice when you read though, so verbal irony is irony piled upon irony upon even more irony

  10. A Modest Proposal • Persuasive writing • When you read, look for: • ethos: ethical appeal; passages that establish writer’s qualifications and sincerity • pathos: emotional appeal; passages that use words that arouse strong feelings • logos: logical appeal; using evidence such as facts or statistics to support a position

  11. A Modest Proposalvocabulary • Sustenance: food or money to support life • glutted: used as; overfilled • deference: respect • scrupulous: extremely careful and precise in deciding what is right or wrong • censure: condemn • expedient: convenient means to an end • digressed: wandered off subject • procure: obtain; get • brevity: being brief; shortness • animosities: hostilities; violent hatreds or resentments

More Related