Analysis

In this section of the book, we tackle the analysis of the essay "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift.

To begin with, we look at how the piece is structured and find that it follows a fairly regular structure for this kind of text.

The sender of the text is the Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, who sends his message by way of a narrator who is not synonymous with Swift, but an anonymous persona. The receiver is the informed public and by extension the decision makers in Ireland.

In terms of argumentation, we determine that there are both the hidden argumentation from the author, that is Swift, and the direct argumentation from the fictional speaker.

We also look at the rhetorical devices applied in the text and especially at the use of various forms of irony and satire.

As if the speaker's arguments were completely sane and credible, the speaker uses regular forms of appeal, which we look into. Finally, we discuss the author's choice of words for his essay.

Read on, for an in-depth analysis of these elements of the essay.