Composition Summary
I wasn’t entirely happy with the way this one turned out. I thought it could have been a little longer, but it’s a summary and supposed to be short. Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything else to say. It just seemed to get the point across.
Same anticipatory freakout, but still got 145/125 on this one and got to leave early. (Originally it was double-spaced–damn copy/paste!) Enjoy:
A Modest Proposal
This is a summary of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, in which he describes the state of poverty in Ireland during the 18th century and proposes a solution for solving it. The proposal itself is to raise children (particularly those of the poor) to be eaten as a way to eliminate the expense of caring for them while generating a new market to boost the overall economy and, subsequently, eradicate poverty.
To support his proposal, he suggests the poor will earn a 400% profit by selling their babies. According to Swift, “It is true, a child… may be supported… at most not above the value of two shillings,” for a year after birth, at which time he suggests they can be sold for as much as ten schillings.
Later, the author describes the impact this new commodity could have on the economy. The meat could be sold to taverns to be prepared for their patrons or to the rich as a type of delicacy. In addition, he mentions that since the people would be eating children, they’d be using less of their livestock and could then increase their exports overseas, again increasing their wealth.
To many, the intent behind such an absurd suggestion as eating children may not be immediately obvious. The purpose of the proposal is to illustrate the desperate conditions endured by the poor in Ireland using satire as a means to convey the message. The effect it is designed to accomplish is to conjure disdain for the author for his sarcastic suggestions and seeming heartlessness, which in turn generates sympathy for the plight suffered by the impoverished.