Critical Analysis Essay on “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift.
Description
After reading “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, write a critical analysis essay focusing on these three questions: 1. Through Swift’s extreme suggestions, what issues (divisions) are brought to the attention of the reader? 2. This essay is thought by many to be the work of satire; how is this a master work of satire? 3. In Louis A. Landa’s essay “A Modest Proposal and Populousness,” he criticizes the eighteenth century view that “people are the riches of a nation” by suggesting that people that don’t contribute to society (economically or politically) make a nation poorer not wealthier. Do you agree with Landa’s interpretation of society? Does art, music, religion, culture, and all things “non-profitable” have no value to a society? If the Irish, in 1729, couldn’t give the British economic and political wealth, what else could they have contributed to society? _____________________________________________________________________________________ Your essay must: be at least 500 words of typed analysis (covering the three topic questions) utilize claims evidence. You must follow the 4 elements of a citation: Statement “Quotation” or Paraphrase (Parenthetical) Works Cited ______________________________________________________________________________ Works Cited Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works. New York: Dover Publications, 1996. Print. Landa, Louis A. “A Modest Proposal and Polpulousness.” Modern Philology. vol. XL, no.2, November, 1942. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
Critical Analysis Essay on “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift