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Piero Cotera-Second Reading Report

The document summarizes Jonathan Swift's satirical essay 'A Modest Proposal'. In the essay, Swift argues that selling and eating poor children would solve problems of overpopulation, unemployment and poverty in Ireland. He provides statistical data to support this outlandish proposal and argues it would benefit both families and the Irish economy.

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Piero Archi Vio
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50 views5 pages

Piero Cotera-Second Reading Report

The document summarizes Jonathan Swift's satirical essay 'A Modest Proposal'. In the essay, Swift argues that selling and eating poor children would solve problems of overpopulation, unemployment and poverty in Ireland. He provides statistical data to support this outlandish proposal and argues it would benefit both families and the Irish economy.

Uploaded by

Piero Archi Vio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WEEKLY REPORT

LITERARY WORK: “A MODEST PROPOSAL” JONATHAN SWIFT.

Name: COTERA BERNUY PIERO

Code: 1513120443

AUTHOR BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jonathan Swift (Dublin, 1667-1745),
son of Englishmen established in
Ireland, his father died before he was
born, which caused the return of his
mother to England. Swift remained in
Dublin with her relatives, where she
grew up in orphan-like conditions. To
achieve economic independence, in
1694 he took religious orders and in
1695 he obtained the small see of
Kilroot in Ireland. However, he lived
almost always in London, where he
actively participated in the political,
religious and literary life of the period
called "Augustus", becoming, thanks
to his imagination and his exceptional
skills as a polemicist, one of the most
influential people in the city. In 1713
he obtained the deanery of the church
of St. Patrick in Dublin, and at the fall of the Tory government, of
which he had been an active adviser, he moved to Ireland. There,
Swift took an ardent stand for the Irish against the outrages of the
English administration, becoming something of a national hero.
After the death of his wife Stella in 1728, he fell into a progressive
physical and intellectual decline. He left his patrimony to the poor
and allocated a part of it to the foundation of an insane asylum.
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORK
A modest proposal, in its entirety A modest proposal to prevent
the children of poor people from being brought up with their
parents or the country, and to make them beneficial to the
publick, satirical essay by Jonathan Swift, published in pamphlet
form in 1729 Presented in the guise of an economic treaty, the
essay proposes that the country improve poverty in Ireland by
killing the children of the poor Irish and selling them as food to
wealthy English landlords. Swift's proposal is a savage
commentary on England's legal and economic exploitation of
Ireland.

CHAPTERS OR PAGES READ DURING THIS WEEK (put the date)

10 PAG.

SUMMARY OF THE READING

In Ireland, children who are born to poor people and cannot be


supported by their parents are a burden on society and its progress.
Because they become thieves or a burden to others.

A method was suggested so that these children are not a burden


and that they are useful. Sell them as merchandise, in order to
consume them, sell children to wealthy people as food, so that the
country can have an income and bring many benefits so that people
can have a better quality of life.

NEW VOCABULARY LEARNED (10 words – expressions)


1. Forced - Forzado
2. Employ - Emplear
3. Parties - Fiestas
4. Beggars - Mendigos
5. Grossly - Gravemente
6. Scheme - Esquemas
7. Reckoned - Contado
8. Breeders - Criadores
9. Handicraft - Artesania
10. Affairs – Asuntos

EXAMPLES OF GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE FOUND IN THE


READING (10)

1. It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this


great town.
2. These mothers instead of being able to work for their
honest
3. livelihood.
4. I have always found them grossly mistaken in their
computation.
5. There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme.
6. The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned
one million.
7. For we can neither employ them in handicraft.
8. I am assured by our merchants.
9. I grant this food will be somewhat dear.
10. always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in
the last month.
11. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord.

MESSAGE (S) OR REFLEXION(S) OF THE LITERARY WORK

People with few resources do not have the necessary


means to support a family, the state does not support the
poor and they seek a way to survive
CHAPTERS OR PAGES READ DURING THIS WEEK (put the date)

ALL THE BOOK

SUMMARY OF THE READING

The author argues, by hard-edged economic reasoning as well as from a self-righteous


moral stance, for a way to turn this problem into its own solution. His proposal, in
effect, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich
land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one,
he argues, thus combating overpopulation and unemployment, sparing families the
expense of child-bearing while providing them with a little extra income, improving
the culinary experience of the wealthy, and contributing to the overall economic well-
being of the nation.

The author offers statistical support for his assertions and gives specific data about
the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and the projected
consumption patterns. He suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new
meat, and he feels sure that innovative cooks will be quick to generate more. He also
anticipates that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on
family morality: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will
value their children in ways hitherto unknown. His conclusion is that the
implementation of this project will do more to solve Ireland's complex social, political,
and economic problems than any other measure that has been proposed.

NEW VOCABULARY LEARNED (10 words – expressions)


11. Political- político
12. Measure-medida
13. Morality- moralidad
14. Consumption-consumo
15. Assertions- Afirmaciones
16. Undernourished - Desnutrido
17. Hard-edged- De bordes duros
EXAMPLES OF GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE FOUND IN THE
READING (10)

12. While Swift himself was an astute economic thinker, he often


expressed contempt for the application of supposedly
scientific management ideas to humanitarian concerns.
13. His compassion for the misery of the Irish people is a
severe one, and he includes a critique of their
incompetence in dealing with their own problems.
14. His piece protests the utter inefficacy of Irish political leadership, and it also
attacks the orientation of so many contemporary reformers toward economic
utilitarianism.
15. Swift makes his point negatively, stringing together an appalling set
of morally untenable positions in order to cast blame and aspersions
far and wide.
16. His piece protests the utter inefficacy of Irish political leadership, and it also
attacks the orientation of so many contemporary reformers toward economic
utilitarianism.
17. The main rhetorical challenge of this bitingly ironic essay is capturing the
attention of an audience whose indifference has been well tested.
18. Swift makes his point negatively, stringing together an appalling set of morally
untenable positions in order to cast blame and aspersions far and wide.
19. The essay progresses through a series of surprises that first shocks
the reader and then causes her to think critically not only about
policies, but also about motivations and values.
20. He argues that children could be sold into a meat market as early
as the age of one, giving poor families some much needed income,
while sparing them the expenses of raising so many children.

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