Lifehacks

What are some examples of situational irony in A Modest Proposal?

What are some examples of situational irony in A Modest Proposal?

Situational Irony: It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms.

What type of irony is used in A Modest Proposal?

The dominant figure of speech in “A Modest Proposal” is verbal irony, in which a writer or speaker says the opposite of what he means. Swift’s masterly use of this device makes his main argument—that the Irish deserve better treatment from the English—powerful and dreadfully amusing.

What is 2 examples of verbal irony from A Modest Proposal?

Example #5: A Modest Proposal (By Jonathan Swift) Verbal irony is a dominant literary device in this novel by Swift. For instance, in the above statement the author intends to point out that the government should not treat Irish people like animals. In irony, he compares the Irish to animals.

What is Swiftian irony?

Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal The irony behind it is that his proposal is anything but modest, and perhaps by referring to his plan as being modest, it only helps intensify his true message. That the impoverished sections of Ireland are desperate for help and a solution.

How does Swift use situational irony?

Swift uses situational irony in this essay which also represented a work of satire. By definition situational irony happens when the final outcome is opposing to what was expected. Basically his proposal was for poor children roaming around the streets.

What is ironic about Swift’s proposal?

“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is a satire that proposes an ironic solution to Ireland ‘s suffering problem with poverty and overcrowding. Swift proposes the solution of selling children to wealthy families or taverns to be cooked and served.

How did Swift use irony?

Subsequently, the rich will have ridden Ireland of poverty, while the poor feast on the fattened children of the upper class. Swift utilizes this same irony in the title of his essay “A Modest Proposal.” Proposing that society should turn to cannibalism as a solution to poverty is anything but modest.

What is an example of situational irony?

Situational irony is the irony of something happening that is very different to what was expected. Some everyday examples of situational irony are a fire station burning down, or someone posting on Twitter that social media is a waste of time.

What’s situational irony?

The third, and debated, use of irony regards what’s called situational irony. Situational irony involves a striking reversal of what is expected or intended: a person sidesteps a pothole to avoid injury and in doing so steps into another pothole and injures themselves.

What is ironic in Jonathan Swift’s proposal?

Modest Proposal Satire To mock and criticize the unsuccessful attempts of the British to solve the economic problems, Swift uses verbal irony and compares the British as landlords that ate the parents of the children (the poor Irishmen) without directly mentioning their names.

What is Jonathan Swift satirizing in A Modest Proposal?

Jonathan Swift’s masterful satire, “A Modest Proposal,” [mockingly!] proposes to solve the devastating poverty in Ireland by selling poor children as food for wealthy families. Swift goes on to explain how this would solve all of Ireland’s problems from domestic abuse to poverty.