A modest proposal (W)

Question 1

Genre

Answer 1

Satirical essay that uses situational irony - reverses expectations of a situation to show the terrible economy and social issues of the time

Question 2

Mode

Answer 2

writing for publication and to mock government

Question 3

Context

Answer 3

essay published anonymously, which would have heightened the satirical effect. Swift vents his mounting aggravation at the ineptitude of Ireland’s politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English, and the squalor and degradation in which he sees so many Irish people living. Swift makes his point negatively, stringing together an appalling set of morally untenable positions in order to cast blame and aspersions far and wide.

Question 4

Purpose

Answer 4

To amuse, (by its outrageousness and the wit with which the argument is delivered) but also (equally? More so?) to raise a serious issue concerning famine and related problems in Ireland.

Question 5

Lexis/semantics

Answer 5

language of maths and economics: to convey logic and objectivity: “reckoned”, “calculate”, “subtract”. This semantic field gives the essay an appearance of logical, objective reasoning, supported by statistical evidence.
Applies the language of farming to children: nouns and noun phrases such as “a child just dropt from its dam”, “breeders”; and verbs such as “reared”, “to serve”, “let them suck”. This semantic field dehumanises the children and places them on a level with livestock

Question 6

Semantic field

Answer 6

Semantic field of cookery and fine dining: “a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or a ragoust.” The French terms suggest a refined, elaborate cuisine, revealing the depraved perspective of the author; he appears to be more concerned with the quality of the sauce than the morality of cannibalism.

Question 7

Structure/discourse

Answer 7

• Written in the first person; the author uses a humble mode of address, referring to his idea as “A Modest Proposal” and repeating the adverb “humbly” (“I do therefore humbly offer…”); however, he betrays a deep-seated conceit by his taste for elaborate grammatical constructions and by his lack of empathy.
• The essay has the structure of a rational argument, with each paragraph adding a further step in the logical progression.
• The author seeks to win our trust by first establishing the severity of the problem before revealing the true nature of the proposal (see the first two paragraphs in particular).

Question 8

Grammar/syntax

Answer 8

• Complex sentences often with two or more subordinate clauses
• Use of subordinate clauses to disguise the outrageousness of the main declarative clause: “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London…”

Question 9

Pragmatics

Answer 9

As it is a satirical essay, Swift must rely on his readers recognising that he does not mean what he says; however, the satire is all the more effective for being delivered with unfaltering conviction. Being published anonymously would have enhanced the effect. The extract in the OCR anthology omits the section where the author dismisses more realistic options that Swift implies ought to be on the agenda.

Question 10

Age of enlightenment

Answer 10

philosophical and scientific discoveries

Question 11

1729

Answer 11

time of rapid change in society
- children suffered poverty/homelessness as the result of crop failures (Ireland reached a crisis point)

Question 12

Irony

Answer 12

should stop abortions but talks about eating children

Question 13

‘wives are breeders’

Answer 13

breeders have connotations of an animal (dehumanised)

Question 14

‘hundred and twenty thousand’

Answer 14

use of statistics, retains formal tone by spelling out numbers

Question 15

semantic field of money

Answer 15

pounds, crown, exchange, value

Question 16

Sophisticated lexis

Answer 16

instead of simply saying meat in sauce it says ‘fricasie’ and instead of richly seasoned stew it says ‘ragoust’

Question 17

Graphic imagery

Answer 17

talks about children being food and how they can be seasoned well.

Question 18

Becomes colloquial

Answer 18

statistics become numbers instead of being spelled out

Question 19

Use of the homonym ‘pounds’

Answer 19

when it is mentioned it talks about money and wealth which is when it creates a semantic field of money and then it later references pounds in terms of weight.