| A | B |
|---|
| purpose written | call attentionattention to abuses afflicted on Irish by Protestants |
| author | Jonathan Swift |
| date published | 1729 |
| style | satorical proposal |
| says Irish infants sold as food at age of one | when they are plump and healthy |
| Irish get.......... | a new source of income |
| English get........ | a new food product |
| if eat Irish babies | bolsters English economy and eliminates Irish as social problem |
| reduces # of Catholics in Ireland | most Irish infants baptized Catholic (STEW) |
| Swift satorizes Irish too | they have accepted the abuse |
| English own Irish farms & high rents | Irish farming families kept on edge of starvation |
| 1541 Irish recognize English King of Ireland | King Henry VIII; a protestant |
| By 1703 90% of Ireland | owned by the English |
| Irish parents cannot find decent jobs | walk streets begging alms |
| no Irish parents at home | children become theives or immigrants |
| 120,000 Irish babies each year | born to poor Irish parents |
| Swift's Modest proposal | retain 20,000 Irish 1 year old babies for breeding |
| the other 100,000 a year | sold to people of quality as FOOD |
| mother of sold baby | pocket profit; work; have another baby |
| innkeepers who serve FAT children | popular w/ customers |
| skin of babies | make women's gloves; men's boots |
| mothers | take great care of FAT kids |
| fathers | not beat expectant moms |
| older boys w/ muscles | too tough to eat |
| girls near child-bearing age | best to let them breed |
| eliminates need to raise taxes | rich continue to enjoy all their luxuries |
| Irish tenets | will have enough money to pay HIGH rents |
| Swift's only child (REAL) | age nine...too old to sell |
| Swift's wife | too old to have another baby |
| VERBAL IRONY | writer or speaker says the OPPOSITE of what he really means |
| Swift's MAIN ARGUEment | The Irish deserve better treatment from English |
| Barbadoes (Barbados) | at time of this piece slave trade for SUGAR |
| Dublin | capital of Ireland |
| FLAY | remove skin |
| Formosa | Taiwan; Chinese inhabited island |
| Mandarin | High-ranking Chinese Official |
| Papist | Roman Catholic |
| Pretender | James Francis Edward Stuart, son of James II |
| THEMES.... | Exploitation; Prejudice; Irish Inaction |
