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Identify a total of three examples of literary techniques from the following: hyperbole, sarcasm or understatement. How do these techniques enhance Swift’s satire? ________________________________________________________

User Quadronom
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Answer:

When someone studies a literary technique such as hyperbole, one has to remember that it is an intentional and at often times extreme way of writing used by authors and writers to cause a determined effect on the reader, in this some cases shock, ridicule or criticism.

When citing examples taken from Jonathan Swift's writings, this author was commonly known for using this style and has been named as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. Examples from his famous A Modest Proposal like, ¨...I rather recommend buying the Children alive, and dressing them hot from the Knife, as we do roasting Pigs.¨ would appeal to the reader´s moral values, or in ¨The number of Souls in this Kingdom being usually reckoned one Million and a half, Of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand Couple whose Wives are breeders...¨ the writer uses apparent well documented arguments to sound convincing. In another example, ¨carcasses of barreled beef¨, and ¨fat yearling¨ are his particular choice of words to refer to the abundant number of children in the streets that he'd run into.

Once again, these type of literary figures would enhance Swift's writing and capture the attention of his readers in a way that at that time, and still is a deadpan and ironic way of seeing life but with a certain degree of seriousness.

User Chidi
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