Question

PLEASE HELP!!! Read this excerpt from Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. “I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or girl, before twelve years old, is no saleable commodity, and even when they come to this age, they will not yield above… three pounds and half a crown at most… which cannot turn to account either to the parents or the kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times that value.” Which of these is most strongly evidenced by the serious tone of this passage?

Swift’s use of rational argument
Swift’s meticulous research into the topic
Swift’s disregard for the welfare of poor children
Swift’s use of verbal irony

Answer 1

A Modest Proposal written by Jonathan Swift in 1792 is a proposal to prevent children of poor people from defying their parents, and for their use in favor of social well-being, known as a modest proposal, is a satirical essay. An ironic attempt is made to come up with a fair, cheap and simple method, for poor children to become prominent members of the Commonwealth. Throughout Ireland, mostly Catholics, children lived in dirt because their parents were too poor to afford them food and clothing.

Right answer is Swift's use of verbal irony