Question

Please help? 35 points to those that are able to help. :( I’m at a loss with this question.

“After all I am not so violently bent up on my own opinion as to reject any offer, proposed by wise men, what shall be found equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual. But before something of that kind of shall be advanced in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points.”

What point is Swift making in A Modest Proposal by discounting other possible (and more humane) solutions to the poverty of the Irish?

A. That there are no realistic solutions to poverty
B. That these solutions could actually be pursued
C. That people should not pay taxes to support others’ children
D. That tenants should be evicted if they do not pay their rent

Answer 1

Jonathan Swift in 'A Modest Proposal' is satirizing the neglect of genuine solutions to poverty by proposing an outlandish one himself, emphasizing through satire that real, humane solutions exist but are ignored. the correct answer is (Option B) That these solutions could actually be pursued.

Step-by-step explanation:

In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift uses satire to highlight the indifference of the English towards the plight of the Irish poor. By presenting an outrageous solution to poverty, Swift aims to criticize the lack of realistic and humane solutions being offered. The correct answer to the question “What point is Swift making in A Modest Proposal by discounting other possible (and more humane) solutions to the poverty of the Irish?” is (Option B). That these solutions could actually be pursued. Swift is not saying there are no solutions, but rather, he is mocking the inaction and lack of serious consideration given to real solutions by the British and the wealthy Irish. By proposing to use the children of the poor as a form of commodity, Swift is using irony to emphasize how de-humanized the poor have become in the eyes of society and to push the reader towards considering genuine humane solutions.

Answer 2

By discounting other possible solutions in A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift's point is B. That these solutions could actually be pursued.

This essay written in 1729 is often cited as an example of early modern satire. In this satire, by proposing that the impoverished irish families should sell their children to feed the rich, Swift is actually mocking the British authorities.

In fact, Swift offers other less cruel and more realistic solutions to end poverty in Ireland:

"...Of utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury; Of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, iddleness, and gaming in our women ... Lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our shop-keepers"

By embracing irony and sarcasm in his social critique, he mocks and attacks the tories and their lack of resolution to alleviate the poverty and famine in Ireland by proposing this inhumane solution as the only valid one.