“A Modest
Proposal”
For Preventing The Children of Poor People in
Ireland From Being a Burden To Their Parents or
Country, and Making Them Beneficial to the Public
By Jonathon Swift
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The Problem (question 2)
• “It is a melancholy object to those who walk
through…the streets…crowded with beggars of the
female sex, followed by three, four or six children, all
in rags and importuning every passenger for an
alms.“
o Too many children who are hungry and poor
o Too many parents who can’t support their own
children and have to beg
o Children turn to thieves or sell themselves into
slavery or fight for the Pretender king
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Purpose (Thesis):
question #3
• “But my intention is very far
from being confined…”
o Provide for children of beggars
o Take care of infants
o Contribute to feeding and clothing of
thousands
o Fewer abortions
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Question #6: Statistics and Facts
By the numbers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1.5 million
national population
200,000
women of childbearing age
-30,000
able to support children
170,000
left to be “breeders”
-50,000
will miscarry or lose children
120,000
children born of poor parents
Why a plan is needed
Kids can’t
 Work in handicraft
 Work in Agriculture
 Steal until they are
older
 Be sold for the amount
of money it takes to
feed and clothe them.
 (Those damn kids!!!!)
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Speaker’s Modest
Proposal: Question 10-11
EAT BABIES!
• 120,000 babies born to poor
parents
2 shillings to raise first
year
• 20,000 reserved for breeding
10 shillings sale price
• 100,000 sold at a year
old once they are
plump and fat.
8 shillings profit!
Cha-ching!
(1:4 male to female ration)
• (1 baby=2 dishes at a
party or 1 baby=4
meals for one family)
Yum!
5
Speaker’s Modest
Proposal: Question 15
Other ideas with this proposal
Flay the baby’s skin and create:
 women’s gloves
 summer boots for the men
Waste not, want not!
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Question 16-17: Other proposals and
why these won’t work
1. Venison from young teenage (12-14) boys and girls
 Boys are too tough and lean for good venison. Boo!
 Girls would not be able to become breeders and well, it’s just
plain cruel
2. What about the aged, diseased, or maimed?
What about young laborers?

No worries, they are dying as quickly as possible because
of starvation , filth and vermin. 
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Question 18:
Advantages to Eating Babies!
1. Fewer Papists
2. Poor tenants will know have something of value: a
baby they can sell for profit!
3. GNP of Ireland will increase since they are literally
sell Irish made goods; economy will grow!
4. 8 shilling profit for breeders and no more baby to
take care of.
5. Restaurants will flourish: Iron Chef anyone?
6. Poor people will want to get married and
husbands will not beat on their wives since she is
now carry a commodity.
7. Countless others, but will keep it brief!
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Other Expedients : Question 19
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Taxing absentee landlords
Buying goods made in our country
Rejecting foreign made goods
Curing our women of their vanity and pride
Being frugal and thrifty
Learning to love our country and each other
Don’t sell out our fellow countrymen for a quick buck
Teaching landlords to be fair towards their tenants
Spit on these ideas! Seriously, no one wants to use
common sense and hard work to solve the problem.
Eating babies makes WAY more sense! These are way too
hard to try!!! Booo!!!
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Question 21:
Final considerations
Don’t like the baby
eating idea? Then go
ahead and come up with
your OWN IDEA, but you
need to have a solution
that takes two things into
consideration:
1. Your solution needs to
feed 100,000 starving
children.
2. Your solution needs
also care for 1 million
poor parents who are
so poor and hungry
that selling their
children for food
might be a better life
than the one they
have.

Slam!
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Final thoughts: Question 22
• Just want to help the country of Ireland by helping
the poor and entertaining the rich (a win-win for
sure).
• No personal interest in it for speaker. Why? Kids are
too old and wife can’t have any more babies.
Darn. (What!!!???)
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“A Modest Proposal”
What group of people is the author trying to criticize in this satire?
Describe who the speaker is?
What is the speaker’s message in this satire? Remember that the
speaker is part of the group of people the author is trying to
criticize. Explain the speaker’s message in a paragraph.
What is the author’s message in this satire? What flaws or
problems in our society is the author trying to criticize? Why is this
a problem? Explain the author’s message in a paragraph
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Tone: Attitude towards
subject
Subject
Proposer's/Speaker’s
Attitude
Swift's/Author’s attitude
Irish people
Children
The proposal itself
Other solutions
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Your Turn
• You will now come up with your own “Modest
Proposal.”
• You will need to come up with a problem you want
to solve and a crazy solution to solve it.
• You will fill out your proposal sheet and turn this into
me for approval. The quicker you get this done, the
faster you can move onto step 2 and 3.
• This is a required assignment.
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