As Dean of St.Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin,Ireland,Jonathan Swift observed the poverty and oppression of the Irish people and proposed remedies for the problems.He wrote many pamphlets outlining serious solutions to the problems of wide-spread poverty in Ireland,problems that were beyond the control of the poor lower classes.Crop failures resulted in very little available food,and what was available was extremely expensive.The British government imposed impossibly high taxes specifically to force small farmers to sell their land and work as tenant farmers for the wealthy Irish landowners who kept them in poverty.There were well-known instances of corruption in the governing of Ireland.In one example,government officials took bribes to allow certain people to print coins until the economy was flooded with money.Those of you who know anything about economics know that the result was rampant inflation. Swift tried hard to help the Irish poor by proposing and pushing for reforms.For his efforts he was considered an enemy of the British government and of the Irish aristocracy,and warrants were issued for his arrest.On several occasions,the poor Irish,who knew he was trying to help them.hid him from soldiers sent to arrest him. After writing a number of proposals which were ignored,Swift turned to satire in an effort to shock his audience into paying attention to the problem he addressed.He was so disgusted with the ruling upper classes who refused to consider any of his serious proposals that he wrote his"A Modest Proposal",a work designed to be so outrageous that it would shock his readers into action. Swift maintained friendships with other 18th-century writers such as Alexander Pope, William Congreve,John Gay,and John Arbuthnot.In fact,Pope was instrumental in helping Swift publish what is probably his most well-known work,Gulliver 's Travels. Understanding Satire: Used in any genre,satire is a literary manner that blends criticism of a person,event,or situation with witty humor for the purpose of improving the object of the satire.Writers such as Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope found much in their society that needed improvement,and satire was their weapon of choice. Horatian satire such as Alexander Pope's"The Rape of the Lock"is gentle and humorous,but Juvenalian satire such as Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"is very harsh and vindictive.As you will read,Swift's language is abusive and insulting,which is characteristic of Juvenalian satire The original motive for writing satire is anger or annoyance.The attempt to diminish a subject by ridicule is the primary organizing principle.Irony,which exploits the relationship between appearance and reality,is its chief device.As Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, Jonathan Swift observed the poverty and oppression of the Irish people and proposed remedies for the problems. He wrote many pamphlets outlining serious solutions to the problems of wide-spread poverty in Ireland, problems that were beyond the control of the poor lower classes. Crop failures resulted in very little available food, and what was available was extremely expensive. The British government imposed impossibly high taxes specifically to force small farmers to sell their land and work as tenant farmers for the wealthy Irish landowners who kept them in poverty. There were well-known instances of corruption in the governing of Ireland. In one example, government officials took bribes to allow certain people to print coins until the economy was flooded with money. Those of you who know anything about economics know that the result was rampant inflation. Swift tried hard to help the Irish poor by proposing and pushing for reforms. For his efforts he was considered an enemy of the British government and of the Irish aristocracy, and warrants were issued for his arrest. On several occasions, the poor Irish, who knew he was trying to help them, hid him from soldiers sent to arrest him. After writing a number of proposals which were ignored, Swift turned to satire in an effort to shock his audience into paying attention to the problem he addressed. He was so disgusted with the ruling upper classes who refused to consider any of his serious proposals that he wrote his “A Modest Proposal”, a work designed to be so outrageous that it would shock his readers into action. Swift maintained friendships with other 18th-century writers such as Alexander Pope, William Congreve, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot. In fact, Pope was instrumental in helping Swift publish what is probably his most well-known work, Gulliver’s Travels. Understanding Satire: Used in any genre, satire is a literary manner that blends criticism of a person, event, or situation with witty humor for the purpose of improving the object of the satire. Writers such as Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope found much in their society that needed improvement, and satire was their weapon of choice. Horatian satire such as Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” is gentle and humorous, but Juvenalian satire such as Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is very harsh and vindictive. As you will read, Swift’s language is abusive and insulting, which is characteristic of Juvenalian satire.The original motive for writing satire is anger or annoyance. The attempt to diminish a subject by ridicule is the primary organizing principle. Irony, which exploits the relationship between appearance and reality, is its chief device