Using this phrase is an effective way to put a spotlight on a problem or a situation that you consider worthy of ridicule. That way no one will get hit by cars.” (Increasingly, people also use a modest proposal unironically to sincerely introduce somewhat controversial suggestions or even uncontroversial ones.)

Here’s an example: “A modest proposal-Let’s ban all walking and biking. The essay satirized other economic proposals of the time that Swift saw as treating people as commodities.īased on the title of Swift’s essay, the phrase a modest proposal has become a way to introduce an outrageous or very out-there idea, suggestion, or plan, especially one offered in jest. Swift used the idea of eating children as a metaphor for what he saw as the exploitation of the poor, such as the high rents charged by landlords. He wrote “A Modest Proposal” as an attempt to convince the Irish Parliament to improve the conditions of the poor. Swift was an Irish author (most notably of Gulliver’s Travels) who often wrote poetry and essays expressing his stance on issues of his day. It’s a brand of satire that has remained popular and is still frequently used today. Why is an essay about eating children so influential? Literary scholars often consider Swift’s essay as one of the first modern pieces of political satire that highlighted injustices by using logical extremes to formulate an absurd argument. Swift’s essay was controversial at the time but has since become a staple of satire, influencing many writers. The phrase a modest proposal is often used to suggest something in jest in order to point out a problem by pushing it to its logical extreme. It is used ironically in the title of “A Modest Proposal” because the proposal is actually outrageous. Modest is an adjective meaning reasonable or humble.

A proposal, when in the form of an essay, usually offers a solution to a social or political problem. Satire is a literary tool used to ridicule human foolishness and evil through humor and irony.

The full title of Swift’s essay, considered a masterpiece of irony, is “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of the Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to Their Public.”

The phrase a modest proposal is now often used ironically to introduce an idea that is radical or outrageous. “A Modest Proposal” is the shortened title of a 1729 essay by satirist Jonathan Swift in which he ironically proposes that the people of Ireland sell their children as food.

A modest proposal dr jonathan swift