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  • Essay / Analyzing the Specifics of Swift's Writing Style

    Jonathan Swift, an author whose life took place around the turn of the 17th century, is widely considered the greatest satirist in British literary history. Although he was well versed in poetry and wrote a prolific number of private correspondences, Swift is best known for his prose fiction, such as The Battle of the Books, A Tale of a Bathtub, and Gulliver's Travels, and his pamphlets , namely A Modest proposal. Swift's works fall into the genre of satire, in which irony and sarcasm are used to ridicule or denounce stupidity and madness, typical of society, politics and human nature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssaySwift's diction style can best be described as simple and prosaic. Only in rare circumstances does he deviate from a pattern of typical syntax and word choice, and his normal writings show no particularity in this regard. According to Scott-Kilvert (1980), Swift "tended to associate language with history, politics, religion... for his pamphlets he needed an intermediate style, which would, in fact, avoid the extremes of the decadent or disloyal courtier.” dissident, libertinism and fanaticism. (29)” Sir Walter Scott, cited by Read (1998), agrees about Swift: “His style, which generally consists of the barest and simplest terms, is strong, clear and expressive; without vulgarity or malice; and beautiful, without affectation or ornament. » Indeed, Swift's writings do not focus on the mechanics of language, but rather on the caustic irony and sarcastic tone of his satire. Swift ably plays a terribly misanthropic economist or policymaker in A Modest Proposal, in which he sarcastically argues for the consumption of Irish children as a panacea to the problems of overpopulation and poverty. Through the speech, Swift refrains from breaking character during her direct portrayal of this role, creating a ridiculous sense of sarcasm. In this premise, Swift created a heartless grotesquerie of real politicians and economists who called for radical and reckless measures or neglected to address the suffering of the Irish poor. Although they obviously never went to the extremes that Swift went to satirize them (if they had, the lampoon would not have been shocking or out of the ordinary), their follies are imitated in a way sarcastic, almost stupid. Although this seems like an unnecessary mockery - that is, a comment without explanation - Swift ingeniously works in her own genuine opinions and ideas towards the end, allowing a reader already affected and amused by Swift's acerbic sarcasm to understand the social message of the article. He writes: Let no one therefore speak to me of other expedients: To tax our absentees at five shillings per pound... To cure the cost of pride, vanity, idleness and gambling in our women: To introduce a vein of parsimony, prudence and temperance... To be a little prudent so as not to sell our country and our consciences for nothing: To teach our landlords to have at least a certain mercy towards their tenants. Finally, we must instill a spirit of honesty, industry and competence in our traders. change based on common sense. This mode of satire manages to arouse both amusement and consideration2E. The importance here depends on the popularity of the humor -- while most ordinary citizens would not be excited by tiring political rebuttals, humor is widely appreciated. Swift's intelligent political and social humor can be extremely, 1980.