Yang 1

Yi Yang

Mr. Liam

11 Pre-AP English Language

Dec.7th, 2020

Synthesis Essay

Opening a newspaper, in the “Breaking News” section the press is always putting the

most recent and horrifying events. “If it bleeds, it leads” is how newspapers determine which

articles, events, and issues are placed on the front page. Many important issues that pose long

term effects to people’s wellbeing then fade into the background, as the general public gets tired

of reading the same thing without a new angle. Utilizing ridicules, satires reengage readers with

these critical issues and raise the overall awareness of the general public as a result.

In Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” he is concerned about the famine and economic

depression within Ireland. To raise awareness across the public and ask the government to take

action, he humbly proposes “to render [children] plump and fat for a good table.” That is a

grotesque proposition that poses cannibalism as the solution to the famine and economic

depression. This absurd proposal serves as the criticism towards the government that did not

attempt to solve the problem in a positive way but to sacrifice children of the lower class to serve

as meals on wealthier classes’ tables. By stating a ridiculous solution towards an urgent problem

faced by Irish people at Swift’s time, this satire raised the seriousness of an event that poses a

long term effect to the country, engage the audiences to deliberate the situation again.

Lee’s “A Modest Proposal” is a criticism of “Priti Patel’s Home Office in favour of

netting channel migrants” solution to stop the immigrants entering Britain. “[M]ight not a

gentleman be tempted to view the already agreed upon act of entrapping or deterring these
 Yang 2

persevering pests as a noble sport.” Lee’s solution is to view that as a sport for the upper class to

enjoy. A similar event that happens daily is hunting, and by this juxtaposition, it dehumanized

the illegal immigrants traveling from France to England. Using the web to trap the immigrants in

the water also is a clear absurd idea to stop illegal immigration as it is impossible to have people

guarding the seashore around the clock, placing web and capture immigrants. By the ridiculous

solution, it allowed people to read through his letter and reconnect to the issue, illegal

immigrants.

Yi raises awareness of the energy crisis in his “A Modest Proposal.” Yi poses an also

ridiculous solution towards clean energy generation: to set up an energy farm in which humans

are working out to burn themselves for energy. By demanding humans to work to generate more

electricity per se is a ridiculous decision and not achievable in any aspect. “Every one of us,

based on how much energy is stored within us, should be ordained to work in the farm.” This

system to classify workers is an absurd criterion that measuring human body’s energy should

never be by their lipids content within. Also, stating this proposal will solve a lot of problems in

the society to a greater extent demonstrated the more absurdness, as the energy problem is solved

with ease and unrealistically generating marginal benefits. With such a ridiculous proposal it

raises the awareness of the energy issue that is connected with everyone in the society recently,

and readers will start to bear in mind the question: how to produce energy more cleanly.

In brief, satire by its ridicule solution posted in all three versions of “A Modest Proposal”

reengages readers to focus on recently ignored matters, and to reinforce the urgency of some

matter. Satires can generate more power than articles exploiting logos and factual evidence, as

that form can let readers to enjoy, and to get the message themselves rather than bare words on

the paper. Satire is an effective form of writing in communicating with the audience.