Question

Which statement best describes Swift's use of understatement in this excerpt? He states that "roasting pigs" is more difficult than roasting children. He states that butchers would have a problem roasting a child "as we do roasting pigs." He states that butchers are always "wanting" for "roasting pigs." He states that sending children to the butcher would be as simple as "roasting pigs."

Answer 1

The excerpt is the following:

As to our City of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose, in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs.

Answer:

He states that sending children to the butcher would be as simple as "roasting pigs."

Explanation:

An understatement is a figure of speech that consists of intentionally representing something less important or smaller than it really is. This is what Swift uses when he suggests that sending children to the butcher would be as simple as "roasting pigs." The author employs this figure of speech to catch the readers' attention and to criticize Irish society and its attitude toward the condition of poor farmers and laborers who can not feed their children due to the high rent they have to pay to their landowners. In order to improve the poor's economic situation, they'd better sell their children off as food to feed the wealthy.

Answer 2

After reading the passage from Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," we can say his use of understatement in best described by the following option:

D. He states that sending children to the butcher would be as simple as "roasting pigs."

What is understatement?

• We understate something when we make is appear less than what it really is. Another word for understatement is euphemism. Imagine you fall down and break your arm. If you say that it hurts a little, you will be understating your pain.

What is the understatement in the excerpt?

• In the passage from "A Modest Proposal," Swift makes it seem as if sending children to the butcher is as simple as roasting pigs which, of course, it is not. He is understating the difficulty of watching children die.

• His purpose is to criticize the wealthy who watch the poor suffer and die without doing anything about it or, even worse, by making their conditions even poorer.

• He proposes to use the children of the poor as food for the rich in a sarcastic, acidic way. Swift wanted to shock those who read his proposal by ironically suggesting that more damage be done.

With the information above in mind, we can choose letter D as the best option.

The missing passage is the following:

As to our City of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose, in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs.

Learn more about understatement here:

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