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it when leveraging the serious subject of cannibalism to pressure his readers toward change. Jonathan Swift uses the four conditions of political satire to improve his account for credibility and persuade his audience of his ideas. Swift utilizes the first criteria of free speech through design as in Greece or England by establishing his thoughts even though he did not have the full right to. He speaks on his proposal and that he feels no one will object to it unless they would be lessened by the Kingdom, “This I freely own, and it was indeed one principal design in offering it to the world” (29). Swift uses his idea of free speech towards the English to criticize their acts in government, although he wasn’t allowed to. Back in the eighteenth century, people did not have the right to criticize England’s government, so the fact that he did it anyways detects his passion towards the argument and strengthens his credibility. Swift uses the second criteria by writing towards a more educated and wealthier group, the English. He purposefully writes in a very educated manner, so that the poor Irish wouldn’t be able to understand his language, but the upper class and educated could. He uses specific diction such as fricassee and ragout to establish who he was writing to and why he was writing this, such as, “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout” (9). When using these specific food terms, Swift expresses who his true audience is and why he is writing to them. He wants the English to know that they need to fix their political affairs with the Irish after ambushing them. Swift wants their mistakes to be seen and known, and he did this by using words or terms he knew only the most educated people would know, such as elevated terms for different types of food. By using these rhetorical techniques towards his audience, he is persuading them by bringing knowledge to their attention. Swift continues to use the criteria by demonstrating
