Rhetorical Analysis

In the article, Satire in 18th Century British Society: Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, Jonathan J. Szwec analyzes the difference between hierarchy and the dissatisfaction of society. Both authors used different techniques in ridiculing the British society. They revealed that the society seemed to forget the true principles of its age. Szwec’s purpose in writing this article was to show that some forms of literature are used to persuade society’s position, whether it is social or political issues.

This article I chose to analyze surprised me in a few ways. One way was how Szwec decided to discuss the different ways both of the authors used different types of logic and different types of satire to portray the same thing. Pope used a more foolish tone by making fun of the British, whereas Swift used more of a ridicule attack based more on the regards of Ireland. Szwec attempted to inform the readers how both of the authors used different satire archetypes for motivation. Another way this article surprised me was how Szwec used different references to help enforce his main point. This made it easier to understand his point of view towards each novel he was analyzing. I was surprised to see how helpful that was. The structure wasn’t the best, but it was helpful. In some parts of the article, Szwec gets away from his main point. He uses a lot of detail and information of each novel that it gets confusing at times. Other than that, everything was clear and I knew why his main purpose was and what he wanted to accomplish with this piece, which was to inform the readers how the British society forced both Pope and Swift to acknowledge the inadequacy of the neoclassical period. I was surprised that I understood some parts and was able to analyze his reasoning behind it.

Szwec’s intended subject was definitely the problems with how the economical society of Britain was and how it was ridiculed and made fun of. He got across to the audience how Pope and Swift had an impact on the future of the British society. Although his subject was not unconventional, his way of writing was. It was unconventional in the way that he decided to not focus so much on the structure, like the way I was taught to write an essay. He focused just on the analysis part of it. The subject was clear, just in a different way than I am used to. I do not mind that he wrote it like this. This article in particular contradicted some of the rules we have been taught to follow. The subject is effectively produced throughout the article but the structure of the paragraphs could be better. I want to start focusing on just the analysis instead of just the structure.

The way this article was written leads me to believe that having a strong thesis isn’t as important as the actual analysis. The writing the reader reads is the analysis the writer has comprehended. After reading this, it makes it easier for me to write essays the way I want and focus on the actual text of my writing and not the grammar and structure. This assignment helped my writing techniques by making me comprehend what a writer is thinking and analyzing.