”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 ..."
This is certainly not a modest proposal. Yet, the exaggeration certainly captivates the readers of this piece. The description is revolting, but it makes the audience keep reading in wonder of what more is to come. The satirical tone is somewhat hidden but is expressed in Swift's exaggeration. Of course, there are better ways to get people's attention or interest in something. Joan Didion took a completely different approach to a piece that is just as satirical. How she captivated her audience was through an anecdote. She talks about a priest rapidly marrying a bunch of people in Las Vegas.
“I got it down from five to three
minutes,” Mr. Brennan said later of his feat. “I could’ve married them en mass, but they’re people, not cattle. People expect more when they get married.”
Didion is just as effective in conveying her satirical tone and even some irony in the fact that the priest is actually marrying people "en masse" just like cattle. Didion and Swift grab people's attention in very unique ways and are both successful in conveying their true meaning and purpose of the pieces. There are countless of other ways to get an audience's attention from abandoned animals to insanely cool Hot Wheels. Every commercial or add has an attention getter and so does every essay we write Monday mornings at an ungodly hour. But which way is the most effective? Sara Bareilles begging you to donate money to abused and abandoned dogs or the new "Criss Cross Crash" track? Or how about the Advil commercial claiming it's the world's number one choice. Or the Snuggie commercial stating it's the financially sound option, opposed to raising the heater. Each business is extremely successful but what is the most effective attention getter?
What do you respond most to? Ethos, Pathos, Logos, or just plain absurdness? Comment your answer below!
(Personally Swift's tactics got my attention very quickly but because his product/proposal was so awful it lost my attention as soon as it came. So I would have to say that pathos would be the most effective on me. The second an abandoned puppy comes on the tv I'm a goner!)
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