Solution Essay Responses

The first essay, “A Modest Proposal,” was actually a satire piece written by Jonathan Swift. He proposed that the country of Ireland eat 1-year-old babies that come from families of poverty. He said that the solution would help poor parents earn money, and would also help the economy of Ireland. The solution isn’t very effective because this type of idea would never gain ground in nearly any society, the though of carrying out Swift’s suggestions would hopefully sicken any normal person. As ridiculous as the proposal is, Swift does about as good a job at actually being persuasive as anyone could hope to be in making this proposal. He has a lot of good points, and a solution that would probably work (if it weren’t so disturbing). Swift used a lot of sarcasm, and because of this, I would assume that he was trying to make an argument. It most likely had something to do with Ireland’s economy, or with how the rich viewed the poor.

In the second essay, Scott Carney proposes the idea of making organ donation mandatory upon death. He says that there is a high demand for organ donors, and he offers his proposal as a solution to the problem. In my opinion, I think that his solution has the potential to be very effective. He proposed that people will be automatically enrolled to be organ donors, but would have the choice to opt out if they wanted. I see nothing wrong with this solution because the people are still given a choice of what they want to do, and the government wouldn’t be forcing anything upon anyone. Carney is very persuasive in his argument, and he achieves this by using a bunch of quotes and facts from people with experience in the matter at hand. The target audience for this essay would most likely be people who are interested in finding a solution to the problem. The essay probably wouldn’t be an effective argument tool, but would make a good reference for people who are trying to learn more about the subject.