Question

\a modest proposal\
by jonathan swift
it is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or
travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads and cabbin-
doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or
six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.
these mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are
forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their
helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work,
or leave their dear native country, to fight for the pretender in spain, or sell
themselves to the barbadoes.
i think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in
the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently
of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very
great additional grievance; and therefore whoever could find out a fair,
cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful
members of the common-wealth, would deserve so well of the publick, as
to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.
but my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the
children of professed beggars: it is of a much greater extent, and shall take
in the whole number of infants at a certain age, who are born of parents in
effect as little able to support them, as those who demand our charity in
the streets
as to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years, upon this
which statement best describes swift’s use of rhetorical devices in this
excerpt?
swift uses irony when he says the person with
whom he discussed his plan is \very worthy\ and
\a true lover of this country.\
swift uses irony when he says \so great a number
of both sexes\ are in desperate need of \work and
service.\
swift uses a false premise when he says the
\gentlemen of the kingdom\ have \destroyed their
deer.\
swift uses a false premise when he says that
people of the kingdom are in \want of venison.\

Explanation:

In "A Modest Proposal", Swift's use of irony is central. The first option correctly identifies irony: the description of the person as "very worthy" and "a true lover of the country" is ironic, as Swift's proposal (eating children to solve poverty) is absurd, and praising someone for considering it is sarcastic. The second option's claim about "work and service" is not ironic in the context. The third and fourth options incorrectly identify false premises; the "destroyed their deer" and "want of venison" are not the main rhetorical device here, and the statements about deer/venison are not false premises but part of Swift's satirical setup, while irony (not false premise) is the key device in the first option.

Answer:

A. Swift uses irony when he says the person with whom he discussed his plan is "very worthy" and "a true lover of this country."