The document provides background context on the political and religious situation in Ireland leading up to the publication of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal". It describes the English invasion and establishment of laws that oppressed Catholics and the Irish people. It notes the famine conditions in 1729 that prompted Swift to publish his satirical essay proposing that the poor sell their children as food. The document outlines Swift's purpose, subject, techniques, and tone in critiquing the situation through grimly logical yet outrageous proposals to highlight the suffering of the Irish and failures of those in power.