Seminar on the enlightenment in english literature

SEMINAR ON THE ENLIGHTENMENT

IN ENGLISH LITERATURE

(Daniel Defoe – “Robinson Crusoe”; Jonathan Swift – “Gulliver’s Travels”)

1.  Speak on the peculiar features of the Enlightenment period in English literature (the general historical and cultural development at this time).

2.  Give a general outline of the periods, main genres and groups of writers of the period. Enumerate the main representatives in English literature of the period.

3.  Speak on the biography and literary work of Daniel Defoe.

4.  Speak on the origin and the literary form of the novel “Robinson Crusoe”.

5.  Give a short summary of Robinson’s travels.

6.  Using the facts from the novel, prove that Robinson Crusoe can be considered a typical representative of the bourgeois class of the time (pay attention to his motifs, thoughts, actions, etc.).

7.  How would you describe the relations between Robinson and Friday: a master and a slave or a master and a servant? Prove your idea.

8.  Give at least five reasons, why this novel was immensely popular at that time.

9.  Can we say that this book is not for children but for adults? Prove your idea.

10. Speak on the biography and literary work of Jonathan Swift. How is he different from Daniel Defoe?

11. How many books does “Gulliver’s Travels” consist of?

12. Why is it hardly a book for children?

13. How does Swift help us to accept the reality of the Lilliputians in Book I?

14. What things in the Lilliputian society does he find ridiculous? What familiar elements does he find there?

15. What chain of events forces Gulliver to leave Lilliput?

16. What conditions in the England of Swift’s time might have existed which are reflected in the satire of the novel? Can you find prototypes for Gulliver, the king of the Lilliputians, the chief minister of the Lilliputians? What does Swift allegorically criticize speaking about the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu?

17. Sum up: what is the main purpose of the writer’s satire in Book I?

18. What virtues, weaknesses and vices does Gulliver see in the Brobdingnagians in Book II?

19. What does the king of Brobdingnag’s questioning of Gulliver bring out about the life in England?

20. Sum up: what is the main purpose of the writer’s satire in Book I and Book II?

21. Contrast the things satirized and the methods used in Book I and Book II:

1.  court customs;

2.  personal characters and large issues such as government and war;

3.  Gulliver’s position and size.

22. What are the main areas for the writer’s satire in Book III?

23. Does Book III suggest to you anything about the 20^th century life?

24. What is Gulliver’s position in the society in Book III?

25. Why does Gulliver come to admire the Houyhnhnms so much? Contrast the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos in Book IV.

26. What is Gulliver’s feeling about the humanity at the end of Book IV? Is it the same as Swift’s?

27. Sum up: what is the main purpose of the writer’s satire in Book IV? Why is the content of this book last the sequence?