Unit 5 Defoe and Swift Aims of Teachings: 1.The novel as a genre in English literature 2. Robinson Crusoe 3. Gulliver’s Travels 4. A Modest Proposal

Major Teaching Points: 1.     Sentimental novel 2.     Realistic novel 3.     Authenticity of Robinson Crusoe 4.     Swift’s humor and satire 5.     Irony in A Modest Proposal

I.Introduction to the Rise of the Modern English Novel Daniel Defoe (adventure story) HenryFielding（1707—54）:Tom Jones (1749) Jonathan Swift: Gulliver’s Travels (1726) Tobias Smollett (1721—71) Roderick Random (1748) (first English sea novel) Samuel Richardson (1689-1761): Damela (1740) Lawrence Sterne (1713-68): Tristram Shandy(1759), A sentimental Journey(1768) (Oliver Goldsmith (1730-74): The Vicar of Wakefield (the Enlightenment)

 II.    Daniel Defoe (1661—1731） —One of the forerunners of the English realistic novel. 丹尼尔笛福——英国现实主义小说先驱 1.  His life: Born toward the of the summer of 1660, died on April 24, 1731- original surname Foe, Defoe altered it in 1703 2.  His Works  

Robinson Grusoe (1719)

1)    the story from 1704-1709, Alexander Selkirk spent 5 years on an uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez in South Pacific Ocean, later rescued

2） general comment The hero ——an embodiment of the Spirit of individual enterprise and colonial expansion ——an empire-builder, colonizer, a foreign trader ——a man against nature and living through different stages of human civilization in a seemingly primitive environment ——when Friday came, he became an exploiter, colonizer

The book —— a glorification of bourgeois qualities of individualism, private enterprise, and even labor. ——an illusion that the existence of the individual and not that of the collective mass, was the starting point of human history.

3) the stylistic features of the novel simple language, attention to details, seemingly authentic descriptions

III.Jonathan Swift (1667—1745) 1.     His tragic life Jonathan Swift aimed his witty, imaginative, and often bitter satire at such subjects as politics, literature, and human society.   

Gulliver’s Travels (1726) 1) the story Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Swift’s masterpiece, is commonly considered a children’s story but was originally intended as a satire on humankind. 2)   comment: interesting stories + satire

3.  A question: Why is the story of Lilliput more interesting to the reading public than that of Brobdingnag or that of the Houyhnhms? probably out of human nature: man tends to think highly of himself, not to belittle himself, thus to satisfy his sense of self-importance 4.Compare the style of Swift’s with that of Defoe’s

Discussion Questions 1.What is satire? What makes it an effective form of criticism? 2.In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift examines the essence of human nature; are humans basically rational and good beings or impulsive and cruel beasts? What does Gulliver discover about human nature? Draw your own conclusion to this question and support it with examples from personal or current events.

3.What, if anything, should be free from attack by satire? 4.Discuss what is accomplished in the story by changing the size of Gulliver and the people he interacts with. How does this change of scale affect Gulliver’s experiences and his relationships?

A modest proposal    1)  elaboration of a metaphor: the English are devouring the Irish irony + parody 2)  parody: the mimicking of a literary work or of the style of a well-known artist for the purpose of ridicule