To Vex or Not to Vex: That is the Question.
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(5 pp) In our politically correct world of a new century, certainly "vexing" is hardly the thing to do, however during the time of the writers we are examining, Jonathan Swift through Gulliver's Travels and Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, we might say that "vexing was 'in'"(style) in the eighteenth century. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe
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Two of the more engaging books of the Romantic Era, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, are superficially very similar. Both describe the hero's travels to strange places and his adventures among outlandish peoples. They both reflect the literary need of the time to, at least on the surface, be based on true accounts; that is, the initial plot is within the realm of possibility and then treads lightly into a land of imagination. Swift uses the fictional story to make a moral and philosophical point, while Defoe proclaims his moral purpose like a revivalist, but puts in plenty of sensational, adventurous and imaginative detail to engage the reader. This 5 page paper asserts that the values that are represented in the life of Robinson Crusoe are those valued in Christianity: prudence, temperance, and the other qualities Crusoe needs for a good life on the island. His association with Friday is that of missionary to convert. Gulliver's attempts at self-perfection and proselytizing, his inability to achieve the Houyhnhnm ideal and his inability to recognize the Christian wisdom embodied in the Captain's charity, serve to mock both the Enlightenment idea of humanity's innate goodness and Christianity's desire for sanctification. No additional sources are listed.
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Satire/ Gulliver's Travels and the Nacirema
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A 5 page essay that compares and contrast satire as it is used in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Horace Miner's "Body Rituals of the Nicerema." Just as Swift's novel satirized the English society of the early eighteenth century, Miner's article points to the idiosyncrasies and foibles of the modern US. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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Power and Exploitation in Four Literary Works:
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An 8 page comparison of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Alan Duff's Once Were Warriors, Russell Banks' Continental Drift, and Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal in terms of their treatment of the themes of exploitation and power. The paper asserts that it is not only those who are suffering the exploitation who suffer; the exploiters suffer morally as their actions diminish them. Similarly, the exploited morally triumph as they learn to deal with adversity and forge a renewed sense of power out of the shambles of their lives. Bibliography lists five sources.
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The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living
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In 5 pages, the author takes Socrates’ statement in “Apology” that “the unexamined life is not worth living” and relates it to three other famous texts: Voltaire’s “Candide,” Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels,” concentrating on the voyage to Lilliput; and Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road.” Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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Satire Throughout Literary History:
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A five page paper looking at the role satire has played in literature throughout history. The paper covers Aristophanes' "Lysistrata," Shakespeare's "As You Like It," Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," and Syl Jones' "Black No More." Bibliography lists six sources.
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A Solution for the Day Care Crisis: A Satire
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A five page essay, based on the model of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, facetiously suggesting that as a solution to the shortage of adequate day care facilities, we should just leave our toddlers home alone. The paper’s real meaning is that working mothers need to assume more responsibility for the nurturing of their growing children. No sources.
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Satire in Gulliver's Travels
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Gulliver's Travels has long been recognized as a work of exquisite satire. The Travels represent the society of the Puritans that Jonathan Swift found himself among and whom all things were serious and strict. His playfulness in presentation that dominates books I through III are a counterbalance to the serious satirical nature of book IV. There are a number of parodies in the book, most of them concerning the society of Puritans and, or Protestant thought of the time. This 3 page paper explores a few of the parodies in the book and briefly compares it with Voltaire's Candide. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
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An Enlightening Symposium / Philosophy In World Literature
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An 8 page transcript of an imaginary symposium set in an eternal 'now' in which Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Mme. de Lafayette, Jonathan Swift, François Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Charlotte Bronte, and a Moderator discuss their philosophies. Special attention is given to the dichotomy of reason versus passion, and of the individual versus society. No sources.
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