A fictitious biography
Preface of Robinson Crusoe
1. The main idea of this part 2. Descriptions in detail D) Brief comment on the novel E) Assignment
Daniel Defoe
● the founder of the English novel. ● one of the earliest realists, ● a representative of successful man.
liberal mind. advanced in opinion. the Puritan ethic. diligence, self-reliance and fortitude. ready enough to embrace all the people.
Topic 2—Defoe’s works
4) When his trade was ruined in William’s war with France, he took up writing. (“The True-born Englishmen ” “ The Shortest Way with the Dissenters, ” “ Hymn to the pillory ” , “ The Review”)
Topic 1—Introduction to Daniel Defoe d his works
1.1 Facts of Daniel Defoe 1) He never went to university. 2) His business underwent many ups and downs. 3) The Glorious Revolution — an enthusiastic supporter.
I TOPIC: Daniel Defoe and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe（Excerpt）
II OBJECTIVES: A) Introduction to Daniel Defoe and his works B) About Adventures of Robinson Crusoe C) Study of the text
2. A Journal of the Plague Year（1722）
the Great Plague of London （ 1664—65 ） . an eyewitness account of the disaster. one of the first and most gifted pieces of historical reconstruction. the care for persistent record of the detail of daily life.
1. Moll Flanders（1722） the personal history of the titular heroine. the daughter of a woman thief. taken into the home of a mayor. seduced and then deserted. as a prostitute, five marriages. theft. lives in prosperity.
5) In May 1703, Defoe was arrested and put in prison, and after his release Defoe redoubled his activities as a journalist and pamphleteer.
Brief comment on Defoe
Topic 3—Special features of his works
1. his real concern for his time：man’s struggle against his natural and social environment. The Puritan virtues of self-reliance, diligence, patience, fortitude and thrift. exploitation, poverty, moral degeneration, corruption, cheating, desertion —prosperity, respectability, expansion and wealth. 2. in picaresque tradition, tracing the wandering life of the hero or heroine.
Topic 2—About Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
“Robinson Crusoe”(1719), supposedly based on the real adventure of an Alexander Selkirk who once stayed alone on the uninhabited island Juan Fernandez for five years, is, in fact, a work of sheer imagination.
3. a strong verisimilitude: the autobiographical form and to describe things and happenings in great detail and use specific time and place.
4. His language is smooth, easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular, but never coarse.