English 211: Fiction
Discussion Question 1
Directions: Choose ONE of the following questions and write an answer. Be sure to use specific details and direct quotes from the novel to support your ideas. Your answer should be 2-3 paragraphs long. This question is due no later than Thursday, Sept. 10.
Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Sunday, Sept. 13. In order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond thoughtfully to at least 3 or 4 other people's postings.
We will be using the ETUDES Discussion Board for this class. Click on the link below to get to the ETUDES portal, sign in, and then click on the tab for this class. You will find the "Discussion and Private Messages" link on the left side of the screen:
Remember: This discussion question is worth a possible 20 points. Late answers will receive 0 points. Points will be assigned according to the thoughtfulness of your answer, not by whether it is "right" or not, since sometimes there is no "right" answer. Just be sure your ideas are supported by the material in the novel.
1. Various critics have argued that, in Robinson Crusoe, Defoe is writing a religious allegory about disobedience and redemption (J. Paul Hunter), an economic manifesto about the beginnings of capitalism (Karl Marx), a guide to the creation of social order (Jean-Jacques Rousseau), a psychological analysis of isolation (Leslie Stephen), and any number of other interpretations. What is your own interpretation of the novel?
2. Gustave Launert, in "The Language of Robinson Crusoe," points out that Crusoe's sentences are often long and repetitive; that he often uses relative clauses to give the impression of second thoughts; that he often uses present tense rather than past tense. Launert argues that this style is deliberate: it gives us a sense of immediacy, as we see Crusoe working things out as he goes along. What is your opinion of Defoe's style in this novel? Do you think the style reinforces the ideas or the emotions of the novel?
