James Thomson

James Thomson was the most celebrated Scottish poet of the 1700's until Robert Burns. In 1725,
he travelled from Scotland to London where he published his masterpiece, The Seasons (1726-
1730, revised 1744-1746). Thomson broke with the witty artificial poetic style of his day. He
turned to nature for his subject matter, and wrote fresh, vivid descriptions of natural scenes in rich
blank verse. This style led to the romantic movement later in the 1700's.

Jonathan Swift
Satire Definition
Satire is a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and
corruption of an individual or a society, by using humor, irony, exaggeration, or
ridicule. It intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies and foibles.

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"-satire proposes that children be

eaten in order to deal with overcrowding in London during the
Industrial Revolution.
Jonathan Swift also uses satire in Gulliver's Travels-the entire story is a
satire of English society. One example is that the fictitious Lilliput has
two political parties, that are only different because of the size of their
boots. Swift uses these two parties as a satire of the Whigs and Tories
in England.

Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift,

was written toward the end of Swift’s creative life, with almost all his
famous work behind him. Despite its irony, it stands as an apology for
his life and work, a looking back with various regrets and satisfactions.

Daniel Defoe
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe is a novel in which the protagonist tells about his life as an adventurer
making it an autobiographical novel. Robinson Crusoe while young desires to travel abroad
but his idea is condemned by his parents. However, he ignores their advice and boards a
ship that takes him to London.

The narrative techniques included used in Robinson Crusoe include

those of realistic fiction, autobiography, and spiritual autobiography.
Robinsonade, any novel written in imitation of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson
Crusoe (1719–22) that deals with the problem of the castaway’s survival on
a desert island.

Individualism expresses the idea that the needs and rights of the
individual are of supreme importance. With that definition in mind, we
can clearly see how Robinson Crusoe expresses individualism.
Crusoe, stranded all alone on a deserted island, is necessarily left to
his own resources and has to make his own practical and ethical
decisions

Themes

colonialism as it appears in Crusoe's relationship to Friday

An additional theme is fear. It is only by overcoming his fears that

Crusoe can create a happy life on the island.

A final theme is money, which is essential in the civilized world, but

useless in the world of the island.

the value of self-sufficiency and hard work.

spiritual growth
theme of survival
awareness

Defoe is considered "the father of realism" because he wrote about

people, gave them specific, concrete motivations, and explained how
and why they pursued them. He wrote in the earliest days of the novel
as literary form, and his Robinson Crusoe, widely considered the first
English novel, is a realist work in a number of respects compared to
the romances and picaresques from which the literary novel
descended.