STAGE

Gulliver’s Travels
4 Jonathan Swift

Introduction

This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only

and should not be given to students.

The story
In 1699, a ship’s doctor called Gulliver is shipwrecked
on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Gulliver wakes up
on a beach to find his body fastened to the ground by
tiny people who are only fifteen centimetres tall. They
are from Lilliput, a country of small, intelligent people,
ruled over by a king. At first the people are afraid of
this ‘Man-Mountain’ and keep him in chains. However,
Gulliver soon learns their language and promises
to help them. In return, the King frees Gulliver and
provide him with food.
Gulliver observes the good and bad customs of
Lilliput with interest and learns about the two factions
in Lilliput – the Small-Endians and the Big-Endians.
The King’s faction, the Small-Endians believe that
boiled eggs should be broken at the small end while
the rebel Big-Endians believe the opposite. Some of
the Big-Endians have escaped to the neighbouring
country of Blefuscu which is planning to defeat Lilliput
in war. Gulliver helps the King and drags fifty Blefuscan
warships to Lilliput. When the King asks Gulliver
to destroy all the Blefuscan ships, Gulliver refuses.
From this moment the King turns against Gulliver and
decides to blind him. Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu and
eventually returns to England.
Although Gulliver is pleased to see his wife, he
becomes restless and leaves England in a ship which
is blown off course. Gulliver is left alone in the country
of Brobdingnag and finds that he is now a dwarf in a
land of giants. One of these giant men finds Gulliver
and takes him home where he is looked after by a kind
girl called Glumdalclitch.
The man exhibits Gulliver throughout Brobdingnag
until he is bought by the King and Queen. Gulliver leads
a comfortable life at the palace with Glumdalclitch still
looking after him. He is, however, tormented by the
Queen’s dwarf and stolen by a monkey who nearly
kills him.
The King asks Gulliver about life in England. Gulliver
proudly explains the political and legal systems but the
King laughs at all the weaknesses of these systems.
Gulliver offers the King the secret of gunpowder which
he rejects because it is so cruel.
One day Gulliver is snatched by a bird who drops
him in the sea. He is picked up by sailors and returns
to England. Once again Gulliver sails off on adventures
and ends up on the flying island of Laputa which is
inhabited by strange looking people interested only in
music and mathematics. Gulliver also visits Balnibarbi
where he finds clever men studying inventions while
the rest of the people are poor and hungry.
Before returning to England Gulliver visits
Glubbdubdrib, an island of magicians who enable
Gulliver to question historical figures from the past.
Gulliver returns to England, sets sail again and is
wrecked in a country ruled by intelligent horses called
Houys. Their servants, the Yahoos, are ugly animals
with human faces. Gulliver finds the Yahoos’ behaviour
disgusting in contrast to the peaceful and generous
conduct of their masters, the Houys. On returning to
England, Gulliver realises his fellow countrymen are all
just Yahoos who will lie, steal and fight forever, without
listening to truth or reason.
Background to the story
Jonathan Swift was born in 1667 in Dublin, Ireland, and
died in 1745. When Gulliver’s Travels was published in
1726 it was an immediate success and continues to
be read by everyone, from politicians to children. It can
be read both as a sharp attack on eighteenth-century
ideas and customs and as a funny and amusing
account of the fantastic adventures of its hero.

55 © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

 STAGE
Gulliver’s Travels
4 Pre-reading activity

Match the words with the pictures

1 4 7

e To my horror, these ugly

3 human faces which looked
a While I was talking, the King
was making notes.
b Little men climbed up with
baskets of food and drink.
c I sat on the seat, and was
pulled up to the island.
d I saw two huge rats run
towards me across the bed.
animals, called Yahoos, had
very similar to mine.
f My guards put chains on my
left leg.
g I was trying to find a hole in
the hedge.
h The Queen put her hand
out of the window for me to
kiss.

To the teacher

Aim: To familiarize students with the story and
characters
Time: 15 minutes
Organization: Give one copy of the worksheet to
each student, or each group of students. Ask them
to match the words with the appropriate picture.
When everyone has completed this task, check the
answers.
Next ask the students to look again at the pictures
and find the hero Gulliver. What do they notice about
the size of Gulliver? Can they guess any of Gulliver’s
adventures?
Key: 1b, 2f, 3h, 4g, 5d, 6a, 7c, 8e.

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 STAGE
Gulliver’s Travels
4 While reading activity

Match the events with the country

Put these events from the story next to the country where they happen.
Then order the events as they occur in the book.

COUNTRY WHERE ORDER

1
2
Lilliput 3
4
5
6
7

1
2
Brobdingnag a 3
4
5
6
7

a A large bird carries Gulliver away.
b Guards put ninety-one chains on his left leg.
c Hundreds of tiny men take him to the capital
city.
d He is exhibited all over the country.
e A giant picks him up in a field.
f He escapes to Blefuscu and returns to
England.
g He wakes up on the beach to find his body
fastened to the ground.
h The King and Queen buy him.
i He is set free by the King in return for certain
promises.
j The Queen’s dwarf drops him into a bowl of
milk.
k The King decides to shoot arrows into his
eyes.
l Glumdalclitch starts to look after him.
m He pulls fifty Blefuscan warships along with
hooks.
n The King takes notes about the political
system in his country.

To the teacher

Where: At the end of Chapter 9
Aim: To order, revise and remember what has been
read
Time: 25 minutes
Organization: As a class ask everybody how much
they can remember about the countries of Lilliput
and Brobdingnag. Then give each student, or group
of students a copy of the chart. Ask them to identify
which events take place in Lilliput and which ones
in Brobdingnag. They should write their answers in
the first box. When they have done this, quickly go
through the answers as a class. Then ask them to
order the events as they take place in the story and
write their answers in the second box.
Key: Lilliput: 1g, 2c, 3b, 4i, 5m, 6k, 7f;
Brobdingnag: 1e, 2l, 3d, 4h, 5j, 6n, 7a.

57 © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PHOTOCOPIABLE

 STAGE
Gulliver’s Travels
4 After reading activity

Word grid

Find the answers to the clues below and fill in the word grid. When you have finished you
will find the name of a place, which runs down through the middle of all the words. The
first has been done for you.

1 Gulliver is taken away in this by a large 1

B O X
bird.
2
2 In Lilliput government officials are
chosen by this type of dancing.
3
3 Gulliver meets the ........................................ of Julius
Caesar.
4
4 The monkey thinks that Gulliver is this.
5 Gulliver’s real job.
5
6 The place where Gulliver is called ‘Man-
Mountain’. 6
7 Gulliver tries to give away the secret of
this powder. 7
8 At the end Gulliver thinks that humans
will always lie, steal and ....................................... . 8

because they are all Yahoos.

9 Very small. 9

10 Gulliver kills this animal with his sword.

11 The name of a person who breaks their 10

egg in a different way to the King.

11

To the teacher

Aim: To help revise vocabulary and key events
Time: 20 minutes
Organization: Give each student, or pair of students a
copy of the grid and look at the first example together
as a class. Ask the students to read the clues and find
the other missing words. When they have done all
the questions they will find the name of a place that
Gulliver visits, which runs down through the words.
When everyone has finished, go through the answers
as a class and ask students to comment on the
words. For example: What happened to Gulliver after
he was taken away in the box by the large bird?
Key: 1 box; 2 rope; 3 ghost; 4 baby; 5 doctor;
6 Lilliput; 7 gunpowder; 8 fight; 9 tiny; 10 rat;
11 Big-Endian. Place name: Brobdingnag.

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