Key Concepts from Worldview in Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver’s Travels has been a part of the English literature canon for centuries and the tales Lemuel Gulliver describes in his travel writing have fascinated people of all ages. Literature has a unique ability to influence the reader’s worldview through the texts’ subtle inculcation of particular philosophies. Identifying the philosophy set forth in a particular work allows the reader to be more aware of and thus on guard against a thoughtless assimilation of beliefs and values which abrogate their own. What worldview is embedded in the storyline and characters in Gulliver’s Travels? How does Swift present the important worldview concepts of reason, nature, truth, beauty, change, language, science, and learning? And finally, which of these descriptions are meant satirically, and thus intended to invoke their opposites, and which are genuinely meant? Engaging the author’s presuppositions through questioning and examination encourages a strengthening of the individual’s understanding of the book and their own worldview.
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That was the proposal that was accepted. The bolded section was my original list of points. I changed that and worked on truth, nature of man, change and progress, perception and reality, beauty, and science.
There was a lot of work to do, but I love to read and write, so that wasn’t bad. The hardest part was getting the work down to 5000 words. I think I ended up with 5021, but at one time it was 7400. I hate to cut, too. That’s hard.
I do think that the paper was well-written. I think it was appropriate for a high school/college audience and that it is a reasonable academic paper as well. Keeping that in balance was difficult and in my last reading, I had to take out some references to the intended audience.
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If you think this would be something you would enjoy doing, see the <A HREF=”http://www.teachingcollegeenglish.com/2008/12/31/call-for-papers/”>last post on the CFP for articles</a> for Ignatius Critical Editions’ next works.
