2.

René Descartes’ The Discourse on Method

- Summarize the main methods Descartes believes that he, and the people in general,
should do in solving problems.
There are 4 parts of Descartes’s methods, The first was, never to accept anything as
true. The second was, to divide each of the difficulties. The third was, to control thoughts in
order and the last was, to make everywhere enumerations so complete, and surveys so wide.

- What does Descartes discuss when he says, “I think, therefore I am”?

With this conclusion he affirms that the mind is separate from the body, and more
important than mere physical experience. Descartes believed that his own rational
conclusions proved the existence of God, but others worried that his skeptical questioning
might lead to atheism. Either way, Western thought has grappled ever since with the
Cartesian "mind-body problem.

According to encyclopedias, no one is naturally given the right to command others,

each individual of the same race has the right to enjoy freedom as soon as they know how to
use reason. Power can be obtained through violence, but it is only appropriation and only
exists as long as the power of the individual giving orders can overcome the power of those
who obey, and power also comes from consensus. of the people necessarily presupposes
certain conditions for its use to be legal. Political power must promote the common good and
ensure fairness; in addition, this authority is also limited by natural law and the state.
4. Benjamin Franklin
Enumerate the jobs Franklin ever took and the inventions he did during his life.
Printer, Businessman, Inventor, Scientist, Writer, Musician, Diplomat, Signatory to
the, Declaration of Independence, Signatory to the United States Constitution

3. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D’Alembert: The Encyclopédie

- How do beasts differ from human being according to the encyclopedists’ definition?
Beasts do not have the supreme advantage of human beings. However, they have
some that we do not have: they do not have our hopes, but they do not have our fears. They
suffer death as we do, but it is without knowing it. Most of them take better care of
themselves and do not misuse their passions as much as we do.
- Summarize in a paragraph of about 100 words the role of education in the
development of children according to the encyclopedists’ idea.
Education plays an extremely important role in children's development. According to
encyclopedias, the goal of education is to foster good physical health and train thinking
ability. In addition, it also directs children towards integrity and teaches them how to behave
in life and society. Besides, education needs to create a suitable environment for children.
The first years of childhood require more attention than usual, so later on it is often difficult
to erase bad impressions, which affect them. influence future thinking and behavior.
Encyclopedists provide wise guidance, ensuring children are only exposed to the truth,
helping them develop a good moral foundation and rational thinking.
- Summarize the encyclopedists’ definition of political authority in a paragraph of about
100 words.

5. Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

* In chapter 1 of part IV
- Who are Gulliver’s companions in his journey this time? What is the main purpose of
his journey this time? How do his sailors treat him?
Gulliver's companions were new crews, recruited from Barbadoes and the Leeward
Islands. The object of this voyage was to trade with the Indians of the South Seas and
to make such discoveries as were possible. The sailors were fascinated by the
fraudsters Gulliver caught and they rioted against Gulliver and imprisoned him.

- What does Gulliver do when he is left in the island? What are the characteristics of the
island? What creatures does he encounter in the island? What are their features?
Gulliver's Actions: Gulliver went up into the country, resolving to deliver yourself to
the first savages he should meet, and purchase your life from them by some bracelets,
glass rings, and other toys, which sailors usually provide themselves with in those
voyages.
He went up into the country, resolving to deliver yourself to the first savages he
should meet, and purchase your life from them by some bracelets, glass rings, and
other toys, which sailors usually provide themselves with in those voyages.

Island Characteristics: The land was divided by long rows of trees, not regularly
planted. But naturally growing; there was great plenty of grass, and several fields of
oats.

Strange creatures: Their heads and chests are covered with thick hair, some curly,
some drooping; they sounded like goats, and had a long lock of hair running down
their backs, as well as the front parts of their legs and feet; but the rest of their bodies
were bare so I could see that their skin was light brown.

These horses behave very orderly and rationally, are very sharp and lucid, seeming to
communicate with each other by making conversation-like sounds.

- What is the horses’ attitude to Gulliver when he encounters them? What does he think
about them?

The horses’ attitude to Gulliver: this animal seeming to receive my civilities with
disdain, shook his head, and bent his brows, softly raising up his left forefoot to remove
Gulliver hand. Then he neighed three or four times in different a cadence.

Gulliver thinks: He thinks they are so orderly and rational, so acute and judicious,
that he at last concluded, they must needs be magicians, who had thus metamorphosed
themselves upon some design.

* In chapter 2 of part IV
- Why does Gulliver bring some toys together in his journey?
He brought some toys, which travelers usually carry for presents to the savage Indians
of America and other parts, in hopes the people of the house would be thereby encouraged to
receive him kindly.
- When entering the building, which is the horses’ house, what does Gulliver think of
when he sees the hosts? Who else does he see in addition to the hosts? What is the
relationship between these creatures to the hosts?
 Gulliver thinks: He began to think that this house must belong to some person of
great note among them, because there appeared so much ceremony before he could
gain admittance.

Other creatures: Gulliver also sees Yahoos, creatures that he discovers have a
humanoid appearance but behave like animals.

- What is the food do the Yahoos eat?

Yahoos eat tree roots and the meat of animals such as donkeys, dogs and sometimes
cows that die from accident or disease.

- How does Gulliver finally find food for him? What are those kinds of food?
He gets the right kind of food from making bread with the help of Houyhnhnms

Type of food: he sometimes made a shift to catch a rabbit, or bird, by springes made
of Yahoos’ hair; and he often gathered wholesome herbs, which he boiled. Or ate as salads
with his bread, and he made a little butter and drank the whey.

* In chapter 3 of part IV
- What is the main task the author has to do during the time he lives with the
Houyhnhnm community? How does he get improved?
The main task Gulliver undertakes while living with the Houyhnhnms is learning their
language and customs
He points at everything and asks its name, which he writes in his diary when he is
alone. He corrects his bad accent by asking family members to pronounce it often.

- What does the Houyhnhnm think about him in comparing him with the Yahoo?
Houyhnhnm thinks he must be a Yahoo, but his teachableness, civility, and
cleanliness astonished him; which were qualities altogether so opposite to those animals.
- What of his adventures and of his country and people does the author finally tell his
Houyhnhnm master about?
He answered that he came over the sea, from a far place, with many others of his own
kind, in a great hollow vessel made of the bodies of trees; that his companions forced him to
land on this coast, and then left him to shift for himself. It was some difficulty, and by the
help of many signs, that he brought Houyhngnm to understand him

Writing
Find out 3 journal articles which discuss certain themes in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s
Travels. Then, put them in an order of APA format.

Note: they must be journal articles.

 Zimpfer, N. (2020). The World, Gulliver, and the Critic. XVII-XVIII. Revue de la
Société d’études anglo-américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, (77).

 Greenberg, R. (2018). Swift’s savage muse: Gulliver’s travels and the spirit of
Enmity. The Review of English Studies, 69(287), 804-826. doi:10.1093/res/hgy040
 Johnson, M. K. (2020). The human and the monstrous: Contrasting identities in
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Journal of Narrative Theory, 45(3), 512-528.
doi:10.1353/jnt.2020.0026