Andrew+H.+Robinson+Crusoe

//__ Andrew Hartfiel's Wiki on... __ Robinson Crusoe // ** Author’s Biography ** Daniel Defoe was born around 1660 in England. His father James Foe was a butcher. He had an older sister named Elizabeth and his mother died when he was ten years old. Daniel was considering becoming a minister. Daniel married Mary Tuffley in 1684 and had seven children. He was in the Monmouth Rebellion briefly but escaped capture and punishment. He had to declare bankruptcy in 1692. He had been imprisoned for debt and lying about people through writing seven times. He was arrested in 1703 and was released five months later. Robert Wadpole, the one who released him, offered him a job as a government agent. Defoe worked as a journalist, a secret agent, and a pamphleteer for the rest of his life. He supported William III and Mary after the Glorious Revolution and opposed the Church of England’s beliefs. When he was fifty nine Daniel started to write novels. He wrote six whole novels in six years! He wrote many more works after this too. Daniel Defoe died at age 71 on April 24, 1731 near London. (Encyclopedia of World Biography)
 * By: Daniel Defoe **

Robinson Crusoe is a man who wants to be at sea. His father wants him to stay home and become an industrial worker so he can leave a comfortable life. Crusoe goes out to sea anyway. He has some adventures along the way and is put into slavery. He escapes slavery and goes to Brazil on a ship that finds him. Crusoe is traveling again after a few years and gets shipwrecked. The rest of the crew does not survive. He gets on shore and after a few days the wreck of the ship is close to shore. Crusoe salvages as much as he can from the wreck. He makes a home, earthenware, bread, a canoe, and domesticates some animals. He lives alone until he saves a savage who he names Friday, twenty-four years later. He lives a few more years this way until he saves a couple more people. One of which knows Friday. Crusoe starts planning his escape...
 * Plot Synopsis **

Genre- Survival novel, Deserted Island, Fight for Survival Style- Descriptive with some British slang, very blatant Theme- God determines what you can do, and there is a reason for everything. Criticism **
 * Literary Information **

//Robinson Crusoe// had some things that worked well and some that did not. Journal entries, his adventures, and his plans and execution of plans worked. These worked because these were either interesting or short. The story can drag on for a while and these make the story move quicker. Some things that did not work were the amount of things he actually had on the island and a little bit of random plot skipping. Sometimes he would talk about something and then it was two years later. That was a little bit confusing. He also started off on the island with an unbelievable amount of resources. He got multiple guns and things from the ship and the island seemed to have most of what he needed. He wanted clay at one point and within the next couple sentences Crusoe had clay. Other than those few things the story was very believable. Quotations **

“From the 1ST OF OCTOBER to the 24TH. All these days entirely spent in many several voyages to get all I could out of the ship, which I brought on shore, every tide of flood, upon rafts. Much rain also in these days, though with some intervals of fair weather. But, it seems, this was the rainy season” (Defoe 109).

“He [Friday] no sooner had it [the sword], but he runs to his enemy, and at one blow cut off his head as cleverly, not executioner in Germany could have done it sooner or better” (Defoe 320).

“I had three encouragements: 1. A smooth, calm sea. 2. The tide rising and setting in to the shore. 3. What little wind there was blew me toward the land” (Defoe 77).

** Why Outstanding? ** //Robinson Crusoe// is an outstanding book because even after about 290 years the story lives on. This was the original “trapped on a desert island” novel. This story inspired many writers through its wonderful storyline. I would easily recommend this to others. There is one thing to do when you read this book: take your time. This story’s greatness cannot be easily taken in when you are on a time crunch. The best thing to do is savor it. The plot is outstanding because this was basically the first to have the idea of what to do when you are trapped on a desert island. Sure, Crusoe had a lot of supplies but the story is still the same. The characters are even somewhat relatable. Most people will realize the most important thing is survival in this situation. When you must think and fight to stay alive, things start getting difficult. This book is a great story even after so many years. That is why //Robinson Crusoe// is outstanding.


 * Citation **

"Daniel Defoe." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Web. 21 Jan 2010. [].


 * Links**

[] (Author Biography source) Kenny G. The Old Man and the Sea (Has something about the sea)