Swift Student-Teacher Prep Work

Student-Teacher Prep Work
4 Questions regarding “Gulliver’s Travels”
1. To where exactly was Gulliver Traveling, and how did he end up in the land of the Lilliputians?
2. Is Gulliver a normal sized person and the Lilliputians are small? Or are the Lilliputians normal sized and is Gulliver a giant?
3. To become an elected official, what “contest” do the Lilliputians require the candidates to go through?
4. How did the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu begin?

Significant Points:
“….they shouted for joy, and danced upon my breast, repeating several times as they did at first, Hedinah degul. They made me a sign that I should throw down the two hogsheads, but first warned the people below to stand out of the way, crying aloud, Borach mivola, and when they saw the vessels in the air, there was a universal cry of Hekinah dugul.”
So far in the story, Swift has not used much dialog, explaining the events quickly and without many details. This is the first moment in the story where Lilliputian language is used. Why do you think that Swift has decided to use dialogue here, and what do you think these words mean?

Pg. 658: “Which two mighty powers have, as I was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war for six and thirty moons past. It began upon the following occasion. It is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs before we eat them, was the lager end: But his present Majesty’s grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon the Emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subject, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of the their eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one Emperor lost his life, and another his crown.”
After reading this passage, could Swift be satirizing the very idea of war and how people try and justify going into war?

Predictions:
I predict that in this story students may have difficulties trying to decipher whether to take Swift’s language and tone figuratively or literally. Though he presents his story in a formal and informative tone, many of the adventures he describes between the Lilliputians could be considered satire.