Daniel Defoe

a cura di D.P. Madrigali 
 
 Robinson Crusoe, considered to be the first English novel, is the story of a young and rich Englishman with two passions in life: the sea and adventure. But after several voyages and adventures all over the world, a shipwreck takes him, the only survivor, onto a desert island. Here he lives for 28 years, writing a diary in which he narrates all his experiences.
 In his last years there he meets a native, Friday, who becomes Robinson’s faithful servant. Eventually, he manages to return to England where he finds out that he has become rich thanks to his Brazilian plantation.
 The book presents in-depth analyses on the origin and development of the novel, journalism and the rise of the middle class. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities.
 
 Considerato il capostipite del romanzo moderno, Robinson Crusoe è la storia di un giovane e ricco inglese attratto da due grandi amori: il mare e l’avventura. Tuttavia, dopo una serie di viaggi in diverse parti del mondo, un naufragio lo porta ad essere l’unico sopravvissuto su un’isola deserta. Qui vivrà 28 anni, scrivendo un diario in cui racconta tutte le sue avventure. Ritornerà in Inghilterra scoprendo di essere diventato ricco grazie alla sua piantagione brasiliana.

Chapter 1 – Robinson at sea

Extension: The origin of the novel

Chapter 2 – Shipwreck

Extension: Slavery

Chapter 3 – On a desert island

Extension: The middle class

Chapter 4 – Life on the island

Extension: Journalism

Chapter 5 – Other human beings

Extension: The rise of the novel

Chapter 6 – Back home

Extension: Robinson Crusoe at the cinema

Summing-up activities

Glossary

There is a 1972 version, Robinson Crusoe and the Tiger, in which the story is told by a tiger that observes Robinson s fights to survive cannibals on a tropical island. In 1975 the film Man Friday tells the story from Friday s point of view. Peter O Toole is Crusoe and Richard Roundtree is Friday. In Enemy Mine of 1985, Crusoe again becomes an American warrior9 astronaut and Friday has become an alien of a reptilian10 species. Crusoe, 1988, tells the story of a young slaver from Virginia who returns to Africa to take other slaves. He survives a terrible storm and meets cannibals. He frees a victim that he calls Lucky. Recent films are Robinson Crusoe in 1996 with Pierce Brosnan as Crusoe and Cast Away11 (2000) directed by Robert Zemeckis. Here Robinson is the famous actor Tom Hanks, who was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his performance. The latest version is a French production, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, in 2005. Defoe s novel has been the source of inspiration for many other types of works. For example, in the summer of 2000, CBS TV produced the  reality  show Survivor which was based on another Swedish television program called Expedition Robinson. 9. warrior: soldier. 10. reptilian: like a snake. from a ship that has sunk, and managed to get to an island where there are few or no other people. 11. castaway: a person who has escaped 70 

SUMMING-UP ACTIVITIES COMPREHENSION 1 Look at this 18th century map of the North Atlantic Ocean and draw Robinson s voyage from Hull to Brazil. 2 What do you remember? Who says the following sentences? Write the character in the novel who says them. Choose from: Robinson, Robinson s father, Robinson s mother, Xury, Friday, the English captain.    You have a good education and enough money to have a good and satisfying life.  ...........................................................................................................    I don t want to convince him if his opinion is different.  .....................    I ll go all over the world with you.  ...................................................................    One of those knives is more precious than all these coins.  ............    If I save that man s life, I could have a servant. ..........................................    Benamuckee made the earth, the sea, the woods and everything.  .....................................................................................................................................................    Don t kill all the men: only two of them are really dangerous.  ..................................................................................................................................................... 71 

Robinson Crusoe, capostipite del romanzo moderno, racconta le avventure di un naufrago su un'isola deserta per 28 anni, tra mare, diario e ricchezze.

Robinson Crusoe Collana RAINBOWS

Level A2 • Elementary - Collana RAINBOWS

Robinson Crusoe

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