https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7 Based on the novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. en-us 2016-11-01 15:56:19 UTC 2025-10-01 13:52:53 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Folder.png walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134528982 The first part of Gulliver's Travels is titled A Voyage to Lilliput. In the story, the main character, Gulliver, goes through a shipwreck. He wakes up being chained down by Lilliputians - small people, approximately 6 inches in height. As the story progresses, Gulliver is given more freedom, but the Emperor remained in fear of a drought that could be caused by the amount that Gulliver, the size of a real life adult, was drinking and eating. As the story progresses and Gulliver gets more freedom, the Lilliputians take Gulliver to the capital city where they decide to use Gulliver as a weapon against their enemy, the people of Blefuscu, who they are fighting over the proper way to crack an egg. Eventually Gulliver puts out a fire in the royal palace by peeing on it. The Lilliputians decide to shoot him in the eyes and starve him to death for what he had done, so Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu, builds a boat, and returns to England. ]]> 2016-11-01 15:58:04 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134528982 walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134541154 At a face value, Gulliver's Travels is about a man named Gulliver going on travels, and detailing his encounters while travelling. Despite this, Jonathan Swift has hidden political messages into his stories. Swift writes about his feud with the Whigs, a centrist political party during his time, and mocks them through his writings. The Lilliputians represent the Whigs, who are shorter than Gulliver (or Swift), and therefore have less power. They also appoint their nobility based on their ability to 'rope dance', which is a satire on his opinion regarding the requirement, or lack of, to gain power and influence in a Whig based government. The Lilliputians are petty and immoral, and Gulliver's honesty and height makes him their moral, and physical superior; which is a satire on the Whigs, who he viewed to be immoral and petty, and even self serving. 

The use of urination is satirical and immature. He details urination multiple times, and uses it to undermine his own story, as well as to log Gulliver's Travels in plenty of detail, almost too much. It can make the story relevant to a child because of their amusement by adventure novels, as well as the taboo they see around standard bodily functions.]]> 2016-11-01 16:30:03 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134541154 walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134541711 To understand the story, we must also understand the time period. 

Gulliver's Travels was written in 1726. During this time, exploration through the mode of ship was still very common. 

During the time of writing, Jonathan Swift lived in Ireland; where there were political disputes and revolutions. There was also plenty of poverty, as he wrote about in his essay, A Modest Proposal. There was also a famine in 1740, that lead to the death of approximately 400,000 Irish peoples. 

In Britain, there was also political disputes between the Tories - the political party that Swift belonged to - and the Whigs - the political party Swift mocks.

Nobility and people of power were also generally taller than the people they ruled over, so it was considered an extreme insult to see or call leaders "short". A modern day equivalent would be when people mock Donald Trump for having "small hands" and he gets offended - because being small/smaller is seen as a sign of lack of power or strength.]]> 2016-11-01 16:31:32 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134541711 walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134575543 There have been several adaptions of Gulliver's Travels as a movie since it has been written. The most commonly know is the 2010 version, starring Jack Black and Emily Blunt. This version is a modern day interpretation of the book; with motor boats and Foosball. 

The movie is not an accurate depiction of the story, but gives basic knowledge regarding plot line with a sense of the same childish taboo humor that you'd find in the story itself. ]]> 2016-11-01 17:50:55 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134575543 walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134577647 Lemuel Gulliver is the main character and narrator of the story. He is the third of five sons, and was born in the county of Nottinghamshire. He lived in Old Jury, Fetter Lane, and Wapping, which were all lower middle class neighborhoods. He attended Emmanuel College, a respected school. Gulliver is a surgeon, and chose to be a surgeon because he felt that it would be useful on his journeys. Gulliver is, as his name sounds similar to, gullible. He is very honest, and believes others are as well, so he takes what is said at face value.
Lilliputians are the people who live in Lilliput. They are approximately 6 inches tall, though their Emperor is slightly taller. Lilliputians are hostile with the people of Blefuscu, because they cannot agree on the proper way to crack an egg. They are very accommodating to Gulliver until he urinates on a fire, after which they convict him of treason. They feed him well, even though it could potentially cause a drought. The Emperor himself is quite evil, and he executes people for various reasons, as simple as political disagreements. The Lilliputians are a developed society, similar to that of Europe at the time.]]> 2016-11-01 17:57:04 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134577647 walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134834220 Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirical writer. At the time of writing, Swift published his works under aliases, but it had been later revealed to have been him writing. Swift is most commonly known for his story, Gulliver's Travels, and his essay, A Modest Proposal. Most, if not all, of his works are political satires, and were written to make a statement on a flaw that he saw in society. Many of his works were disliked at the beginning, though Gulliver's Travels was one of the stories that was well liked. It has been alleged that Swift may have had connections to Voltaire, a French philosopher and one of les philophes. During a large portion of his career, Swift lived in England and worked for the Tories, a British political party. Their goal was to maintain power and defeat the Whigs, but when it became evident that the Tories would lose power, he returned to Ireland. In 1742, Swift suffered from a stroke, rendering him incapable of speaking; he died three years later. ]]> 2016-11-02 16:07:48 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134834220 walshk8 https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134841232 2016-11-02 16:24:41 UTC https://padlet.com/walshk8/em3fh3rdzqr7/wish/134841232