Introduction to Literature
Delahoyde
NOT SO GOOD:
* How does Darwinism apply to the book? or,
What role does social Darwinism play in the book? [Good starting
point but far too broad for a short paper! A crucial subject,
so just narrow it down somehow.]
* What is the significance of the "stool
of penance" (22)? [Probably too specific, and focused on
an issue and moment seemingly not crucial to the work.]
* The humans are more "animal"
than the animals. [True, but tending towards an opinion paper.]
* Compare the two professors. [What will
we get? Just a pointless comparison paper?]
GOOD STARTING QUESTIONS:
1) Critique the book in light of the "men's
movement" (i.e., masculinism, the recently emerging "men's
studies"). Is this a useful text? It reflects the philosophy
where and how? Does it succeed in convincing readers of any truth
to this philosophy?
2) Science or male ego boost?
3) What is the function of the courtly love
frame? Since it finally is dismissed, what takes its place?
4) What is the attitude towards the land
itself in The Lost World?
5) Trace the speciesistic attitude displayed
by the characters and certified by Doyle. What factors determine
the classification of animals in the book and what does this attitude
do? [Don't just assert that it exists in the text.]
6) Trace the Eurocentric hierarchy of races
created in the book, and comment.
7) Discuss the brand of social Darwinism,
or even "pop" Darwinism in the book, possibly as an
extension of Memmi's dynamics of racism.
8) Explore the ethical problems involved
in the self-justification for systematic genocide (or speciesicide?)
and the cover-up. [See pages 170, 174, 178, 181, 200, and O.T.
ref.]
9) "Great minds mould all of nature
to their use" (175). Discuss.
10) What is really "lost," according
to Doyle?
11) Why do Challenger and the king of the
ape-men look alike? [Potentially an interesting starting point,
but requires extreme inspiration probably.]
12) Explain the significance of those stories
we never get: the Guinea pig from hell (185; cf. 112), the poisonous
moth (201), the "great nocturnal white thing" (184).
Use MLA documentation (author page) for secondary
sources, such as journal articles. Include Doyle in the list of
Works Cited. Underline or italicize the title of the book; use
quotation marks for articles. There is no need to use Doyle's
name in the parenthetical page citations for quotations from The
Lost World; it should be obvious when you are quoting from
the primary source here.
Davies, Howard. "The Lost World: Conan Doyle and the Suspense
of Evolution." Nineteenth-Century Suspense: From Poe to Conan Doyle.
Ed. Clive Bloom et al. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1988. 107-119.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Lost World. 1912. Chicago: Chicago
Academy Pub., 1990.