LITERARY STUDIES

Read your notes from the novel The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, then read the text below and extract the following:

1.      The general ideas

2.      The figures of Speech

3.      The message of the author

4.      The general feeling in the text

From The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe

Chapter3:Wrecked On a Desert Island

Afterwehadrowed, or ratherdriven about a league and a half, as wereckonedit, a ragingwave, mountain-like, came rollingastern of us, and plainly bade us expect the coup de grace. It took us withsuch a fury, thatitoverset the boat at once; and separating us as wellfrom the boat as from one another, gave us no time to say, "O God!" for wewere all swallowed up in a moment.

Nothing can describe the confusion of thoughtwhich I feltwhen I sankinto the water; for though I swamverywell, yet I could not delivermyselffrom the wavesso as to drawbreath, till thatwavehavingdriven me, or rathercarried me, a vastway on towards the shore, and havingspentitself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry, but halfdeadwith the water I took in. I hadsomuchpresence of mind, as well as breathleft, that seeing myselfnearer the mainlandthan I expected, I gotuponmyfeet, and endeavoured to make on towards the land as fast as I couldbeforeanotherwaveshould return and take me up again; but I soonfounditwas impossible to avoidit; for I saw the sea come after me as high as a greathill, and as furious as an enemy, which I had no means or strength to contendwith: my business was to holdmybreath, and raisemyselfupon the water if I could; and so, by swimming, to preservemybreathing, and pilot myselftowards the shore, if possible, mygreatestconcernnowbeingthat the sea, as itwould carry me a greatwaytowards the shore whenit came on, might not carry me back againwithitwhenit gave back towards the sea.

The wavethat came upon me againburied me at once twenty or thirtyfeetdeep in itsown body, and I couldfeelmyselfcarriedwith a mighty force and swiftnesstowards the shore - a verygreatway; but I heldmybreath, and assistedmyself to swimstillforwardwith all mymight. I wasready to burstwith holding mybreath, when, as I feltmyselfrising up, so, to myimmediate relief, I foundmyhead and hands shoot out above the surface of the water; and thoughitwas not two seconds of time that I couldkeepmyselfso, yetitrelieved me greatly, gave me breath, and new courage. I wascoveredagainwith water a good while, but not so long but I helditout; and finding the water hadspentitself, and began to return, I struckforwardagainst the return of the waves, and feltgroundagainwithmyfeet. I stoodstill a few moments to recoverbreath, and till the waters wentfrom me, and thentook to my heels and ranwithwhatstrength I hadfurthertowards the shore. But neitherwouldthisdeliver me from the fury of the sea, which came pouring in after me again; and twice more I waslifted up by the waves and carriedforward as before, the shore beingvery flat.

The last time of thesetwohadwell-nigh been fatal to me, for the seahavinghurried me along as before, landed me, or ratherdashed me, against a piece of rock, and thatwithsuch force, thatitleft me senseless, and indeedhelpless, as to myowndeliverance; for the blowtakingmyside and breast, beat the breath as itwerequite out of my body; and haditreturnedagainimmediately, I must have been strangled in the water; but I recovered a littlebefore the return of the waves, and seeing I shouldbecoveredagainwith the water, I resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to holdmybreath, if possible, till the wavewent back.

Now, as the waveswere not so high as at first, beingnearer land, I heldmyhold till the waveabated, and thenfetchedanother run, whichbrought me sonear the shore that the nextwave, thoughitwent over me, yetdid not soswallow me up as to carry me away; and the next run I took, I got to the mainland, where, to mygreatcomfort, I clambered up the cliffs of the shore and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger and quite out of the reach of the water I wasnowlanded and safe on shore, and began to look up and thankGodthatmy life wassaved, in a case whereintherewassome minutes beforescarceany room to hope. I believeitis impossible to express, to the life, what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are, whenitissosaved, as I maysay, out of the very grave: and I do not wondernow at the custom, when a malefactor, who has the halter about his neck, istied up, and justgoing to beturned off, and has a reprievebrought to him - I say, I do not wonderthattheybring a surgeon withit, to let himbloodthatvery moment they tell him of it, that the surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart and overwhelmhim.

"For suddenjoys, like griefs, confound at first."