U7 L9 Samuel Johnson Flashcards

1
Q

What occupations did Samuel Johnson take up?

A
  • essayist
  • poet
  • lexicographer
  • moralist
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2
Q

What did James Boswell write?

A

biography of JOhnson

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3
Q

When was Johnson born?

A

1709

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4
Q

Johnson was only able to attend how many months at Oxford University?

A

14

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5
Q

How much older was Johnson’s wife?

A

20 years older

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6
Q

At 64, Johnson consented to take a walking tour of what Islands? With whom?

A
  • Hebrides Islands west of Scotland

- James Boswell

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7
Q

When did Johnson die?

A

1784

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8
Q

How was Johnson’s life not easy?

A
  • poverty
  • depression
  • Wife’s passing
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9
Q

In 1737, Johnson started writing periodicals for what Magazine?

A

The Gentleman’s Magazine

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10
Q

In 1750-1752, what essays did he write? What themes and subjects did they have?

A
  • The Rambler

- moral themes and literary subjects

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11
Q

In 1758-1760, What essays did he write? How many?

A
  • The Idler

- nearly 100

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12
Q

What newspaper were the Idler Essays published in?

A

The Universal Chronicle

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13
Q

What form of writing did Johnson dislike?

A

stiff poetic diction

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14
Q

What did Johnson insist that literature present?

A
  • truth
  • believable
  • realistic
  • interesting
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15
Q

Was Johnson intensely moral?

A

yes

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16
Q

Several of Johnson’s Rambler essays have what kinds of themes?

17
Q

Was Johnson a whig or a tory?

18
Q

In 1755, Johnson published what longer work?

A

A Dictionary of the English Language

19
Q

What did A Dictionary of the English Language have?

A
  • 2 volume
  • fixed 18 cent Eng spelling
  • quotations as illustrations
20
Q

Why was Johnson’s dictionary popular?

A

helped middle class in word use and spelling

21
Q

In 1779-1781, what was the collection of writers’ biographies did he publish? How many did he write?

A
  • The Lives of English Poets

- 52

22
Q

What Club was Johnson a part of? What did they do?

A
  • Literary club
  • met once a week
  • discuss issues
23
Q

What was the poem John published in 1749?

A

The Vanity of Human Wishes

24
Q

What did ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes’ have the same theme as?

A

Johnson’s novel-like work, Rasselas

25
Why was Rasselas written?
make money to pay for mother's funeral
26
Rasselas emphasizes the impossibility of complete ()
happiness
27
What periodical did Johnson write for?
- The Gentleman's Magazine - The Rambler - The Idler
28
What is poetic diction?
- language of poetry - comparisons - characterized by indirectness