Robinson Crusoe needs the reckoning of time, books, paper, ink and a pen.

·         What are the consequences of the lack of them?  

The consequences are the loss of the date and time.

·         What does he do to solve the problem?

He cut with a knife upon a large piece of wood and he made a sort of calendar

·         Later on Robinson makes many trips to the abandoned ship lying off the coast and brings many things ashore, but what does he still mostly miss?

He misses a lot the company of his dog or someone.

·         Read the first four lines again. What details strike you as rather unusual in a work of fiction?

The detailed and accurate references to science, astrology and geography strike me.

·         Now read the very beginning of the novel. In what way is it similar to the beginning of T1?

 The two extracts are similar because both of them are very detailed and accurate with lot of descriptions that create a very clear images in the reader’s mind.

·         The first two questions in this section helped ypu to focus on one of the features of Defoe’s most important innovation, his narrative realism, which derived from his long pratice as a journalist.What do you think is the effect of such a style ?

By the use of the narrative realism, the novellist can describe every particular in a realistic way so the reader can understand better the situation and the character’s feelings.

·         What kind of vocabulary does he use: emotional, concrete, abstract, ordinary, refined, [...]? Does he use long or short sentences? Are they simple or complex?

Defoe uses a concrete vocabulary using words belonging to the semantic field of astronomy, science and geography.

·         Does he use long or short sentences, are they simple or complex?

The novellist uses long sentences with a lack of punctuation. I found the sentences a little bit complext, with an unusual language.

·         He uses repetition and long  lists. Can you find some examples of them?

From line 17 to line 33 he makes a list of what he founded on the ship. 

·         Do all these features make his tale clearer of more difficult to understand?

These features make the tale clearer but the language used by the novellist is complex.

·         Is the story told in the first or in the third person? How does this narrative choice contribute to Defoe's realism?

The story It is told in the first person, so the charcter is  closerto the reader.

·         What is your reaction to Defoe's narrative style? Are you curious to go on, bored, interested, deeply involved?  

I found Defoe’s narrative style very particular and accurate but it is a little bit boring because he describes everything. On the other hand the story is not difficult to understand because there are a lot of lists and descriptions that help the reader to understand the story.