32 pages • 1-hour read
The Lost World
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Essay Topics
At the end of the novel, Gladys marries a man with a dull profession, despite her insistence that she must marry a man with a love of danger. Why does she change her mind?
Describe the conflict between Challenger and Summerlee. What does each man represent?
Discuss Doyle’s view of scientific certainty as presented in the novel.
In Doyle’s time, how does a man achieve a life of meaning? What is an ideal way of life according to the novel?
Why does Doyle dedicate the book to “The boy who’s half a man/Or the man who’s half a boy?”
Why does Doyle choose to relate the final events of the story through a newspaper article? Does this improve or diminish the climax’s tension?
Given the events in the story, what is Doyle’s attitude toward war, conquest, and the expansion of powerful empires?
Why does Ned decide to return to the plateau with Roxton?
Which character is the most fully realized in the novel? Why might Doyle give more descriptive attention to a character like Challenger than to Professor Summerlee?
Is Doyle’s depiction of Gladys realistic for a woman of her times, or does she function as a mere plot device? How does Doyle describe relationships between men and women?
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