Journal Of The Plague Year Essay

The Black Death was the worst epidemic in the history of the world to date. The plague killed off more than a third of the total European population during the mid-1300’s. Several people believed that the plague was punishment from God for the sins of man, while others believed it was brought about by natural causes, and there were yet others who did not care where or why the plague came but only how they could better their own lives.

"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.

The book When Plague Strikes, is about 3 deadly diseases. It 's about the Black Death, Smallpox, and AIDS. Each of these diseases can cause a serious outrage of death. The book also tells about how doctors try to come up with treatments, medicines, and antibiotics to try and cure these diseases. All these diseases got the best out of everyone. Some people reacted differently than others with these diseases. All the diseases came in play in A. D. 1347, when the Black Death broke out for the first time in what’s today is know. As southern Ukraine.

Chapter One of of Jim Murphy’s book, An American Plague, opens with the quote, ‘About this time, this destroying scourge, the malignant fever, crept in among us” (Murphy 1). This quote is accredited to Mathew Carey in November, 1793. The term scourge is defined as, “a person or thing that cause great trouble of suffering,” and the term malignant is defined as, “tending to produce death or deterioration.” These are very strong terms with extremely negative connotative meanings. The figurative language which is evident in the quote at the opening of Chapter One is personification. Carey’s quote give yellow fever an eerie, human-like quality when he writes, “the destroying scourge, the malignant fever, CREPT in among us” (Murphy 1). CArey’s word choices and use of personification help to create a powerful image in the reader’s mind of the threat looming over the city of Philadelphia.\

In this chapter it talks about how Catherine LeMaigre was dying, and dying horribly and painfully. The two physicians sent for their esteemed colleague Dr. Benjamin Rush. They were trying to find out if they could stop the plague from spreading.

There are many ways to explore any period in history. The period that we will look further into will be Medieval Europe. I found an academic article that explores deeper into that period, especially the Black plague. Assembling three primary sources of the black plague, each has a different perspective of what was portrayed in the academic article.

Throughout her novel ‘Year of Wonders’, Geraldine Brooks presents readers with many characters that are viewed as admirable in their village of Eyam, during the time of the plague. Set in 1665-66, Brooks creates an environment that many people would not be able to cope with. Numerous deaths and a village that is crumbling around you can push many people to their limits and bring out the worst in human nature however Brooks creates allows characters such as Michael and Elinor Mompellion and Anys and Mem Gowdie to defy the odds and remain admirable and strong throughout the tough

In the mid 14th century, a devastating plague swept across the known world. This pandemic plague is most commonly known as the Black Death but has other alias such as The Great Pestilence and The Great Plague. The background essay states, “In five shorts years, it would kill between 25 and 45% of the populations it encountered.” The background essay also mentions “it would be the worst natural disaster and the single most destructive natural phenomenon in the history of the world.” This cataclysmic event drastically dwindled population sizes of Europe and the Middle East, breaking down civilizations, and leaving behind terror in survivors mindset.

In The Wake of a Plague, written by Norman Cantor, focuses on the Black Death and the combinations of effects that it inflicted upon 14th century Europe. Cantor identifies the drastic changes in the religious, social, theological, geographical, psychological and economic aspects of Europe; although, his most intriguing points include the biomedical effects within the Plague. He recounts specific events that lead up to the plague, occurred during the plague and speaks of the aftermath concerning the plague. He wrote the book in order to relate the experiences of victims/survivors, as well as illustrate the impact of the plague upon the social structure, government, etc.

Crosby introduces the novel by detailing the plague seemingly at its worst level. The symptoms of the fever are described,

Even though both focused on the same artwork, each article offers a different dissertation and provides substantial evidence to support their claim. Boeckl gives evidence of literary and visual sources of plague iconography that Poussin adopted in his painting. She also includes references to the gestures, attributes and motifs in the sketches for The Miracle and offers an understanding of the artists thought process. Barker explains contemporary understanding of medicine and poetry influenced Poussin’s interpretation of the biblical plague. She gives insight that the composition was tied to the belief that it could immunize viewers against the plague.

The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the “Black Death”. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times.

There is a certin unsureness in the circulation and communication of information in A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe. This instability of the language in this proto-novel is caused by the author citing two sides to every point or statement he makes causing contradictions. On top of this Defoe repeats the same points throughout the entire text. This uncertainty helps to make the reader believe the writing is an actual journal as opposed to an edited, actual non-fiction.

A Journal of the Plague Year is a first person account of what it was like living through the times of the plague. It recollects stories and other accounts of plague times heard by and collected by the Defoe from other involved individuals. Explains many aspects before, during, and after the plague of their ways of life and culture. Tells of tales of survivors of the plague but mostly off different tales of deaths and how they died in many outrageous and tragic ways of people killing their families, themselves, or masses of people. The whole journal is filled with collections of stories, but also with charts showing the deaths in different parishes and how they change as the plague raged on. In the end, it tells how life went back to normal for London and Defoe and his family.

Daniel Defoe born in or around 1660 experienced the most complex disastrous events in England before he was seven. In 1664 a Dutch fleet attacked London, in 1665 the plague took seventy thousand lives and in 1666 the great fire destroyed Defoe’s neighborhood expect for three houses, one being his. Born to a family of dissenters a class of people who refused to conform to the Church of England, Defoe was hindered with obstacles from the start. Receiving his education from a dissenter’s school and as West indicates: “barred from Oxford and Cambridge and instead received three years of higher education under the Reverend Charles Morton, a future vice–president of Harvard University who drilled his pupils in science, modern tongues, and the