Samuel Johnson Ian LawsonHima Tammineedi Anton NelsonDavid Melvin

The Life ●Born 1709 ●Lichfield, England ●Unhealthy child ○Scrofula ○Loss of hearing, blind in one eye ●Father was a bookseller ○Spent time in the shop reading ○Started learning early on ●Went to Oxford ○Dropped out due to finances

The Life cont. ●Married Elizabeth Porter (21 years older than him) ●Moved to London ○Wrote book reviews, biographies, other periodicals ●Wrote a few poems in 1730s-40s ●Literary works became more popular in 1750s ○Dictionary ○Rambler essays ○Idler essays ●Received government pension in 1762 ○Fixed many financial problems

The Life cont. ●James Boswell wrote biography of Johnson ○“The Life of Samuel Johnson” ●Continued writing towards close to his final years ●Became depressed as many of his friends left him ●Stroke in 1783 ●Died 1784

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Literary Terms ●Denotation and connotation ○Denotation: Basic meaning or reference of an expression, excluding its emotional associations ○Connotation: The emotional associations or implications of the word ●Thesis and argument ○Thesis: Main idea that is supported in a work of nonfiction prose ○Argument: Presents reasons for accepting or rejecting a thesis

Literary Works ●A Dictionary of the English Language ●A Brief to Free a Slave ●An Account of the Life of Mr Richard Savage ●The Rambler

A Dictionary of the English Language ●Used examples (aka “illustrations”) to highlight English language in use ●Used connotative and denotative definitions ●Used witty humor to define words ●Made English language copious with order ●Each definition serves as a short narrative of a slice of the language

Some Entries of the Dictionary... Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. Dull: Not exhilaterating (sic); not delightful; as, to make dictionaries is dull work. Oats: A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people

Purpose of A Dictionary ●Printing press caused an explosion of literacy ●Printing consortium wished to establish a dictionary, but could not afford to ●Dictionaries printed before Johnson’s were of poor quality, gave no examples ●Johnson created his dictionary with six assistants from the consortium ●First dictionary to give sense of English language as it is used

Critical Response ●Most feedback of the time was positive, applauding the scope of the work ●Adam Smith applauded work in a 30 page anonymous review ○Did request foreign words be expunged from future editions ●Humor and use of examples were criticized ●Gentleman’s Magazine: “Any schoolmaster might have done what Johnson did” ●Modern lexicographer’s call use of examples it’s strongest point

Fun Facts about A Dictionary ●Four volumes (21 lbs of book) ●Definition of “take” covered five pages ●Illustrated and comprehensive ●First modern dictionary

Activity Time ●Define these words using Johnson’s style: ◦ Student ◦ Teacher ◦ Physics ◦ Failure ◦ College ◦ Sleep

A Brief to Free a Slave ●Joseph Knight was a slave who wanted freedom from his Scottish master ●Johnson wrote the brief in order to advocate for Knight’s release because he detested slavery ●Boswell actually countered Johnson’s arguments by saying that abolishing slavery would ruin the order of everything and would cause chaos

Excerpt from book Pg. 623

Analysis of A Brief to Free A Slave Thesis: “No man is by nature the property of another” Arguments: ●If someone were to be jailed, that does not mean that his descendants should be jailed; the same can be applied to slavery ○“An individual may, indeed, forgeit his liberty by a crime; but he cannot by that crime forfeit the liberty of his children.” ●There are no natural laws that dictate that Knight should be enslaved ○“He is certainly subject by no law, but that of violence, to his present master, who pretends no claim to his obedience, but that he bought him from a merchant of slaves, who right to sell him never was examined.” ●Knight has not given permission to forfeit his rights ○“if no proof of such forfeiture can be given, we doubt not but the justice of the court will declare him free.”

Activity Time ●Write a paragraph about something you feel strongly about ●Then give it to a partner who must then write the thesis for your paragraph