Gulliver's Travels (1726)

Gulliver's Travels (1726) is a satiric novel by Jonathan Swift. The work is also a parody of the travel narratives popular at the time. The target of the satire is both humanity in general, and the specific social injustices of Swift's time.

Gulliver's Travels is complicated enough, and common enough on the GRE Literature exam, to merit its own entry. Read a summary and know the following key words from the novel:

1. Liliput
-A land where everyone is 6" tall
2. Brobdignag
-A land where everyone is enormously tall
3. Laputa
-A flying island
4. Struldburgs
-Unhappy immortals who wish they could die
5. Houyhnhnms
-Intelligent, clean-living, right-thinking horses
6. Yahoos
-Idiotic, dirty, violent creatures (humans)

Gulliver's Travels might be worth adding to your exam prep reading list. I recommend the Penguin Classics Edition.