2. 1665-1666
Last and worst
Killed 70,000+
Carried by fleas living on
black rats
Fever & chills, swelling of
lymph glands, madness,
death
Didn’t know what caused it
or how to control it
3. Spread quickly by poor
conditions
Cross on doors of infected
houses
Quarantined
“Bring out your dead!”
Mass graves
Charles II fled with family, as
did others well off
4. 1660-1731
Well-educated but a shady
business man, bankrupt
Happily married 47 years
Added “De” to appear aristocratic
Modern realistic novel
Incredibly convincing
Robinson Crusoe sold as nonfiction
A Journal of the Plague Year
5. Diary/journal = daily account of
a writer’s experiences and
reactions; often provide
historical insight
First-person narrative =
narrator describes own
experiences, refers to self as “I”
Defoe’s book NOT actually a
journal!
6. Fiction
Wrote in form of a journal
but NOT a journal
Defoe was only 4 when
the Plague happened
Used official documents,
interviews, childhood
memories to make up the
Journal
