After a thorough reading of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, please answer the following questions in adequate detail. Small paragraphs will be the acceptable length of the answers. Expand the space as needed.
1. Give a brief biography of John Bunyan.
2. Provide the historical background of Bunyan writing The Pilgrim’s Progress.
3. The message on the parchment roll and its impact on the Pilgrim.
4. If both the Evangelist and Worldly Wiseman possess the wisdom of life, why is the Pilgrim forsaking one for the other?
5. Provide the route map (graphic or descriptive) of Christian’s pilgrimage, marking important locations in the narrative.
6. What is the Slough of Despond in description and significance?
7. How does the Town of Morality seem to work against the Pilgrim’s journey goal?
8. What happens in the seven rooms of the interpreter’s house? How does Bunyan use the displayed symbols or emblems to teach the pilgrim?
9. Bunyan gave the famous name “Vanity Fair” to literature. What does this marketplace do to the storyline?
10. Describe the Valley of the Shadow of Death and the experience of Christian in its thick darkness.
11. Explain why the pilgrims’ path through these locations deserve important mention: the Hill Lucre, the Enchanted Ground and the Hill Difficulty.
12. How many times do you see the “Shining Ones” in the story? Who are they? Why does one of them punish the pilgrims?
13. The imagery of warfare is quite evident in the Pilgrim’s Progress. Can you provide a few example contexts of such descriptions? What is Bunyan trying to teach through it? Be specific with the matter to which you refer.
14. Compare the man in the iron cage with the men in the Castle of Despair. How did these persons end up in either of the places?
15. What figure do Ignorance and Talkative cut in the minds of Christian and Hopeful?
16. How do the four shepherds of the Delectable Mountains help the pilgrims?
17. What is the great lesson of caution given to the Pilgrims at the Hill of Error?
18. There are places in the story where as a reader you might think, “if only such and such a character had done something a certain way or not done it a certain way, the whole story would have been different.” Identify at least a couple of such contexts with detailed explanation.
19. The story has many instances of humans playing clever taking shortcuts to bypass the revealed knowledge of the scriptures. Give three examples.
20. What was the last surprise Christian had at the end of his dream?
21. What is an allegory? Does the Pilgrim’s Progress have a connection to it?