Samuel Smiles "Self-Help" (1859)
1).What qualities does Smiles admire most in a person?
2).Josiah Wedgwood became one of the most successful manufacturers of his time. Wht were the principal factors behind his rise?
3).Smiles's account of Wedgewood's success reveals something about early Victorian views about formal education and practical experience. Which was more important?
4). What was Wedgwood's contribution to the British economy?
5). From whose point of view is Self-Help written? How might Smiles's account have been different if he had been writing from the perspective of one of Wedgwood's employees or a member of the titled aristocracy?

Sir Edwin Chadwick "Inquiry Into the Condition of the Poor" (1842)
1). How did the condition of the poor affect the rst of nineteenth-century British society?
2). What were the main problems faced by workers in the tailoring trade?
3). Miners were given lodging by their employers when they were on the job. What were these places like?
4). How did workers cope with the conditions in industry?
5). Many people argued that Paliament had no right to interfere in the areas of working conditions and public health. How does Chadwick respond to that charge?
6). Chadwick's aim was to convince Parliament of need for legislative reform of working conditions. Is his case persuasive? How might he have manipulated the outcome to achieve his goal?

Jane Austin "Pride and Prejudice" (1813) I Chapter
1). How do married couples of the landed class relate to one another? What are the roles of husband and wife?
2).What are the most important qualifications of a prospective husand, judging from Austien's work?
3). How does courtship work among the upper classes?
4). How are unmarried women expected to behave in Miss Bennet's world? Do you think that Jane Austin was entirely happy with those expectations?
5).Jane Austin describes a lifestyle radically different from the one Chadwick and Engels investigated. Describe it.

Henrietta-Lucy, Madame de la Tour du Pin "Memories" (1820-1843)
1). What was life like for the aristocracy before the revolution?
2). Marie Antoinette has often been portrayed as an important cause of the revolution-does the picture here justify those charges?
3). What is the role of women at Court and the aristocracy?
4) If you were with defending the Court against its revolutionary critics, could you do so using Madame de la Tour du Pin's memories? Why or why not?
5).Madame wrote her memories some thirty or more years after the events she described - how do you think this might have affected her story?