Name _____________________
Reading Notes
Candide
Major Themes in Candide:
The folly of optimism
The uselessness of philosophical speculation
The hypocrisy of religion
The corrupting power of money
For each night’s reading, do the following:
1) Write 3-5 bullet points of plot summary per chapter. (It is totally okay, if not encouraged, to read the
Spark Notes summary of these chapters. They are dense, and laden with historical references. There is no
shame in reading these summaries!)
2) Find one piece of text from each chapter that relates to one of the main themes.
3) Write several sentences for each piece of text explaining how this piece of text relates to a major theme.
4) Find 2-3 examples of satire for the whole chunk of reading (several chapters). No need to quote the text
directly, but reference the piece of satire and explain how it is an example of satirical writing.
5) Write 1-3 questions. They can be above the surface (“I don’t understand what happens when…”) and/or
below the surface (“Why doesn’t Candide seem to see the logical fallacies in his thinking?”).
Each night’s reading notes will be stamped and all will be collected in the unit packet.
Name _____________________
Reading Notes
Candide
Major Themes in Candide:
The folly of optimism
The uselessness of philosophical speculation
The hypocrisy of religion
The corrupting power of money
For each night’s reading, do the following:
1) Write 3-5 bullet points of plot summary per chapter. (It is totally okay, if not encouraged, to read the
Spark Notes summary of these chapters. They are dense, and laden with historical references. There
is no shame in reading these summaries!)
2) Find one piece of text from each chapter that relates to one of the main themes.
3) Write several sentences for each piece of text explaining how this piece of text relates to a major
theme.
4) Find 2-3 examples of satire for the whole chunk of reading (several chapters). No need to quote the
text directly, but reference the piece of satire and explain how it is an example of satirical writing.
5) Write 1-3 questions. They can be above the surface (“I don’t understand what happens when…”)
and/or below the surface (“Why doesn’t Candide seem to see the logical fallacies in his thinking?”).
Each night’s reading notes will be stamped and all will be collected in the unit packet.