Thursday 7 June 2012


Glossary
1. Castaway
A castaway is a person who has been separated from their craft used to travel a distance and is now living away from home without any means of getting back. In the novel the five men and the dog are thrown from their balloon which disappears so they have been literally "cast away" from their balloon and are stranded on an inhabited island.
2. Coup-de-main
A coup-de-main is a military offensive where the attackers attack swiftly and unexpectedly, attempting to finish their objectives in one shot. In French it means "blow with the hand." In the novel during the civil war General Grant attempts to capture Richmond, Virginia by a coup-de-main which ultimately fails, resulting in the capture of Captain Harding, without whom this adventure would have never started, if the coup-de-main did not happen.
3.Burning-glass
A burning-glass is an apparatus used to turn the sun's rays into direct heat which can be used to burn things or start fires. In the novel, Captain Harding creates one using his and Gideon Spillets' watches. He takes the glass from the faces to make the lenses. It is successful  in starting a fire after the others had no other way, having no matches and their charred cloth ruined.
4.Orang
Orang is the Malay and Indonesian word for person. It also refers to as an orangutan, a primate native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Jup is an orangutan, he has orange fur, and he helps the castaways in many ways, like delivering a message from Neb to the others when the convicts attacked and the others had Top.
5.Grotto
A grotto is a cave that has been used by humans for any purpose. Dakkar Grotto is the home of the Nautilus, named after Captain Nemo's previous name. It is a cave and it was used by Nemo. It is connected to the volcano,(Mount Franklin) and water breaks through the basalt bordering the lava. It blows up the island, leaving everybody else to be rescued by the Duncan.

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