27 pages • 54 minutes read
Richard BachJonathan Livingston Seagull
Fiction | Novella | YA | Published in 1970A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Discuss whether or not Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an allegory.
Discuss the similarities between the life of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Joseph Campbell’s idea of the hero’s journey.
Chiang talks about perfection and heaven with Jonathan. What do his ideas about heaven and perfection tell us about his understanding of life’s purpose and meaning?
Discuss the novella’s relationship to the historical and cultural context in which it was published. Is Jonathan Livingston Seagull still a useful text for people today? Why or why not?
What does Jonathan Livingston Seagull teach us about fear and boredom?
What is the relationship between the individual and society in Jonathan Livingston Seagull? How does that relationship change over the course of the story?
Discuss the ways that Jonathan Livingston Seagull shows how one “person” really can make a difference.
Consider the following quote: “[I]n spite of his lonely past, Jonathan Seagull was born to be an instructor, and his own way of demonstrating love was to give something of the truth that he had seen to a gull who asked only a chance to see truth for himself” (61). What role does teaching play in Jonathan Livingston Seagull? What does Bach suggest should be the goal of teaching?
What does “perfection” mean in Jonathan Livingston Seagull? How does it relate to the concept of heaven?
What does it mean to find yourself? How does Jonathan find himself?
