The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia.  New York:  Oxford UP, 1999 by Samuel Johnson
1. Briefly describe Rassleas’ life in the Happy Valley.

2. What moral conclusion does Imlac reach in light of Rassleas’ disappointment with the philosopher whose life seems to collapse in the face of human suffering?

3. Based on your reading, what kind of knowledge was most important to Johnson–intellectual, moral, religious, scientific?

4. What does the text reveal about the “dangerous prevalence” of the imagination?

5. How do you interpret the “Conclusion in Which Nothing is Concluded”?