1. Does this novel express or imply a yearning for the past? What are some of the crucial similarities and differences between the America of Cooke's time and the America of ours?

2. What does Cooke's life story suggest about the desirability of innocence?

3. Are there any real people in the world like the character Henry Burlingame? Does this fictional portrait seem intended to teach us something about human nature? Is it exaggerated in order to point up important themes in the work? Is it designed for maximum comic effect?

4. What is likely to be the average reader's response to the sexual behavior of these characters? Can one generalize about the presentation of sexual matters in The Sot-Weed Factor? Are the more outrageous scenes mainly humorous? Disgusting? Thematically significant?

5. What does this novel imply about the nature and roles of women in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century...