Who wrote "A Journal of the Plague Year"?

• A. Jonathan Swift
• B. Edward Gibbon
• C. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• D. Daniel Defoe

Answer: (D)

Daniel Defoe is the author. Published in 1722, A Journal of the Plague Year is a novel that reads like a diary kept during the Great Plague of London in 1665. Defoe achieves striking realism through careful observation of everyday life—the tradespeople, prices, street scenes, and the palpable fear of residents—anchoring the narrative with a documentary feel. This blend of fiction and apparent documentary detail is a hallmark of Defoe’s writing, seen in works like Robinson Crusoe as well. The other authors listed are known for very different works: Swift for satirical fiction, Gibbon for sweeping historical prose, and Coleridge for Romantic poetry, none of which align with this plague-year diary.