ENG110
Study Guide, Marx, “The Communist Manifesto”
As noted last week, your reading assignment for September 27 is the “Bourgeois and
Proletarians” section of Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto” (pages 106-116 of the
Vesterman). In order to help you get the most out of this reading, please complete the
following tasks for September 27’s class. You may handwrite this assignment.
A. Define the the first two terms, and then any other three (5 total):
- Proletariat
- Bourgeois/bourgeoisie
- Petty bourgeoisie
- Feudalism
- Free trade
- Wage labor
- Means of production
- Social labor
- Capital
- Trade union
B. Answer any five of the following questions in complete sentences (numbers in
parentheses are paragraphs):
1. How does the “modern bourgeois society” of Marx’s time differ from earlier
epochs of history? How is it similar? (9-11)
2. Marx writes, “The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary part”
(19). In what ways was the development of the bourgeoisie “revolutionary”? (13-
24)
3. What role did the discovery of America play in the development of bourgeois
society? (13, 16)
4. What is the effect of the development of commerce on national barriers and the
relationships between nations? (26-29)
5. Who are the proletarians, and what is their condition and their role in modern
bourgeois society? Why does Marx call them “a commodity”? (34-36)
6. What is the effect of the division of labor on the worker? (37-41)
7. What happens to the middle class in modern bourgeois society? (41)
8. In what way does the proletariat developed? How does the development of
modern society (in Marx’s time) increase their power? (44-49)
9. Why does Marx claim that “the bourgeoisie is unfit any longer to be the ruling
class of society” (58)? To what does he compare them?
10. How would you describe Marx’s attitude toward this class called the bourgeoisie?
Based on what do you come to this conclusion?
C. 3-5 sentences: What would Marx think about the selection by Adam Smith we read?
