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Anderson—ENGL 423—
Fall 2008
ENGL 423—32712R
T/Th 11-12:15
VKC 210
Emily Anderson
THH 436
OH: TH 2-4pm (or by appt.)
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Anderson—ENGL 423—
English Literature of the Eighteenth Century (1660-1780)
Course Description:
Despite what our calendars may tell us, the eighteenth century isn't over yet. A century marked by its focus on novelty and the evolution of many new forms of literature, it will nonetheless seem oddly familiar to students, as many of literary genres we enjoy today have their precursors in this period. Much like contemporary readers and viewers, who turn to tabloids, memoirs, and musical parody for amusement, eighteenth-century readers enjoyed scandal magazines (The Tatler, The Spectator), vicious satirical attacks on contemporary political figures (The Rape of the Lock), celebrity biography (The Life of Samuel Johnson), and controversial ballad operas that appropriated classical melodies only to substitute their own crass or funny lyrics (The Beggar's Opera).
We will read a representative selection of these eighteenth-century texts, organized in units according to genres that are still recognizable today. These units should help us reflect upon our own culture, as well as an earlier one, especially as we discuss how these eighteenth-century texts treat issues of class, race, gender, and politics that remain provocative to contemporary readers. How does an earlier historical reflection on an issue such as gender difference shed light on our own, now very different, attitudes toward the same issue? At bottom, this class will ask the most basic questions confronting any English major: why do we read the literary productions of past cultures? What can we learn by doing so, and what responsibility, as students and teachers, do we have to communicate this learning?
Required Texts (available at the bookstore)
The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Vol. 1C—The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (Penguin)
Course Mechanics
Attendance policy
It is crucial for both our class discussions and your understanding of the material that you are present in class (physically and mentally) and that you keep up with the reading throughout the term. Active and informed class participation is expected of all students. Repeated absences will adversely affect your written work and your grades on the midterm and the final exam. More than three unexcused absences will lower your final grade by half a letter.
Writing Assignments—40%
You will write two 5-7 page papers, worth 20% each, due in class on the Thursdays designated below. You will note that I have three due dates on the syllabus (9/18, 10/23, 11/20). This means that you can decide to submit papers on the two dues dates that work best for you. A few caveats: one, if you submit a paper on due date #1, you may revise and resubmit it (the rewrite policy does not apply to the two subsequent due dates). Two, because you have this submission flexibility, I will accept no late papers. I will pre-circulate a list of suggested topics for each assignment, though, if you verify it with me, you are welcome to work on a topic of your own choosing. Plagiarism on these assignments is absolutely unacceptable and will result in a failing grade.
Presentations—15%
As we move from genre to genre, individual students will be required to choose a contemporary genre and text that bears similarities to that week's eighteenth-century form and then to construct a ten minute presentation on the similarities and differences between the two. So, for example, one could pair an issue of The Tatler with a weekly installment of US Weekly, compare the somewhat suspect "memoir" Oroonoko to James Frey's similarly suspect A Million Little Pieces, or juxtapose a satirical eighteenth-century play to a youtube political parody. You will sign up for a presentation date on 9/2 and presentations will occur every subsequent Tuesday and Thursday, starting the week of 9/9. You are responsible for finding a contemporary literary work that duplicates certain generic conventions of the primary reading assigned for that day; I will of course be happy to meet with you to discuss your choice.
Creative assignment—10%
Parody performances: these will occur during last week of class and will also serve as a class review for the final exam. Review all of our assignments, choose one, and write a 2-3pp. parody of the author / genre. Students will be selected at random, starting on Tuesday December 2nd, to perform and discuss their parody.
Exams—35%
The course will have two exams: a midterm (15%) consisting of short identifications and a final that will be comprised of short identifications and a longer essay question (20%).
Schedule of Assignments
(Unless otherwise noted, all readings will be in the Longman anthology; page numbers are provided)
Week 1—The Age of Satire
8/26—Introduction: attitudes towards literary history; definition of key terms (genre, satire); eighteenth-century visual culture.
8/28—William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress (2783); Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (2591); Assignment: choose andbring in a contemporary political cartoon.
Week 2—Generic limbo—Alexander Pope
9/2—"An Essay on Criticism" (2601) [sign-up for presentations]
9/4—The Rape of the Lock (2631)
Week 3—Poetry—love (?), lyric, and loss [Presentations Begin]
9/9— John Wilmot, Earl ofRochester, "Against Constancy," "The Disabled Debauchee," "The Imperfect Enjoyment" (2346, 2347, 2348); Aphra Behn, "The Disappointment," "To the Fair Clarinda" (2269, 2277); Jonathan Swift, "The Lady's Dressing Room" (2506); Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, "The Reasons that induced Dr. Swift to write a poem called The Lady's Dressing Room" (2510); Jonathan Swift, "Stella's Birthday (1719 and 1727)" (2504)
9/11—James Thomson, from "The Seasons" (2830); William Collins, "Ode to Evening" (2839), "Ode Occasioned by the Death of Mr. Thomson" (2840); Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eaton College" (2850), "Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat" (2853), "Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard" (2854)
Week 4—Songs
9/16—From John Aikin, Essays on Song Writing (London: Joseph Johnson, 1772): "Essay on Ballads and Pastoral Songs," "Essay on Passionate and Descriptive Songs," "Essay on Ingenious and Witty Songs"; 18th-c musical scores[Xerox]
9/18—From A Collection of Old Ballads (London: J. Roberts, 1723): "The Unfortunate Concubine" (I), "Sir George and the Dragon" (IV), "The Northern Ditty" (XXVII), and feel free to read around…
***Must access both assignments from the database ECCO***
PAPER DUE (due date #1)
Week 5—Drama
9/23—John Gay, The Beggar's Opera (2717)
9/25—Gay, The Beggar's Opera; Brecht's Lyrics from the Threepenny Opera (2780); Hogarth The Beggar's Opera (color plate #26 in the General Introduction); audio / visual clips in class from The Threepenny Opera.
Week 6— Drama
9/30—Richard Sheridan, The School for Scandal (3002)
10/2—Sheridan, The School for Scandal
Week 7—Midterm
10/7—Review / catch up day
10/9—MIDTERM EXAM
Week 8—Biography
10/14—Samuel Johnson, Lives of the Poets (2931-40)
10/16—James Boswell, "First meeting with Johnson" from The London Journal(2953); from The Life of Samuel Johnson (2962)
Week 9—Journals and Letters
10/21—Samuel Pepys, The Diary (2146); JamesBoswell, from London Journal (2778, 2946, 2949, 2954-7)
10/23— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Turkish Embassy Letters (2707), Letter to Lady Bute (2711); Hester Thrale Piozzi, The Family Book (2978), Thraliana (2983); Frances Burney, from The Early Journals (3125)
PAPER DUE (due date #2)
Week 10—Newspapers
10/28—from Mercurius Publicus; The London Gazette; The Daily Courant; A Review of the State of the British Nation; The Craftsman (2454-2462)
10/30—Use the new USC database acquisition, the 17th-18th-c Burney Collection Newspapers, to browse 18th-c editions of London newspapers. Once you get to the database ( click on "browse publications by location," then "England," then "London." Then enjoy! Print out and bring to class an article or two that particularly captured your interest. (Note: you will need a VPN connection to access the database from off campus.)
Week 11—Periodicals
11/4—Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, The Tatler, No. 1, No. 18, No. 104, No. 155 (2466, 2470, 2490, 2470); The Spectator, No. 1, No. 10, No. 69, No. 11, No. 128 (2466, 2472, 2476, 2479, 2491); Advertisements from The Spectator (2483); Eliza Haywood, The Female Spectator, No. 1.1 (2468); 1.1 (2494); 2.10 (2496)
11/6—Samuel Johnson, The Rambler #4, #60 (2872, 2878); The Idler #84, #97 (2892, 2894)
Week 12—The Novel(?)
11/11—Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (2278)
11/13—Oroonoko; Jonathan Swift, from Gulliver's Travels (2531-2541)
Week 13—The Novel(?)
11/18—Jonathan Swift, from Gulliver's Travels (2541-2587)
11/20—Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, Vol. 1 (Penguin edition)
PAPER DUE (due date #3)
Week 14—The Novel
11/25—Austen, Northanger Abbey, Vol. 2
11/27—THANKSGIVING RECESS
Week 15—Parody
12/2—Student parodies
12/4—Student parodies
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday December 16, 8am-10am