English Literature, 1745-1800

English 326, Spring 2001

Jack Lynch

Course Description

Hours: Monday, 2:30-4:00, and by appointment (appointments are best).

Home: (609) 882-4642 (before 10:30 p.m.!).

E-mail: jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu (the best way to reach me).

Listserv: lynch326 @ andromeda.rutgers.edu (for the whole class).

Course Requirements

• Written Assignments: There will be two papers, the first of around 1,500 words (six pages), the second of 2,000 (eight pages). There are also four short "OED Exercises," in which you'll provide brief reports of your discoveries in the Oxford English Dictionary (we'll discuss these in class).
• Final Exam: A final examination will include identification of quotations, close reading, and short essays.
• Attendance: Almost any excuse, given in advance (in person, by phone, or by E-mail), will receive my blessing. Absences not excused in advance will be frowned upon, and your final grade will be lowered by half a grade for each unexcused absence after the second. The same policy applies to late papers: I'll grant extensions, but only if you talk to me before the due date.
• Class Participation: Regular and active class participation (including doing the readings) is essential, and counts for a large part of your grade.
• Computing: Some essential information will be available only electronically. All students therefore must have an E-mail account by the end of the first week of classes, and must be able to use the World Wide Web. Participation in the mailing list (lynch326 @ andromeda.rutgers.edu) will count toward the class participation grade. I'll provide any computing help you need.
• Plagiary: It should go without saying, but all work in this class must be your own. Handing in someone else's work as your own will result in an F for the course with no second chance, and may result in disciplinary action. I encourage you to use outside sources, but you have to cite anything you didn't write yourself. If you have even an inkling of a doubt about what's legitimate or how to cite something, see me before handing in the paper.
• Readings: Seven books -- The Longman Anthology of British Literature, vol. 1C (abbreviated L); Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal; Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto; Frances Burney, Evelina; Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Olaudah Equiano, Narrative; and William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell -- are available from New Jersey Books. Another book, James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, is also available from New Jersey Books, but is optional; all of the required readings from it are also available on-line, so buy the book only if you prefer hard copy to the Web. Many readings will also be available on-line; a few will be available only on-line.

Schedule of Class Meetings

Wed., 17 Jan.

Introduction (class business, &c.).

Mon., 22 Jan.:

Samuel Johnson, selections from The Rambler (L, pp. 2702-19) and The Idler (L, pp. 2724-30); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 19-36, 143-63.

Wed., 24 Jan.:

Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes and "On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet" (L, pp. 2692-2702); Boswell, Life, pp. 118-43, 166-77.

Mon., 29 Jan.:

Johnson, selections from Rasselas (L, pp. 2745-53) and the review of Soame Jenyns (L, pp. 2719-24); Boswell, Life, pp. 240-43.

Wed., 31 Jan.:

Johnson, selections from A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (L, pp. 2770-78); Boswell, selections from A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (L, pp. 2809-13).

Mon., 5 Feb.:

Hester Thrale Piozzi, selections from "Family Book" and Thraliana (L, pp. 2830-43); Boswell, Life, pp. 344-53. OED Exercise Due: Three words from Johnson.

Wed., 7 Feb.:

Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" (L, pp. 2682-84), Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (L, pp. 2685-88); Boswell, Life, pp. 403-11, 590-96.

Mon., 12 Feb.:

Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village (L, pp. 2844-54); George Crabbe, selections from The Village and The Parish Register (L, pp. 2854-57); Boswell, Life, pp. 379-89.

Wed., 14 Feb.:

David Hume, selections from A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (L, pp. 2644-50); Edmund Burke, selections from Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and the Beautiful (L, pp. 2875-82); Boswell, "An Account of My Last Interview with David Hume" (L, pp. 2805-8); Life, pp. 424-28.

Mon., 19 Feb.:

Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto; Boswell, Life, pp. 411-24.

Wed., 21 Feb.:

Walpole, The Castle of Otranto and letter to Mann (L, pp. 2874-75); Boswell, Life, pp. 732-48. OED Exercise Due: Three words from Gray, Goldsmith, Crabbe, Hume, or Burke.

Mon., 26 Feb.:

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, Acts I-III; Boswell, Life, pp. 272-307.

Wed., 28 Feb.:

Sheridan, The School for Scandal, Acts IV-V; Boswell, Life, pp. 764-76.

Mon., 5 March:

James Macpherson, selections from "A Dissertation concerning the Antiquity, &c. of the Poems of Ossian the Son of Fingal"; Thomas Chatterton, "Mynstrelles Songe" (on-line); Boswell, Life, pp. 579-82. OED Exercise Due: Three words from Walpole or Sheridan.

Wed., 7 March:

William Henry Ireland, An Authentic Account of the Shaksperian Manuscripts (on-line); Boswell, Life, pp. 827-35. First Paper Due.

Mon., 12 March:

No Class: Spring Break.

Wed., 14 March:

No Class: Spring Break.

Mon., 19 March:

Frances Burney, Evelina, pp. 1-132 (volume 1); Boswell, Life, pp. 181-89.

Wed., 21 March:

Burney, Evelina, pp. 135-225 (through vol. 2, letter 19); Boswell, Life, pp. 209-16.

Mon., 26 March:

Burney, Evelina, pp. 225-323 (through vol. 3, letter 10); Boswell, Life, pp. 596-603, 1234-37.

Wed., 28 March:

Burney, Evelina, pp. 324-406; Boswell, Life, pp. 686-701.

Mon., 2 April:

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Dedication, Introduction, and chapters 1, 2, 4; Boswell, Life, pp. 1203-19. OED Exercise Due: Three words from Burney.

Wed., 4 April:

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, chapters 9, 11, 12, and 13; Boswell, Life, pp. 1275-1304.

Mon., 9 April:

Olaudah Equiano, Narrative, chapters 1-6; Boswell, Life, pp. 876-86.

Wed., 11 April:

Equiano, Narrative, chapters 7-12; Boswell, Life, pp. 538-43.

Mon., 16 April:

Christopher Smart, selections from Jubilate Agno (L, pp. 2650-53); William Cowper, "Light Shining out of Darkness," selections from The Task, "The Cast-Away" (L, pp. 2654-57, 2674-77); Boswell, Life, pp. 43-97.

Wed., 18 April:

No Class: I'll be galivanting in New Orleans.

Mon., 23 April:

William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell; Boswell, Life, pp. 105-7.

Wed., 25 April:

Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell; Boswell, Life, pp. 1374-1402.

Mon., 30 April:

Conclusion. Second Paper Due.