Major British Authors:
Johnson and Boswell

English 479:02, Autumn 2005

Jack Lynch

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 10:30-11:30, and by appointment (appointments are best).

Home: (609) 882-4642 (before 10:00 p.m.!).

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

Listserv: johnson-boswell @ 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 will also be several shorter exercises (we'll discuss these in class).
• Final Exam: A short 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. The same policy applies to late papers: I'll grant extensions, but only if you talk to me before the due date.
• 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.
• Plagiarism: 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: The following books are available from New Jersey Books (not the Rutgers Bookstore):
  • James Boswell, Boswell's London Journal, Yale, ISBN: 0300093012. $18.
  • James Boswell, The Life of Johnson, ed. Chapman, Oxford, ISBN: 0192835319. $19.
  • Samuel Johnson, The Major Works, ed. Greene, Oxford, ISBN: 0192840428. $16.
  As always, I've worked hard to find the cheapest reliable editions in print. I give the approximate list prices; secondhand copies and discount vendors should let you cut your expenses substantially. Many readings will also be available on-line; a few will be available only on-line.

Schedule of Class Meetings

Wed., 7 Sept.

No Class: I'll be at a conference in Germany.

Mon., 12 Sept.

Introduction (class business, &c.).

Johnson

Wed., 14 Sept.

Johnson, Annals and diaries (pp. 771-80), Rambler 60 (pp. 204-7); Boswell, The Life of Johnson, pp. 19-97.

Boswell

Mon., 19 Sept.

Boswell, London Journal, pp. 39-140.

Wed., 21 Sept.

Boswell, London Journal, pp. 140-235, and Life, pp. 271-94; Frances Burney, selection from the diaries (photocopy).

City

Mon., 26 Sept.

Johnson, London (pp. 2-8); Boswell, Life, pp. 295-337

Crime

Wed., 28 Sept.

Johnson, The Life of Savage (pp. 128-64); Boswell, Life, pp. 827-35.

Mon., 3 Oct.

Johnson, Rambler 114 (pp. 211-15), Idler 22 (the renumbered no. 22, pp. 285-87), selections from the Vinerian lectures (pp. 570-79); Boswell, Life, pp. 1207-17.

Politics

Wed., 5 Oct.

Johnson, Idlers 10 and 81 (pp. 279-82, 296-98), Debates in the Senate of Lilliput (pp. 103-12); Boswell, Life, pp. 615-16, 764-69.

Mon., 10 Oct.

Johnson, "Observations on the Present State of Affairs" (pp. 501-8), The Patriot (pp. 580-87); Boswell, Life, pp. 876-86.

Travel

Wed., 12 Oct.

Johnson, preface to Lobo (pp. 41-43), review of Hanway (pp. 509-17).

Mon., 17 Oct.

Johnson, selections from A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (pp. 593-641).

Women

Wed., 19 Oct.

Johnson, Ramblers 18, 39, 113, 167, 170, 171, 191 (pp. 179-83, 197-200, 207-11, 241-46, 249-52, 253-57), Idlers 5 and 100 (pp. 277-79, 302-4); Boswell, Life, pp. 327, 719-20, 944-45.

Mon., 24 Oct.

Johnson, letters to Hester Thrale (pp. 790-92); Boswell, Life, pp. 347-50, 1190-95, 1326-33.

Sex

Wed., 26 Oct.

Boswell, London Journal, pp. 235-333. First Paper Due.

Language

Mon., 31 Oct.

Johnson, Rambler 168 (pp. 246-49); Boswell, Life, pp. 131-216.

Wed., 2 Nov.

Johnson, selections from the Dictionary (pp. 307-34), "Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself)" (pp. 26-30).

Writing

Mon., 7 Nov.

Johnson, Ramblers 121 and 156 (pp. 215-18, 235-38), Idlers 60 and 61 (pp. 290-96), "Of the Duty of a Journalist" (pp. 544-46). Exercise Due: Look up ten resonant words from Johnson's or Boswell's writings in Johnson's Dictionary and report, in two or three pages, on what you find.

Poetry

Wed., 9 Nov.

Johnson, "Drury-Lane Prologue" (pp. 10-12), Ramblers 4, 36, 37 (pp. 175-79, 190-97), selections from Shakespeare (pp. 419-66).

Mon., 14 Nov.

Johnson, selections from Lives of the Poets: Cowley (pp. 677-97), Milton (pp. 698-716), Dryden (pp. 717-24), Pope (pp. 725-52), and Gray (pp. 765-69).

Madness

Wed., 16 Nov.

Boswell, Life, pp. 47-52, 280-81, 316, 690, 790-92, 856-57, 1225-26.

Death

Mon., 21 Nov.

Johnson, "Epitaph on Claudy Phillips" (p. 9), "On the Death of Robert Levet" (pp. 35-36); Boswell, Life, pp. 415-28, 827-34.

Wed., 23 Nov.

No Class: Thanksgiving Break.

Mon., 28 Nov.

Johnson, Rambler 32 (pp. 186-89), "Essay on Epitaphs" (pp. 96-102); Boswell, Life, pp. 1356-1402.

God

Wed., 30 Nov.

Johnson, Sermon 5 (pp. 467-75); Boswell, Life, pp. 1288-1301.

Happiness

Mon., 5 Dec.

Johnson, review of Soame Jenyns (pp. 522-43), Idler 22 (original no. 22, pp. 282-84).

Wed., 7 Dec.

Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes (pp. 12-21).

Mon., 12 Dec.

Johnson, Rasselas (pp. 335-418). Final Paper Due.