The Eighteenth Century

English 325, Autumn 2006

Jack Lynch

Course Description

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: 18th-century @ 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 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. You're responsible for knowing what's plagiarism and what isn't: if you're not sure, start with this handy article. If, after reading that, 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: Four books — The Longman Anthology of British Literature, 3rd ed., vol. 1C (abbreviated L); Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (Oxford); Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (Penguin); and Samuel Richardson, Pamela (Oxford) — are available from New Jersey Books (not the Rutgers Bookstore). The remainder of the required readings are available on-line.

Schedule of Class Meetings

Wednesday, 6 Sept.

Introduction (class business, &c.).

Monday, 11 Sept.

Sir John Denham, Cooper's Hill (on-line).

Wednesday, 13 Sept.

Stuart Sherman, "The Restoration and Eighteenth Century" (L 2121-44); John Dryden, "Ode to Mrs. Anne Killigrew" (L 2246-51), Alexander's Feast (L 2251-56).

Monday, 18 Sept.

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, "The Disabled Debauchee" (L 2347-48), "Song" (L 2348), "The Imperfect Enjoyment" (L 2348-50).

Wednesday, 20 Sept.

Dryden, selections from Discourse concerning the Original and Progress of Satire (on-line), Mac Flecknoe (L 2239-45). OED Exercise Due: Report on three words from Rochester, Denham, or Dryden.

Monday, 25 Sept.

William Wycherley, The Country Wife (L 2358-2427), acts 1-3.

Wednesday, 27 Sept.

Wycherley, The Country Wife, acts 4-5.

Monday, 2 Oct.

Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (L 2278-2321).

Wednesday, 4 Oct.

Behn, Oroonoko (continued); Thomas Southerne, from Oroonoko: A Tragedy (L 2321-26).

Monday, 9 Oct.

Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, pp. 1-97.

Wednesday, 11 Oct.

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, pp. 97-194.

Monday, 16 Oct.

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, pp. 194-306. OED Exercise Due: Report on three words from Wycherley, Behn, or Defoe.

Wednesday, 18 Oct.

Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal" (L 2466-72).

Monday, 23 Oct.

Swift, Gulliver's Travels, part 1.

Wednesday, 25 Oct.

Swift, Gulliver's Travels, part 2.

Monday, 30 Oct.

Swift, Gulliver's Travels, parts 3 and 4; from Philosophical Transactions (L 2178-81); from Robert Hooke, Micrographia (L 2182-88).

Wednesday, 1 Nov.

Swift, "A Description of the Morning" (L 2500-1), "A Description of a City Shower" (L 2501-3), "The Lady's Dressing-Room" (L 2507-10), "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" (L 2513-26). First Paper Due (around six pages).

Monday, 6 Nov.

Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (L 2602-19), selections from An Essay on Man (L 2664-73); Sir Isaac Newton, from his letter to Richard Bentley (L 2795-97).

Wednesday, 8 Nov.

Pope, The Rape of the Lock (L 2632-52).

Monday, 13 Nov.

Pope, An Epistle . . . to Dr. Arbuthnot (L 2673-84).

Wednesday, 15 Nov.

John Gay, The Beggar's Opera (L 2719-65), acts 1 and 2.

Monday, 20 Nov.

Gay, The Beggar's Opera, act 3; William Hogarth, The Rake's Progress (L 2785-92). OED Exercise Due: Three words from Swift, Pope, or Gay.

Wednesday, 22 Nov.

No Class: Thanksgiving break.

Monday, 27 Nov.

Mary, Lady Chudleigh, "To the Ladies" (L 2327-28); Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, "Verses Addressed to the Imitator of . . . Horace" (on-line); selection from The Athenian Mercury (L 2487-90); Richard Steele, from Tatler 104 (L 2490-91); Joseph Addison, Spectator 128 (L 2491-93); Eliza Haywood, selections from The Female Spectator (L 2494-98).

Wednesday, 29 Nov.

Samuel Richardson, Pamela, pp. 31-130.

Monday, 4 Dec.

Richardson, Pamela, pp. 130-278. OED Exercise Due: Three words from Chudleigh, Montagu, Steele, Addison, Haywood, or Richardson.

Wednesday, 6 Dec.

Richardson, Pamela, pp. 279-392.

Monday, 11 Dec.

Richardson, Pamela, pp. 392-516.

Wednesday, 13 Dec.

Henry Fielding, Shamela (on-line). Second Paper Due (around eight pages).