The Art of Satire

English 313, Spring 2009

Go directly to:

Office: (973) 353-5204; 516 Hill Hall.

Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:30–4:00, 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: ArtOfSatire @ andromeda.rutgers.edu (for the whole class).

Written Assignments: There will be one argumentative paper of around 2,500 words (ten pages). There are also several short exercises and an in-class debate, all of which will be explained as they get closer. There is no final exam.
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: Five books — Utopia, Gulliver's Travels, Candide, The Crying of Lot 49, and Welcome to the Nerd Farm! — are available from New Jersey Books. The remainder of the readings are available on-line.

Tuesday, 20 January: Introduction: Satire, irony, comedy, parody, lampoon, invective, burlesque, travesty, jeremiad.

Thursday, 22 January: Horace, Satires 2.1 and 2.2.
Tuesday, 27 January: Juvenal, Satires 3 and 10.
Thursday, 29 January: Alexander Pope, "The First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated," and "The Second Satire of the Second Book of Horace, Paraphrased."
Tuesday, 3 February: John Dryden, selections from Discourse concerning the Original and Progress of Satire.
Thursday, 5 February
: Dryden, Juvenal's "Third Satyr."
Tuesday, 10 February: Samuel Johnson, London. Exercise: Produce your own imitation of part of a satire by Horace or Juvenal in about 500 words. Rhyme and meter are optional.

Thursday, 12 February: John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, "A Satyr on Charles II."
Tuesday, 17 February: Dryden, Mac Flecknoe.
Thursday, 19 February: Pope, Epistle to Arbuthnot; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, "Verses Addressed to the Imitator of Horace." Exercise: Break a butterfly on a wheel with a personal lampoon directed at a public figure in about 500 words. Examples: "A Satyr on George II," "Mac Cain."

Tuesday, 24 February: Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, part 1.
Thursday, 26 February: Gulliver's Travels, part 3.
Tuesday, 3 March: Voltaire, Candide, chapters 1–16.
Thursday, 5 March: Candide, chapters 17–30.
Tuesday, 10 March: Swift, A Modest Proposal.
Thursday, 12 March: Garry Trudeau, Welcome to the Nerd Farm! Exercise: Produce your own "modest proposal" on the topic of your choice in about 500 words.
Tuesday, 17 March: No Class: Spring Break.
Thursday, 19 March: No Class: Spring Break.

Tuesday, 24 March: Thomas More, Utopia, pp. 1–41.
Thursday, 26 March: No Class: I'll be away at a conference.
Tuesday, 31 March: Utopia, pp. 41–85.
Thursday, 2 April: Gulliver's Travels, part 4. Debate: "Resolved, Swift's Houyhnhnmland is a utopia."

Tuesday, 7 April: Rochester, A Satyr against Mankind; Pope, The Dunciad, book 4.
Thursday, 9 April: The Dunciad, book 4 (continued).
Tuesday, 14 April: George Gordon, Lord Byron, A Vision of Judgment.
Thursday, 16 April: A Vision of Judgment (continued).
Tuesday, 21 April: Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, chapters 1–2.
Thursday, 23 April: The Crying of Lot 49, chapters 3–4.
Tuesday, 28 April: The Crying of Lot 49, chapters 5–6.
Thursday, 30 April: Conclusion. Final Paper Due.