Major British Authors:
Johnson and Boswell

English 419, Spring 2009

Jack Lynch

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: johnson-boswell @ andromeda.rutgers.edu (for the whole class).

Course Requirements

• Written Assignments: This is a writing-intensive class; I plan to run part of it as a writing workshop. Each student will sign up to do two short papers (1,200–1,500 words, or five pages) over the course of the semester, which they will send to the entire class (via E-mail or Blackboard) no less than two full days before the next class meeting (i.e., by 6:00 on Sunday afternoon). The purpose of the paper will be to make an argument, connecting some of the critical material (either in Abrams & Harpham or the Cambridge Companion) to the eighteenth-century material (either Johnson or Boswell). Part of each class will then be devoted to a discussion of the papers. Finally, at the end of the semester, a final paper (2,500–3,000 words, or fifteen pages) will be due. That paper can be an expansion of one of the earlier short ones, but it needn't be.
• 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.
• 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:
  • James Boswell, Boswell's London Journal, Yale, ISBN: 0300093012. $18.
  • Greg Clingham, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson.
  • M. H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms, 9th ed.
  • Jack Lynch, The English Language: A User's Guide.
  As always, I've worked hard to find the cheapest reliable editions in print. Many readings will also be available on-line.

Schedule of Class Meetings

20 January: Introduction

• Johnson:
  • Rambler 60 (photocopy).

27 January: Lives

• Johnson:
  • Annals.
• Boswell:
  • The Life of Johnson, pp. 19–36, 43–97, 272–94;
  • London Journal, pp. 39–235.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Periods of English Literature," "Neoclassic and Romantic," "Criticism," "Interpretation and Hermeneutics," "Biography."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Philip Davis, "Extraordinarily Ordinary: The Life of Samuel Johnson."

3 February: London

• Johnson:
  • London.
• Boswell:
  • Life, 295–337.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "New Criticism," "Intentional Fallacy," "Meter," "Rhyme," "Heroic Couplet," "Satire," "Irony," "Rhetorical Figures."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Howard D. Weinbrot, "Johnson's Poetry."

10 February: Crime

• Johnson:
  • The Life of Savage;
  • Rambler 114;
  • Idler 22.
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 827–34.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Genres," "Plot," "Persona, Tone, and Voice," "Point of View," "Sociology of Literature."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Paul J. Korshin, "Johnson, the Essay, and The Rambler."

17 February: Language

• Johnson:
  • Rambler 168;
  • Selections from the Dictionary;
  • "Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself)."
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 131–216.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Linguistics in Literary Criticism," "Structuralist Criticism," "Poststructuralism," "Deconstruction."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Robert DeMaria, Jr., "Johnson's Dictionary."

24 February: Writing

• Johnson:
  • "Drury-Lane Prologue";
  • Selections from Shakespeare: Preface and notes on Hamlet;
  • Ramblers 121 and 156;
  • Idlers 60 and 61;
  • "Of the Duty of a Journalist."
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 764–76.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Author and Authorship," "Book," "Book Format," "Book History Studies," "Textual Criticism."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Philip Smallwood, "Shakespeare: Johnson's Poet of Nature."

3 March: Poetry

• Johnson:
  • Ramblers 4, 36, 37;
  • Selections from Lives of the Poets:
    • Cowley;
    • Milton;
    • Dryden;
    • Pope;
    • Gray.
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 1203–19.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Canon of Literature," "Poetic Diction," "Figurative Language," "Stanza," "Epic," "Metaphysical Poets," "Metaphor, Theories of," "Conceit."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Greg Clingham, "Life and Literature in Johnson's Lives of the Poets."

10 March: Women & Sex

• Johnson:
  • Ramblers 18, 39, 113, 167, 170, 171, 191;
  • Idlers 5 and 100;
  • Letters to Hester Thrale.
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 344–53, 940–53, 1190–95, 1326–33;
  • London Journal, pp. 235–333.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Feminist Criticism," "Gender Criticism," "Queer Theory."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Eithne Henson, "Johnson and the Condition of Women."

17 March

No Class: Spring Break.

24 March: Travel

• Johnson:
  • Preface to Lobo;
  • Review of Hanway;
  • Selections from A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.
• Boswell:
  • Selections from A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Oral Poetry," "Humanism," "Postcolonial Studies," "Ecocriticism."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • John Wiltshire, "'From China to Peru': Johnson in the Traveled World."

31 March: Politics

• Johnson:
  • "Observations on the Present State of Affairs";
  • Taxation No Tyranny.
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 590–96, 876–86.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Marxist Criticism," "New Historicism."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Robert Folkenflik, "Johnson's Politics."

7 April: Suffering

• Johnson:
  • The Vanity of Human Wishes.
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 411–24, 690, 790–92, 856–57, 1225–26.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Psychological and Psychoanalytic Criticism."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Catherine N. Parke, "Johnson and the Arts of Conversation."
• First Draft of Final Paper Due.

14 April: Death

• Johnson:
  • "Epitaph on Claudy Phillips";
  • "On the Death of Robert Levet";
  • Rambler 32;
  • "Essay on Epitaphs."
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 424–28, 1374–1402.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Elegy," "Phenomenology and Criticism," "Reader-Response Criticism."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Tom Keymer, "'Letters about Nothing': Johnson and Epistolary Writing."

21 April: God

• Johnson:
  • Sermon 5;
  • Review of Soame Jenyns;
  • Idler 22 (original).
• Boswell:
  Life, pp. 1275–1304.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Enlightenment," "Great Chain of Being," "Interpretation, Typological and Allegorical."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Michael Suarez, S.J., "Johnson's Christian Thought."

28 April: Happiness

• Johnson:
  • Rasselas.
• Boswell:
  • Life, pp. 732–48.
• Abrams & Harpham:
  • "Fiction and Truth," "Allegory," "Novel," "Utopias and Dystopias."
• Cambridge Companion:
  • Fred Parker, "The Skepticism of Johnson's Rasselas."
• Final Paper Due.