Engl 42204 / 53501: English literature 1660-1789
Spring 2024: TR 4:30-5:45 LA 116
Students who elect this course in the "long eighteenth century” will study English poetry, drama, and intellectual history from the Restoration to about 1740, with some glances back at the Revolutionary period and ahead to Dr. Johnson. We will concentrate on some canonical writers (Dryden, Swift, Pope), the cavalier lyrical tradition and its excesses (Marvell, Cowley, Waller, Rochester), emerging women writers (Philips, Finch, Behn), drama (Wycherley, Congreve) as well as the notion of “enlightenment” (Locke, Hobbes, Astell). Analytical, argumentative, and research writing in the discipline will also be a frequent topic.
This is a great age for philosophy, history, theater, the rise of women writers, the development of the novel, painting (Peter Lely), sculpture, architecture (Christopher Wren), and, of course, music. Two great English composers of the late seventeenth century are John Blow and Henry Purcell. Use these links to give them a listen if you can, and enjoy. You probably already know about Haydn and Mozart, but their name links will lead you to music samples, as well.
Seventeenth-Century English women writers (Wiki)
Eighteenth-Century English women writers (Wiki)
Syllabus
General Information
Office: LA 233 Hours: please contact me
Course books:
Noggle, et al, eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 10th ed., Vol. C: The Restoration and Eighteenth Century
Wycherley, The Country Wife (Dover Thrift Editions)
9 11 16 18 23 January
Introductions, John Dryden, "Mr. Oldham" (69), "Mac Flecknoe" (62), Epigram on Milton (72), Absalom and Achitophel (38), prose (77-83)
25 30 January; 1 6 8 February
Rochester, "Debauchee" (123), "Upon Nothing" (126), "A Satire" (127); Aphra Behn, "The Disappointment" (136), "On a Juniper Tree" (web)
FIRST SHORT ASSIGNMENT DUE FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY
13 15 20 22 27 29 February
William Wycherley, The Country Wife
SECOND SHORT ASSIGNMENT DUE FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY
THIRD SHORT ASSIGNMENT DUE FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY
NO CLASS 5 AND 7 MARCH
12 14 March
19 21 26 28 March
Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (490), An Essay on Man (534)
FIRST EXAM DUE FRIDAY 22 MARCH 11: 59 pm. via Brightspace
April
Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Though Gulliver is prose fiction, it's 300 years old, so it can be hard going. It helps to listen as your eyes run over the words or to listen with earbuds while you take a walk. You can listen to Gulliver at this YouTube link, read by Lizzie Driver.
We'll take turns presenting parts of the novel.
2 April: Part 1, Lilliput: Lauren
4 April: idem: Sara
9 April: Part 2: Brobdingnag: Isabelle
16 April: idem: Kaylynn
18 April: Part 3: Laputa: Angel
23 April: Part 4: The Houyhnhnms: Emily
25 April: idem: Hayden and Ell
FOURTH SHORT ASSIGNMENT DUE FRIDAY, 5 APRIL, via Brightspace
FIFTH SHORT ASSIGNMENT DUE FRIDAY, 18 APRIL, via Brightspace
SECOND EXAM DUE FRIDAY 3 MAY 11.59 p.m. via Brightspace
NO CLASS 11 April
COURSE POLICIES
ATTENDANCE AND GOOD MANNERS
You are allowed five (5) absences for any reason you choose. Students who miss more than this will fail the course, without exception, regardless of circumstances. I do not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences, nor am I responsible for material that you miss because you are absent. Students who miss the attendance call (the first five minutes of class) will be marked absent; students who get up and leave in the middle of class will be marked absent. Please take care of your rest room issues BEFORE class. If you must leave, give us the high sign.
NOTE: if you signed up for the class, it is understood that you can attend it regardless of family or employment obligations. If you have emergencies, this is why you have absences allowed.
DUE DATES
Your paper, shorter assignments, and take-home exams are due on the scheduled non-class dates by 11:59 p.m. via Brightspace. Late papers = 0. No exceptions. The paper and exams will be short, 4-6 pp. Short assignments 1-2 pp. Your graded paper, first exam, and all short assignments may be revised after meeting with the instructor in the office and discussing your plans
DON'T BE A PLAGIARIST
it should go without saying that students are also expected to do their own work; indebtedness to secondary materials (either printed or electronic) must be clearly indicated so as to avoid plagiarism:
—(piecemeal) using someone else’s words and phrases as if they were your own, not pararphrasing or summarizing properly, even with proper documentation;
—(grotesque) using someone else’s ideas as if they were your own, without proper documentation;
—(more grotesque) allowing someone else to write your paper for you.
GRADING
The course grade will be determined by the average of four categories: your analytical essay (25 pts.), take-home midterm (25 pts.), take-home final exam (25 pts.), and your five short assignments 5 pts. x 5 =25 pts). I reserve the right to take into additional factors into account; improvement, class participation, and, of course, attendance. Grades are not negotiable, personal, or subject to the influence of extracurricular academic factors.
We grade on the usual 100 pt. scale: 90s = A, 50s = F
COMMUNICATION
You may email me at any time. I will usually get back to you quickly: stapletm@pfw.edu
short assignments
Assignment 1
There is no need to write a conventional opening paragraph. Just start right in with your analysis.
What is Mermin's thesis in this landmark essay? She seems to divide emergent women poets into two categories. What are they?
Just for practice, I'd like to see you use MLA style (see several handouts on this site) to quote, paraphrase, and summarize Mermin as you analyze her essay. I'd also like to see a correct Works Cited page.
Dorothy Mermin, "Women Becoming Poets" (1990)
5 pts. Due Friday, 2 February, via Brightspace by 11.59 p.m. No late papers
Assignment 2
There is no need to write a conventional opening paragraph. Just start right in with your analysis.
See the section on the page Writing devoted to quoting poetry and follow the instructions.
Egerton's poem clearly has a point. What is it? Whom or what is she addressing? What are some lines that strike you as significant or well-turned? How can you bring Mermin to bear on this poem?
As before, I'd like to see you use MLA style (see several handouts on this site) to quote, paraphrase, and summarize Mermin as you analyze her essay. I'd also like to see a correct Works Cited page.
Sarah Fyge Egerton, "The Power of Love" (1703)
5 pts. Due Friday, , 16 February, via Brightspace by 11.59 p.m. No late papers
Assignment 3
See the section on the page Writing devoted to quoting poetry and follow the instructions.
Montagu's ballad is one of the most interesting poems of the century and quite accomplished, even if it seems rollicking or comical. What passages strike you as important or significant?
As before, I'd like to see you use MLA style (see several handouts on this site) to quote, paraphrase, and bring Mermin to bear on Montagu as you analyze her essay. I'd also like to see a correct Works Cited page. You can use the url for the poem on WC. In citing Montagu, use line numbers in paretheses.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, "The Lover: A Ballad" (c. 1730)
5 pts. Due Friday, 23 February, via Brightspace by 11.59 p.m. No late papers
Assignment 4
Give us a preliminary account of your part of Gulliver, the section that you're assigned to present. Include some quotations and analysis.
5 pts. Due Friday, 5 April, via Brightspace by 11.59 p.m. No late papers
Assignment 5
Give us the final version of your class presentation for your part of Gulliver.
5 pts. Due Friday, 18 April, via Brightspace by 11.59 p.m. No late papers
Specs
Each of these is worth 5 pts. The 5 as a group are worth 25% of your overall grade.
They cannot be late.
They should be 1-2 pp, no shorter.
There is no need for a conventional opening paragraph. Just start right in with your analysis.
They are revisable, after an office conference
The due date for a revision is any time before the second exam is due, 3 May
ANALYTICAL ESSAY
PROMPT
Dorothy Mermin, "Women Becoming Poets" (1990)
Sarah Fyge Egerton, "The Power of Love" (1703)
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, "The Lover: A Ballad" (c. 1730)
Now that you've had a month to read and re-read Mermin's essay and the two poems, combine the work you've done and expand it. How do Egerton and Montagu seem to fulfill (or not) the concepts that Mermin discusses? Though the subject of their poetry is the same, you'll notice that they approach everything differently, from meter to addressee to tone. What differences are significant?
SPECS
25 pts.
4-5 pp.
due Friday, 8 MARCH, 11:59 p.m. via Brightspace
no late papers
The grade on your analytical paper is approximate. This means that you may revise for a better grade. However, you really have to revise the essay, and you must schedule an office conference before you undertake your revision. And that grade is final. The due date for the revision is any time before the second exam is due, Friday 3 May
FIRST EXAM
PROMPT
Given the writers we've read so far this semester, what seems typical of the time period to you so far? Which passages could you choose from our reading as examples? There are several ways to approach this. Examples:
- do women write differently than men? If so, how, specifically?
- what lines or passages from The Country Wife intersect or engage with our other writers, specifically?
- Rochester is obviously transgressive and means to shock. Obviously no one else writes the same way. But are there examples in each writer's works of transgression or unconventionality?
- Absalom and Achitophel has been renowned for its individual portraits of the main figures in the Popish Plot. To some, they seem painterly. Are there other writers whose powers of poetical description try to achieve similar results?
- The heroic couplet (i.e., closed pentameter distich) seems designed to sound proverbial or aphoristic. Are there other uses you can identify in our poets?
- What seems distinctive about the writer you feel that you best understand? How does this singularity differ, precisely, from the other writers we've studied?
This is a take-home examination. Detail and specificity, as well as adventurous thinking, are definitely prized here. Since this is an exam rather than a formal paper, strict adherence to the conventions and formatting of formal writing are not necessarily required. At the same time, please consult the Writing Papers webpage.
SPECS
25 pts.
4-5 pp.
reputable sources if you care to use them
due Friday, 22 March, 11:59 p.m. via Brightspace
no late papers
*The grade on your exam is approximate. This means that you may revise for a better grade. However, you really have to revise the exam, and you must schedule an office conference before you undertake your revision. And that grade is final. The due date for the revision is any time before the second exam is due Friday 3 May, 11:59 p.m. via Brightspace
SECOND EXAM
PROMPT
Your final mission is simple. How would Pope and Swift, based on your reading of their poetry and prose, react to each other's ideas?
As we've learned in our reading and in our research for presentations, there are at least two Enlightenments. One is "official," positivist, optimistic, and impersonal. Another is "alternative": negative, cynical, critical, and strangely personal.
For your exam, explain these six quotations from the Essay on Man and then analyze how Swift's Gulliver would respond to these philosophical expressions, using specific examples from the novel. The best strategy would be to attempt a one-to-one correspondence between one of the six passages and a quotation from Gulliver's Travels.
You are welcome to incorporate other writers from the period on our syllabus.
Here are the six:
Whatever IS, is RIGHT. (294)
Respecting man, whatever wrong we call,
May, must be right, as relative to all. (51-52)
‘Tis but a part we see, and not the whole. (60)
In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies. (123)
to reason right is to submit. (164)
Who finds not Providence all good and wise,
Alike in what it gives, and what denies? (20)
Because it is not my practice to write comments on final papers and exams, yours will not be returned, unless you really, really, really want it back, with lots of comments. You must request this, however.
Specs
25 pts.
4-5 pp.
no need for secondary materials
due Friday 3 May, by 11:59 p.m. via Brightspace
no late papers
STANDARD PAPER FORMATTING
SOFTWARE
As a PFW student, you are entitled to free software, which you'll need. If you follow this link, you can dowload your own copy of Office 365 from IT services.
EVERYTHING IS DOUBLE-SPACED
Everything in your regular papers should be double-spaced. There are no extra spaces between paragraphs, and block quotations are double-spaced. Go into your copy of Word, find the Paragraph menu, and make sure that it looks like the picture to the left.
CHECK YOUR HEADING
It can be on the left or the right side
Your Name
ENGL 42204
Dr. Stapleton
Date
On the next line after the heading, center a title for the paper.
Begin your text on the next line after that title.
OTHER FORMATTING
- Don't use "fun" fonts or all-caps.
- Your font size should be 12-point.
- Don't use 'single quotation marks' for emphasis, or, for that matter, for most any reason at all.
EVERYTHING IS ELECTRONIC
You'll compose your papers and shorter assignments in Word and email them to me, so there is nothing in hard copy. Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf.