ENGL 42204 / 53501: English literature 1660-1789
Spring 2022 - 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.
Because our class is small, and because it is difficult to give the emergent women writers of the era their due, each of you will be assigned / choose one of the following as your term project and subject of occasional presentations during the semester: Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle; Aphra Behn; Katherine Philips; Anne Finch, Countess of Winchelsea; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (and others). For the assignment, see Term Project module below. For presentations, these should be 5-10 minutes and explain, briefly, how the secondary article or primary text you're reading comments on or reflects our reading for that day.
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.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Since our classroom is built to hold us in normal times, and it does not easily allow for the 6-ft. social distancing, we have to have a seating chart to ensure your safety. I apologize for this.
As an instructor, and by law, I am not allowed to discuss the medical history, records, or condition of any student.
We are all supposed to be masked when on campus. If you refuse to comply, I am supposed to report you.
Course policies about attendance and late papers will be standard, as described below. The exception would be that our school decides to send us off-campus and to put us online, or that we all get sick, or that you are ill and need to stay home.
Let's hope none of that happens, but if it does, we'll deal with it.
syllabus
General Information and Course Book
English 42204 / 53501: English Literature 1660-1789
Spring 2022 TR 4.30-5.45 LA 116
Office: LA 233 Hours: please contact me
email: stapletm@pfw.edu phone: 481.6841 (message)
webpage: www.elmlsteach.org
Text:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, vol 3: The Restoration and Eighteenth Century
Second Edition
ISBN: 978-1-55481-047-5
Unless I have provided a link for a text online, all selections below will be found in our fine course book, with first page numbers in parentheses.
Electronic Devices:
Yes, please. Feel free. I only ask that you use their magic powers for Good.
11 January
English Revolution, Stuarts and Hanoverians, Glorious Revolution, "Enlightenment," satire, epic, mock epic, cavalier lyric, ode, occasional poetry
13, 18, 20, 25, 27 January
John Dryden (69): "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham"; "MacFlecknoe"; Absalom and Achitophel ; An Essay on Dramatic Poesy
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS DUE FRIDAY 14 JANUARY VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
I-SEARCH #1 DUE FRIDAY 28 JANUARY VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
1, 3 February
8, 10, 15, 17, 22 February
Katherine Philips: "Ode" (web); "To Mrs. M. A." (web); "Friendship's Mystery" (web); "Persuading a Lady" (web); Aphra Behn: (290): "The Disappointment" (2310); "On a Juniper-Tree"; "To the Fair Clarinda"
Margaret Cavendish, "The Poetress' Hasty Resolution" (web)
I-SEARCH #2 DUE FRIDAY 18 FEBRUARY VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
24 February; 1, 3 March
Mary Astell (355); Lady Montagu: "The Lover" (606); "The Reasons that Induced Dr. S." (605) and Swift, "The Lady's Dressing Room" (379); Anne Finch (348)
FIRST EXAM DUE FRIDAY 4 MARCH VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
NO CLASS ON 8, 10 MARCH
15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31 March
5, 7, 12, 14, 19 April
Alexander Pope (540): The Rape of the Lock; An Essay on Criticism; An Essay on Man
DRAFT OF RESEARCH PROJECT DUE FRIDAY 15 APRIL VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
21, 26, 28 April
Swift (373): "A Modest Proposal"; "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift"; Samuel Johnson (759): Dictionary; Lives of the Poets
FINAL VERSION OF TERM PROJECT DUE FRIDAY 29 APRIL VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
SECOND EXAM DUE WEDNESDAY 4 MAY VIA BRIGHTSPACE BY 11.59 P.M.
First Exam
The Prompt
Given the plethora of 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?
- 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?
Specs
4-5 pp.
Due Friday 4 March, by 11.59 p.m. via Brightspace
reputable sources, if you care to use them Late papers = 0. Good news: you can revise this if you meet with me. Revisions are due Wednesday, 4 May, via Brightspace, by 11.59 p.m.
Second exam
The Prompt
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.
The standard Enlightenment might best be represented by Pope's An Essay on Man. Though Wycherley, Rochester, Astell, Swift, and Dr. Johnson might share some of Pope's literary politics, their moral visions might be more complex than that proffered in the Essay.
For your exam, explain these six quotations from the Essay and then analyze how our other writers would respond to these philosophical expressions, using specific examples from their work. The best strategy would be to attempt a one-to-one correspondence between one of the six passages and a quotation from either The Country-Wife, "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift," "A Modest Proposal," the prose of Mary Astell, or the poetry of Rochester, Behn, Finch, Montagu
You are welcome to incorporate other writers from the period not on our syllabus that you've encountered in your reading.
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)
Specs
4-5 pp.
no need for secondary materials
due Wednesday, 4 May, by 11.59 p.m. via Brightspace
no late papers
I would rather not have to return these with commentary unless you specifically request it.
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
My Name
ENGL 42204 or 53501
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.
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, unless there is a sound medical reason. 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.
DUE DATES
Your research project sections and drafts and take-home exams are due on the scheduled non-class dates by 9 a.m. via email. Late papers = 0. No exceptions. Everything can be revised as long as you meet with me.
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.
PLEASE DO NOT BE A PLAGIARIST! THIS IS UNNECESSARY, AS WELL AS UNETHICAL
GRADING
The course grade will be determined by a rough averaging together of your research project and its sections (60%), take-home first exam (20%), and take-home second exam (20%). The grading scale is conventional: 90+ = A; 80-89 = B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; 59- = F. 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.
COMMUNICATION
You may email me at any time. I will usually get back to you quickly: stapletm@pfw.edu
NOTE WELL:
I always acknowledge an email submission with a reply confirming receipt. If you DON'T hear from me after a reasonable period of time, it means I didn't get the paper. It is YOUR responsibility to follow up in this case, not mine.