Connections: Seminars: Old Syllabi: Eighteenth Century F07

Thursday, August 30

Course introduction and outline.

Tuesday, September 4

Daniel Defoe, from A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, Divided into Circuits or Journeys (1724-27): Author's Preface, City of London, Introduction to Scotland, The North of Scotland
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Defoe as a prose writer
- The early twentieth-century Cambridge History of English and American Literature on Defoe

Group 1 response: Write your response based on a moment in the text where Defoe seems to reveal something about his framing of the facts on the ground, as we might call them. How do these moments contribute to our sense of what Defoe is up to in the Tour? This will be a response workshop day.

Note: here and throughout this syllabus, the first (less indented) list of readings is required, while the second (more indented) list of readings is supplemental and optional. Here, for example, the readings by Defoe are required, whereas the ones about him are optional.

Thursday, September 6

Bernard Mandeville, "The Grumbling Hive" (1705)
Edward Hundert, "Mandeville, Rousseau, and the Political Economy of Fantasy"
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Mandeville

Group 2 response: Write a response from the starting point of a moment in which Mandeville's text gives you a sense of the another position in an implied debate: how does Mandeville let you know about his opposition and thereby how he responds? This will be a response workshop day.

Tuesday, September 11

Samuel Richardson, Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), pages 3-82
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Richardson
- Illustration History of Pamela, a site by Michigan doctoral students Lori Errico-Seaman and Olivera Jokic

Group 3 response: Write this response based on a passage that introduces a specific, unexpected image or metaphor that you think will remain important in the novel.

Thursday, September 13

Richardson, Pamela, 82-182

Group 4 response: Use this response to discuss a surprise you found in this second section. What do you see here that you did not expect from Richardson after our last discussion? This will be a response workshop day.

Tuesday, September 18

Richardson, Pamela, 182-299

Group 1 response: open response

Thursday, September 20

Richardson, Pamela, 300-415

Group 2 response: open response

Tuesday, September 25

Richardson, Pamela, 415-503

Group 3 response: open response

Thursday, September 27

Catherine Ingrassia, "'I Am Become a Mere Usurer': Pamela and Domestic Stock-Jobbing"
Terry J. Castle, "P/B: Pamela as Sexual Fiction"

Group 4 response: open response

Tuesday, October 2

Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 1-64
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Smollett

Group 1 response: open response

Thursday, October 4

Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 64-133

Group 2 response: open response

Tuesday, October 9

Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 134-201

Group 3 response: open response

Thursday, October 11

Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 202-275

Group 4 response: open response

Tuesday, October 16

Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 275-353

Group 1 response: open response

Thursday, October 18

Michael McKeon, "Aestheticising the Critique of Luxury: Smollett’s Humphry Clinker"
Evan Gottlieb, "'Fools of Prejudice': Sympathy and National Identity in the Scottish Englightenment and Humphry Clinker"

Group 2 response: Find a point of intersection between these articles and use it as the basis of your response. That intersection can be one of agreement, disagreement, or a revealing difference in the two scholars' approaches.

Friday, October 19th

SHORTER PAPER DUE UNDER MY OFFICE DOOR
BY 3:00 P.M.

FALL BREAK

Tuesday, October 30

David Hume, Parts III and IV of Book One: Of the Understanding from A Treatise of Human Nature: Being An Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning Into Moral Subjects.
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Hume as prose writer and philosopher
- The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Hume

Group 3 response: Use this response to make a specific connection between something Hume argues and a feature of one of the earlier, imaginative texts we have read together.

Thursday, November 1

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1-32, 138-197
- A fascinating talk by Hans Rosling that provides a glimpse of Enlightenment conjectural history's transformation into contemporary studies of global development
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Smith as prose writer and philosopher

Group 4 response: Use this response to help us discuss Smith in the context of a literary seminar. You can do that in one of two ways, either by pointing to Smith's use of a literary device to make his argument or by connecting one of Smith's arguments to something we have seen in a literary text.

Tuesday, November 6

Library day! Get started on the (relatively long) Johnson reading.

Thursday, November 8

Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
- The best starting point for Johnson studies on the Internet is Jack Lynch's page
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Johnson as prose writer

Group 1 response: Use a specific passage from Johnson as the starting point for a comparison between this travel narrative and Defoe's.

Friday, November 9

PAPER PROSPECTUS DUE BY 5:00

Tuesday, November 13

James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D., 155-254
We will also spend some class time discussing annotated bibliographies today.
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Boswell as prose writer

Group 2 response: open response

Thursday, November 15

Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent, Marilyn Butler's Introduction and first part, 1-84
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Edgeworth as novelist

Group 3 response: open response

We will also spend some class time doing a workshop of bibliography annotations using examples that I will bring.

Tuesday, November 20

Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent, 85-138

Group 4 response: open response

Wednesday, November 21

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE UNDER MY OFFICE DOOR BY NOON

Tuesday, November 27

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 5-59
Viviana Zelizer, "Coupling" from The Purchase of Intimacy
- For better or worse, there's nothing else quite like The Republic of Pemberley. It explains itself.
- The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Austen as novelist

Group 1 response: open response

Thursday, November 29

Austen, Mansfield Park, 60-145

Group 2 response: open response

Tuesday, December 4

Austen, Mansfield Park, 146-250

Group 3 response: open response

Thursday, November 6

Austen, Mansfield Park, 251-338

Group 4 response: open response

Tuesday, December 11

PROGRESS REPORT DUE TODAY BY EMAIL

Austen, Mansfield Park, 339-439

Group 1 response: open response

Thursday, December 13

Last day: wrapping up, composing class cheers and slogans for the big finals parade.

Wednesday, December 19

FINAL PAPER DUE BY NOON

Textbook Poetry Fiction Film Theory Contexts Research and Writing Research Writing Courses Tutorial 120 121 224 226 Seminars Romantics Syllabus Assignments Policies Old Syllabi Victorians S04 Romantics F04 Romantics F06 18th Century F07 Victorians S08 Ulysses F09 Victorians F10 Romantics S11 Ulysses S12 Site Information Site Updates Navigation Site Map	Syllabus for English 323: Studies in Eighteenth-Century British Literature Fall 2007 Thursday, August 30 Course introduction and outline. Tuesday, September 4 Daniel Defoe, from A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, Divided into Circuits or Journeys (1724-27): Author's Preface, City of London, Introduction to Scotland, The North of Scotland The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Defoe as a prose writer The early twentieth-century Cambridge History of English and American Literature on Defoe Group 1 response: Write your response based on a moment in the text where Defoe seems to reveal something about his framing of the facts on the ground, as we might call them. How do these moments contribute to our sense of what Defoe is up to in the Tour? This will be a response workshop day. Note: here and throughout this syllabus, the first (less indented) list of readings is required, while the second (more indented) list of readings is supplemental and optional. Here, for example, the readings by Defoe are required, whereas the ones about him are optional. Thursday, September 6 Bernard Mandeville, "The Grumbling Hive" (1705) Edward Hundert, "Mandeville, Rousseau, and the Political Economy of Fantasy" The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Mandeville Group 2 response: Write a response from the starting point of a moment in which Mandeville's text gives you a sense of the another position in an implied debate: how does Mandeville let you know about his opposition and thereby how he responds? This will be a response workshop day. Tuesday, September 11 Samuel Richardson, Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), pages 3-82 The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Richardson Illustration History of Pamela, a site by Michigan doctoral students Lori Errico-Seaman and Olivera Jokic Group 3 response: Write this response based on a passage that introduces a specific, unexpected image or metaphor that you think will remain important in the novel. Thursday, September 13 Richardson, Pamela, 82-182 Group 4 response: Use this response to discuss a surprise you found in this second section. What do you see here that you did not expect from Richardson after our last discussion? This will be a response workshop day. Tuesday, September 18 Richardson, Pamela, 182-299 Group 1 response: open response Thursday, September 20 Richardson, Pamela, 300-415 Group 2 response: open response Tuesday, September 25 Richardson, Pamela, 415-503 Group 3 response: open response Thursday, September 27 Catherine Ingrassia, "'I Am Become a Mere Usurer': Pamela and Domestic Stock-Jobbing" Terry J. Castle, "P/B: Pamela as Sexual Fiction" Group 4 response: open response Tuesday, October 2 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 1-64 The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Smollett Group 1 response: open response Thursday, October 4 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 64-133 Group 2 response: open response Tuesday, October 9 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 134-201 Group 3 response: open response Thursday, October 11 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 202-275 Group 4 response: open response Tuesday, October 16 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 275-353 Group 1 response: open response Thursday, October 18 Michael McKeon, "Aestheticising the Critique of Luxury: Smollett’s Humphry Clinker" Evan Gottlieb, "'Fools of Prejudice': Sympathy and National Identity in the Scottish Englightenment and Humphry Clinker" Group 2 response: Find a point of intersection between these articles and use it as the basis of your response. That intersection can be one of agreement, disagreement, or a revealing difference in the two scholars' approaches. Friday, October 19th SHORTER PAPER DUE UNDER MY OFFICE DOOR BY 3:00 P.M. FALL BREAK Tuesday, October 30 David Hume, Parts III and IV of Book One: Of the Understanding from A Treatise of Human Nature: Being An Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning Into Moral Subjects. The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Hume as prose writer and philosopher The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Hume Group 3 response: Use this response to make a specific connection between something Hume argues and a feature of one of the earlier, imaginative texts we have read together. Thursday, November 1 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1-32, 138-197 A fascinating talk by Hans Rosling that provides a glimpse of Enlightenment conjectural history's transformation into contemporary studies of global development The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Smith as prose writer and philosopher Group 4 response: Use this response to help us discuss Smith in the context of a literary seminar. You can do that in one of two ways, either by pointing to Smith's use of a literary device to make his argument or by connecting one of Smith's arguments to something we have seen in a literary text. Tuesday, November 6 Library day! Get started on the (relatively long) Johnson reading. Thursday, November 8 Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland The best starting point for Johnson studies on the Internet is Jack Lynch's page The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Johnson as prose writer Group 1 response: Use a specific passage from Johnson as the starting point for a comparison between this travel narrative and Defoe's. Friday, November 9 PAPER PROSPECTUS DUE BY 5:00 Tuesday, November 13 James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D., 155-254 We will also spend some class time discussing annotated bibliographies today. The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Boswell as prose writer Group 2 response: open response Thursday, November 15 Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent, Marilyn Butler's Introduction and first part, 1-84 The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Edgeworth as novelist Group 3 response: open response We will also spend some class time doing a workshop of bibliography annotations using examples that I will bring. Tuesday, November 20 Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent, 85-138 Group 4 response: open response Wednesday, November 21 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE UNDER MY OFFICE DOOR BY NOON Tuesday, November 27 Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 5-59 Viviana Zelizer, "Coupling" from The Purchase of Intimacy For better or worse, there's nothing else quite like The Republic of Pemberley. It explains itself. The Dictionary of Literary Biography on Austen as novelist Group 1 response: open response Thursday, November 29 Austen, Mansfield Park, 60-145 Group 2 response: open response Tuesday, December 4 Austen, Mansfield Park, 146-250 Group 3 response: open response Thursday, November 6 Austen, Mansfield Park, 251-338 Group 4 response: open response Tuesday, December 11 PROGRESS REPORT DUE TODAY BY EMAIL Austen, Mansfield Park, 339-439 Group 1 response: open response Thursday, December 13 Last day: wrapping up, composing class cheers and slogans for the big finals parade. Wednesday, December 19 FINAL PAPER DUE BY NOON
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Erik Simpson \| simpsone@grinnell.edu This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.