ENGL 5/4130: 18^th-Century British Literature

Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell

MWF 1-1:50 Hum 209

Office: TLC 2235

Email: mmitchel@westga.edu

Website: http: //www.westga.edu/~mmitchel

Phone: 678.839.4852

Office Hours: MW 3-5, T 10-1

And by appointment

Required Texts (and editions)

Pamela, Samuel Richardson (Oxford World's Classics)

Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe (Modern Library Classics)

The Rover, Aphra Behn (Penguin Classics)

Essay on Man and Other Poems, Alexander Pope (Dover Thrift)

Evelina, Fanny Burney (Oxford World's Classics)

Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift (Penguin Classics)

She Stoops to Conquer, Oliver Goldsmith (Dover Thrift)

selected poetry and prose, including selections from John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, etc.  (handouts or reserve)

Course Description

The eighteenth century was a period of flux in Britain; the rise of the middle class threatened to reshape established notions of social identity, while definitions of gender and sexuality were arguably both fluid and contested. The same diversity is reflected in literary trends of the period, which ranged from formal poetic wit to the frank bawdiness of restoration and eighteenth-century drama to the emergence of a new, unwieldy, still-developing form, the early novel. This course will trace the shifting ideologies of the eighteenth century through representations of class, gender, and society in a variety of representative texts, paying particular attention to the concept of “virtue,” which is alternately rewarded, abandoned, celebrated, derided, questioned and ultimately defined in these works.

Requirements:

This course requires a considerable amount of reading, and it is essential that you keep up with it. Classes will be largely discussion based, and I expect everyone to come to class prepared to participate. I will often distribute or announce reading questions in advance, and these will serve as taking-off points for class discussions. I strongly encourage you to take notes on the reading with these questions in mind, perhaps sketch out rough responses, and make a note of one or two passages in the text that strike you as relevant to the questions I have posed. I’ll expect you to be ready to bring specific passages to the attention of the class in order to focus and deepen our discussions. There will be frequent, unannounced quizzes and occasional in-class writing assignments. In the course of the semester, you will be responsible for one 5-minute oral presentation designed to illuminate some aspect of the historical, political, or cultural context of a particular work; details will follow in a separate handout. You will also turn in a two-page formal, thesis-driven written version of your presentation, due exactly one week later. You will write two longer critical essays for which you will receive a list of possible topics in advance; the first will be 5 pages and the second will be an 8-10 page research-based paper. Drafts are mandatory, not optional, along with any workshops or writing exercises associated with each paper; failure to complete them will lower your overall paper grade. You may elect to revise (substantially) your first essay, in which case I will average the two grades. If you choose to rewrite, you must schedule an appointment to discuss your essay with me. There will also be a cumulative final exam.

Attendance:

Your active presence is essential to the success of the class. Quizzes and in-class writings cannot be made up regardless of the reason for your absence. Papers will drop a third of a letter grade for each day they are late (from a B to a B-, for instance)—including weekends. Papers will be accepted only in class; please don’t email them to me or leave them in my mailbox unless I indicate otherwise. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will be affected. I assume that illness or other pressing circumstances may legitimately cause you to miss three classes in the course of the semester; I don’t need to know your reasons. Beyond that, however, absences will affect your grade, regardless of your excuse. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and arrange to obtain handouts or reading questions. If you miss 7 classes, you will not pass. (If you have truly extraordinary circumstances, please come to my office to discuss your options.)

You are required to have all relevant texts with you at each class. Make sure you have the correct edition of the required works. These are available from the university bookstore and from other sources (Amazon, for example); there will be no acceptable excuses for failing to obtain texts on time.

Please do not disrupt the class by arriving late or leaving early unless you have a very compelling reason. Three late arrivals/early departures will count as an absence.

Lateness may also affect your ability to complete quizzes or in-class writings within the amount of time allowed. Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off and removed from your desk during class. Text messaging will not be tolerated.

I expect you to preserve an atmosphere of courtesy, respect, and intellectual maturity in the classroom, to take your own work and that of the other students seriously. Very little is less respectful than napping: if you fall asleep, you will receive one warning; the second time you will be asked to leave and counted as absent.

Graduate students

Anyone taking the 5106 version of the class will be expected to fulfill these additional requirements: weekly response papers (guidelines forthcoming), a longer (15+ pages) research paper, and additional critical reading. I’ll also expect you to take a more active role in class discussion. Please come talk to me to work out the details.

Academic Honesty:

Presenting the language or ideas of someone else as your own constitutes plagiarism--whether your source is a friend, a relative, or a critic; whether the uncredited material is a phrase, a paragraph, or an entire paper; whether it is a formal or an informal assignment. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the class, and will also have consequences at the university level. If you are ever concerned about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult me. You may also see the English Department website for more details.

If you have special needs of which I should be aware, please meet with me as soon as possible to discuss satisfactory arrangements

Schedule:*

M 8/22 Introduction.

W 8/24 Pamela 1-50 (inc. prefaces)

F 8/26 Pamela 51-111

M 8/29 Pamela 111-193

W 8/31 Pamela 193-250

F 9/2 Pamela 250-313

M 9/5 Labor Day—no class

W 9/7 Pamela 313-394

F 9/9 Pamela 395-452

M 9/12 Pamela finish

W 9/14 Moll Flanders 1-48 (inc. preface)

F 9/16 Moll Flanders 48-100

M 9/19 Moll Flanders 100-178

W 9/21 Moll Flanders 178-236

F 9/23 Moll Flanders finish

M 9/26 Moll Flanders. Topics distributed for essay #1.

W 9/28 The Rover 157-206 (Acts I-III)

F 9/30 The Rover finish

M 10/3 The Rover

W 10/5 “The Rape of the Lock” (Pope)

F 10/7 Rough draft workshop

M 10/10 “Essay on Man” (Pope)

W 10/12 Pope, continued; additional readings TBA

10/13 last day to drop with a W

F 10/14 Evelina 1-40. Essay # 1 due.

M 10/17 Evelina 41-116

W 10/19 Evelina 116-174

F 10/21 Evelina 174-239

M 10/24 Evelina 239-340

W 10/26 Evelina finish

F 10/28 Evelina

M 10/31 Selections from John Locke and Mary Astell

W 11/2 Gulliver’s Travels 1-49

F 11/4 Gulliver’s Travels 49-103

M 11/7 Gullivers’s Travels 103-139. Paper Proposals due

W 11/9 Gulliver’s Travels 143-201

F 11/11 Gulliver’s Travels finish

M 11/14 Gulliver’s Travels.

W 11/16 Selected reading TBA.

F 11/18 Writing and Research workshop

M 11/21 Rough draft workshop, research paper

W 11/23 Thanksgiving—no class

F 11/25 Thanksgiving—no class

M Nov 28 She Stoops to Conquer Acts I-III (p. 36)

W Nov 30 She Stoops to Conquer finish, including epilogue.

F Dec 2 Drafts due.[

M Dec 5 TBA

W Dec 7 TBA

Th Dec 8 Review, Conclusion

Final Exam. Papers due.

*I may make adjustments to the schedule as the semester progresses; please make a note of any changes I announce. You will also have access to a regularly updated version of the syllabus on my website.

20% Quizzes/In-Class writing

20% Presentation (including written version)

20% Essay #1

30% Essay #2

10% Final Exam

Course Goals

• Students will develop in-depth understanding of selected texts of the Restoration and eighteenth century.
• Students will become familiar with the cultural and political milieu of the period.
•  Students will recognize the implications of different critical and theoretical readings as culturally invested products.
• Students will understand how the literature of the period may be approached in an interdisciplinary manner.
• Students will demonstrate in both oral and written work a discipline-specific critical facility through convincing and well-supported analysis of related material.
• Students will demonstrate their command of academic English and the tenets of sound composition by means of thesis-driven analytical prose.
• Students will learn to use discipline-specific computer technologies related to the study of language such as listservs, word processing, and internet research.

Program Goals

• This course fulfills one of the departmental requirements for the completion of the English major.
• Students will develop the analytical, oral and written skills to pursue graduate study or careers in teaching, writing, business and a variety of other fields.
• Students will be able to define and pursue independent research agendas.
• This course contributes to the program goal of equipping students with a foundation in literary history and the issues surrounding literary study in contemporary culture.
• This course broadens students' desire and ability to take pleasure in their encounter with literature.