English Literature, 1745-1800
English 326, Spring 1999
Go directly to:
January --
February --
March --
April
Office: (973) 353-5279x516; 516 Hill Hall. Hours: Monday and Wednesday,
11:30-12:30, and by appointment (appointments are always good).
Home: (609) 750-1263 (before 11 p.m.!).
E-mail: jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu
(the best way to reach me).
Listserv: lynch326@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Course Requirements
English 326 involves the following responsibilities on your part:
- Written Assignments: There will be two analytical
papers, the first of five to seven pages, the second
either a new paper of eight to ten, or an expansion
of your first paper to twelve or more pages. See below,
"Attendance and Late Papers," for my revision policy.
- Final Exam: A final examination will include
identification of quotations, analysis of passages, and short
essays.
- In-Class Reports: You'll be expected to give a brief
presentation on the day's reading once during the semester.
Details are below.
- Class Participation: Regular and active class
participation (including doing the readings) is essential, and
counts for a large part of your grade. Class participation
obviously includes class attendance; if you're not there, you're
not participating.
- Attendance and Late Papers: Almost any excuse, given
in advance (in person, by phone, or by E-mail), will
receive my blessing. Those not excused in advance will be frowned
upon. Late papers will not be penalized, but any paper handed in
on time can be revised later in the semester for a higher grade.
Papers received after the due date cannot be revised.
- E-Mail Participation: All students will be
required to have an E-mail account by the end of the
second week of classes; E-mail participation will count
toward the class participation grade, and some essential
information will be available only electronically. I'll
provide any computing help you need.
Readings
Eight books -- Johnson's Rasselas (Oxford), Boswell's
Life of Johnson (Oxford), Walpole's Castle of
Otranto (Oxford), Sheridan's School for Scandal
(Dover), Sterne's Tristram Shandy (Oxford), Burney's
Evelina, Equiano's Narrative, and Blake's Songs
of Innocence and Experience (Dover) -- are available from the
Rutgers
Newark Bookstore in Bradley Hall. The remainder of the
readings are available in a photocopy pack from Affordable Copies
(68 Halsey St.); many are also on reserve in Dana Library and
on-line.
Reports
Each student will do an in-class report on the day's readings,
lasting no more than ten minutes. The point of a report is to
start the day's discussion. Choose one short passage in the
day's reading material, and do a brief close reading,
relating the concerns of that passage to the larger concerns in
the work (and in the class). Feel free to read a short
(one-page-ish) prepared report, to speak from notes, or to
extemporize -- whatever makes you comfortable -- but be both
informative and engaging. These are not research
projects; you needn't do any outside reading. If you think some
outside reading will improve your ability to start conversation,
feel free. Anything else that will help -- handouts, short
readings for the rest of the class -- is welcome and encouraged.
Computing
This class has a mailing list called lynch326@andromeda.rutgers.edu;
all students are required to have an E-mail account by the send
of the second week of classes and to participate in the
discussions on the list. Although I have the greatest sympathy
for those suffering from technological nightmares, don't expect
to use computer problems as an excuse for not doing the reading
or writing. If you have a computer problem, contact me as soon as
possible.
Grading
Final grades will be based on the following:
- 40%, The two papers (the final paper will be weighted more
heavily)
- 25%, The final exam
- 15%, The in-class report
- 20%, Class participation (including E-mail participation)
Schedule of Class Meetings
- Wed., 20 Jan.
- Introduction (class business, &c.).
- Mon., 25 Jan.
- Samuel Johnson, The
Vanity of Human Wishes; James Boswell, The Life of Johnson,
pp. 19-36,
118-43;
Northrop Frye, "Towards Defining an Age of Sensibility."
- Wed., 27 Jan.
- Samuel Johnson, Ramblers 12,
32,
and 60,
Idlers 60
and 61;
James Boswell, The Life of Johnson, pp.
143-63.
- Mon., 1 Feb.
- Samuel Johnson, Rasselas;
James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 166-77,
181-89.
- Wed., 3 Feb.
- Samuel Johnson, Rasselas
and Rambler
4; James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 209-16,
240-43.
- Mon., 8 Feb.
- Thomas Gray, Elegy
Written in a Country Churchyard and "Ode
on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"; James Boswell, The Life of
Samuel Johnson, pp.
43-65.
- Wed., 10 Feb.
- William Collins, "Ode
to Evening" and "Ode
on the Poetical Character"; James Boswell, The Life of
Samuel Johnson, pp. 65-97.
- Mon., 15 Feb.
- Oliver Goldsmith, The
Deserted Village; Charlotte Smith, selections from The
Emigrants; James Boswell, The Life of Samuel
Johnson, pp.
590-96.
- Wed., 17 Feb.
- David Hume, selections from A Treatise of Human
Nature; Edmund Burke, selections from Philosophical
Enquiry into the Sublime and the Beautiful; James Boswell,
The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 596-603.
- Mon., 22 Feb.
- Horace Walpole, The
Castle of Otranto; James Boswell, The Life of
Samuel Johnson, pp.
403-11.
- Wed., 24 Feb.
- Horace Walpole, The
Castle of Otranto; James Boswell, The Life of
Samuel Johnson, pp.
411-24.
- Mon., 1 March
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal,
Acts I-II; James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson,
pp.
272-307.
- Wed., 3 March
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal,
Acts III-V; James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
312-25.
- Mon., 8 March
- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, pp. 1-122 (vols.
1-2); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
379-89.
- Wed., 10 March
- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, pp. 123-93 (vol.
3); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
686-701. FIRST PAPER DUE (five to seven
pages).
- Mon., 22 March
- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, pp. 195-325 (vols.
4-5); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
538-43.
- Wed., 24 March
- No Class.
- Mon., 29 March
- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, pp. 327-479 (vols.
6-8); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
344-53.
- Wed., 31 March
- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, pp. 481-539 (vol.
9); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
732-48.
- Mon., 5 April
- Frances Burney, Evelina,
pp. 1-132 (volume 1); James Boswell, The Life of Samuel
Johnson, pp.
764-76.
- Wed., 7 April
- Frances Burney, Evelina,
pp. 135-225 (through vol. 2, letter 19); James Boswell,
The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
827-35.
- Mon., 12 April
- Frances Burney, Evelina,
pp. 225-323 (through vol. 3, letter 10); James Boswell, The
Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
1203-19.
- Wed., 14 April
- Frances Burney, Evelina,
pp. 324-406; James Boswell, The Life of Samuel
Johnson, pp.
1234-37.
- Mon., 19 April
- Olaudah Equiano, Narrative, pp. 27-125; James Boswell,
The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 876-86.
- Wed., 21 April
- Olaudah Equiano, Narrative, pp. 125-96; James Boswell,
The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 579-82.
- Mon., 26 April
- Christopher Smart, selections from Jubilate
Agno; William Cowper, selections from The
Task; James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson,
pp. 105-107,
424-28.
- Wed., 28 April
- William Blake, Songs
of Innocence and Experience; James Boswell, The
Life of Samuel Johnson, pp.
1275-1304.
- Fri., 30 April
- William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience;
James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, pp. 1374-1402.
SECOND PAPER DUE (eight to ten pages, or an
expansion of your first paper to twelve or more pages).