Fall 2008
English 304: Restoration and Eighteenth Century British Literature
12-12:50, MWF
Belk 219
Don W. King: Home page
Office: McGowan Center 107
Office hrs. 11-12 a.m. and 2-3 MW, and 9-12 a.m. Tuesday
Phone 828-669-8012, ex. 3819
dking@montreat.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION: A course in Restoration and Eighteenth Century literature with an emphasis on John Dryden, John Bunyan, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson.
COURSE RATIONALE: British literature between 1660-1789 is very much in transition. Coming after the great works of Shakespeare and Milton and immediately before Wordsworth and the English Romantics, the literature of this period is notable for the rise of restoration drama, satiric poetry written in heroic couplets, the proliferation of prose fiction culminating in the appearance of the novel, and the first great literary critic, Samuel Johnson. This course will focus upon each of these with an eye toward equipping students to see the literary value and historical significance of Restoration and 18th Century British Literature.
TEXTS:
Required:
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition., Vol. 1
The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan
Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe
Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding
The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1650-1740, ed. Steven Zwicker
Strongly Recommended:
A Handbook to Literature, Eds. William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th ed., Ed. Joseph Gibaldi.
Also, see Oxford Reference Online www.oxfordreference.com for some basic reference assistance. It contains desktop access to 100 key Oxford dictionaries and reference works. The Core Collection brings together 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works - containing well over 60,000 pages - into a single cross-searchable resource. Also, see the Oxford English Dictionary, the grandfather of all dictionaries at http://dictionary.oed.com
COURSE OBJECTIVE: The objective of this course is that you will survey in depth the important literature of England from 1660-1789. As a part of this study, you will be exposed to the significant political, religious, and philosophical ideas of the period and their connections literary themes and motifs. By the end of the course you should be able to articulate the major shifts that occurred in British literature between Milton and Wordsworth.
Additionally, there are several questions we will consider as we work through the novels, including, but not limited to:
1. What is satire? What are the different kinds of satire popular in English literature from 1660-1769?
2. Why is restoration drama so different from Elizabethan drama?
3. What conditions conspired to launch the popularity prose non-fiction?
4. What is a proto-novel?
5. What is a novel?
6. Why has the novel become so much more popular than poetry or drama?
7. How does the literature of this period prepare the way for the English Romantics?
8. Why does literary criticism become important during this period.
9. How pivotal is a knowledge of Scripture when reading, analyzing, and interpreting the literature of this period?
10. Do the writers of this period share, broadly speaking, a Christian view of the world? If so, how so? If not, why not?
LEARNING GOALS:
1. That you read and analyze the significant drama, poetry, prose non-fiction, and prose fiction of England written 1660-1789 (MCEO 2 and 3).
2. That you be able to describe the characteristic of restoration drama (MCEO 2 and 3).
3. That you be able to define Horatian vs. Juvenalian satire as well as the literary characteristics of 18th century satiric poetry and prose(MCEO 2 and 3) .
4. That you examine the development of prose non-fiction (MCEO 2 and 3).
5. That you explore the development of proto-novels (MCEO 2 and 3).
6. That you analyze reasons why the novel developed as a popular genre of literature when it did (MCEO 2 and 3).
7. That you examine the development of literary criticism in the English tradition (MCEO 2 and 3).
8. That you write two book reviews (MCEO 2 and 3).
9. That you write a literary analysis and demonstrate your ability to gather information and present it effectively by combining summary with analysis, application with theory, and research with synthesis (MCEO 2 and 3).
10. That you engage in research via the Internet (MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
11. That you utilize email to extend class discussion, to communicate with me, and to perform assigned small group work(MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
12. That you turn in all important written assignments via email attachments or on diskette(MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
13. That you learn to value the literature covered in this course as something that can enrich your life, revealing the complexity of the human experience and informing your spiritual life (MCEO 2 and 3).
COURSE OUTLINE:
Weeks 1-4:
Introduction
John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (in class essay)
William Congreve's The Way of the World
TEST 1: September 15
Weeks 5-8:
The poetry of John Dryden
Samuel Pepys' Diary
Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders (in class essay)
TEST 2: October 15
Weeks 9-12:
Jonathan Swift, selected works
The prose of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele
Excerpts from James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson
Johnson's The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
TEST 3: November 10
Weeks 13-15:
The poetry of Alexander Pope
Henry Fielding's Joesph Andrews (in class essay)
The poetry of Thomas Gray, William Collins, and William Cowper
TEST 4: December 10. 8-10 a.m.
EVALUATION:
1. There will be four tests or in class essays that will constitute 50% of your grade in the course.
2. A book review of The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1650-1740 will count 10%. Due by midnight, Oct. 12.
3. A second book review of a significant critical study related to the course (see the Bibliography) will count 10%. Due by midnight Nov. 16.
4. You will also write a literary analysis of 1,250 to 1,500 words (5 to 6 pages). The analysis will count 10% of your final grade and is due by midnight Dec. 1.
5. You will develop a creative project based upon your personal reaction to anything we have studied throughout the semester. I prefer that this project be creative in whatever fashion you are creative. For example, in the past students have put on skits, built or baked various things, written songs, done videotape or computer presentations, painted pictures, sculpted figures, done needlepoint, conducted interviews, written satires, and so on. “The sky’s the limit” but you should check out your idea with me before you begin. Group projects are possible but need to be approved by me. The project will count 10% of your final grade and must be presented in front of the class on or before the last regular class meeting.
6. The remaining 10% will come from your class participation, discussion, regular attendance, homework, reserve and supplemental reading, group work and various short writing assignments.
7. There are a total of 1000 pts possible in the course. Final grades will be compiled using the following guidelines:
1000-900 A to A-
899-800 B+ to B-
799-700 C+ to C-
699-600 D+ to D-
599-0 F
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Of much interest to you will be the multiple resources available via electronic databases, especially JSTOR. The following books are on three day reserve in the library and will helpful as you begin
research on your literary analysis:
Baker, Ernest. The History of the Novel, 11 volumes.
Barnett, Louise. Swift's Poetic Worlds.
Bloom, Harold. Daniel Defoe.
---------. Jonathan Swift.
Boyle, Frank. Swift As Nemesis: Modernity & Its Satirist.
Butt, John. The Mid-Eighteenth Century (OHEL).
Clark, J. C. D. English Society, 1660-1832.
Clingham, Greg, ed. Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson.
Crook, Keith. A Preface to Swift.
Cross, Wilber. The Development of the English Novel.
Damrosch, David. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century.
Demaria, Robert, ed. British Literature 1640-1789: A Critical Reader.
Dobree, Bonamy. English Literature in the Early Eighteenth Century (OHEL).
Fisk, Deborah C. Payne, ed. The Cambridge Companion English Restoration Theatre.
Gay, David. Awakening Words; John Bunyan and the Language of Community.
Hammond, Paul, ed. John Dryden: Tercentenary Essays.
Kishlansky, Mark. A Monarchy Transformed: Britain 1603-1714.
McKeon, Michael. The Origins of the English Novel, 1600-1740.
Mullett, Michael. John Bunyan in Context.
Novak, Maximillian E. Daniel Defoe: Master of Fictions : His Life and Ideas.
Phiddian, Robert. Swift's Parody.
Reddick, Allen. The Making of Johnson's Dictionary (1746-1773).
Richetti, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Eighteenth Century Novel.
Rogers, Pat. Essays on Pope.
Rosslyn, Felicity. Alexander Pope: A Literary Life.
Sherbo, Arthur. Samuel Johnson's Critical Opinions: A Reexamination.
Sitter, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to 18th Century Poetry.
Stevenson, Lionel. The English Novel: A Panorama.
Sutherland, James. English Literature of the Late Seventeenth Century (OHEL).
Vieth, David M. Essential Articles for Study of Jonathan Swift's Poetry.
Watt, Ian. The Rise of the Novel.
Winn, James, ed. Critical Essays on John Dryden.
Wood, Nigel, Jonathan Swift.
Zimmerman, Everett. The Boundaries of Fiction: History & the 18th Century British Novel.
Zwicker, Steven N., ed. The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1650-1740.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: For all individual assignments students are expected to present their own work; documentation of research for your literary analysis must follow the specific criteria as presented in the MLA Handbook for Writer of Research Paper or MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources. Cases of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating and plagiarism, will result in a minimum of failure of the assignment and a maximum of failure of the course. For the college's policy on this issue, please click academic integrity.
FINAL COMMENTS: This syllabus and other details about the course, including your grades for the course,are available through the college's online platform, Moodle. Class discussions, tests, and writing assignments will assume you have accessed all this materials on-line. Please feel free to come by my office in McGowan 107, contact me at extension 3819, or email me at dking@montreat.edu if you need help with any aspect of the course.
I freely give permission to anyone to use the information on this page, English 304: Restoration and Eighteenth Century British Literature, as long as appropriate acknowledgement is given either to me or to author’s whose works I have referred to and noted.
Back to Don King's Home page