Oakland University
Department of English

Course Information

English 370--Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature

Fall, 1998

367 SFH, M 6:30-9:50

Brian Connery

517 Wilson Hall, x 2267

connery@oakland.edu

M 5:30-6:00, W 3:00-4:00, Th 11:00-12:00

Course Description: We'll explore the literature of the period 1660-1798 by means of genres. After a brief introduction to the ideas, politics, and mores of early modern England, we'll linger a while to explore what is arguably the high point in the history of English comedy (1660-1700) in the works of Wycherley, Behn, and Congreve, before taking a brief glimpse at comedy's decline. In prose fiction, we'll trace the rise of the English novel, through the works Behn, Manley, Haywood, and Fielding. And in verse, we'll trace poetry's flight from the court in London to the countryside, as we read representative poems by Rochester, Behn, Swift, Finch, Pope, Gay, Thomson, Leapor, Duck, Collier, Burns, Smart, and Gray. Throughout the semester, we'll be trying to define the character of the age by examining the forces in cultural history that produced simultaneously the decline of the comic drama, the rise of the novel, and the rustification of verse. Class meetings will be largely devoted to discussion. Students will keep a reading journal, write and present one report, write a term paper, and complete three tests. Prerequisite: Rhetoric 160 or equivalent.

Texts: DeMaria, British Literature 1640-1789: An Anthology (BL); McMillin, Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Comedy (R&18); Fielding, Joseph Andrews (with Shamela and Related Writings; JA).

Some related links:

Chronology, 1660-1800 Click on a year, and see what happened!

London Theater 1660-1700 by Patricia Craddock

Restoration Theaters and Theater People--PICTURES! by Patricia Craddock

Invitation to a Funeral--A Hyper-Tale of Restoration Intrigue, featuring Aphra Behn as the protagonist

Other useful links are hidden in the reading list below.

Policies: Faithful attendance and regular participation in class are expected.

Students with special needs are welcome to discuss them with me. Some services for students with special needs are available through the Office of Special Advising, 144 Oakland Center.

The grade of Incomplete is available only to students who have demonstrated regular and steady progress in the course but for whom unforeseeable and uncontrollable circumstances make impossible the timely completion of the course. Students must petition in writing for a grade of incomplete.

Students suspected of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Students and the Senate Committee on Academic Conduct. Cheating on any course assignment may result in failure for the course.

Major Assignments:

The following simple formula will determine your final grade for the course:

Report	10%
Drama Test	15%
Prose Fiction Test	15%
Poetry Test	15%
Term Paper	20%
Journal	15%
Participation	10%
	100%	Final grade

Schedule:

If class is canceled due to snow, tornado, professorial delinquency, or other uncontrollable events, please continue to read according to the dates below. Unless we grow very weary very fast, we will adhere roughly to the following schedule:

September

14 Orientation: The Restoration and Eighteenth-Century, a Multi-Media Extravaganza

21 Filmer, from Patriarcha (BL 12-14)

Hobbes, "Of the Natural Condition of Mankind . . ." (BL 9-12)

Hobbes, on Laughter, Wit, and Power, (R&18 457-465)

Rochester, "The Disabled Debauchee" [warning: strong language] (BL 469)

"A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind" (BL 464)

"A Letter from Artemiza in the Town to Chloe in the Country" (BL 474)

Wycherley, The Country Wife (R&18 3-85)

28 Behn, "The Disappointment" (BL 411-415)

Browne, "From the Worthy Mrs. Behn . . ." (BL 563-66)

Howe, "The Arrival of the Actress" (R&18 541-548)

Avery & Scouten, "The Audience" (R&18 549-557)

Behn, The Rover (R&18 251-319)

October

5 Journals will be collected.

Congreve, "Concerning Humour in Comedy" (R&18 474-480)

Steele, Tatler No. 219, (R&18 481-483)

Addison, Spectators No. 47 and 62 (R&18 483-489)

Congreve, The Way of the World (R&18 251-319)

12 Locke, from An Essay Concerning . . . the End of Civil Government (BL 389-394)

Collier, from A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (R&18 493- 512)

Steele, The Conscious Lovers (R&18 321-383)

19 Sheridan, The School for Scandal (R&18 385-354)

Drama test is due.

26 Equiano, from The Interesting Narrative . . . (BL 1119)

Addison and Steele, Spectator No. 11 (BL 664)

Manley, from Secret Memoirs . . . New Atalantis (BL 550-562)

Defoe, A True Relation . . . (BL 521-527)

Behn, Oroonoko (BL 421-462)

November

2 Term paper prospectus is due.

Haywood, Fantamina (BL 786-803)

Johnson, Rasselas (BL 863-922)

9 Journals will be collected.

Richardson, from Pamela (JA 335-340)

Fielding, Shamela (JA 271-whenever you want to stop)

Fielding, Joseph Andrews (JA)

16 Fielding, Joseph Andrews (JA)

23 Prose fiction test is due.

Pope, Essay on Criticism (handout)

Chudleigh, from The Ladies' Defence (BL 486-489)

"To the Ladies" (BL 489-90)

"Friendship" (BL 490)

Finch, "The Introduction" (BL 531-2)

"Adam Posed" (BL 534)

"The Petition for an Absolute Retreat" (BL 534-541)

Swift, "A Description of the Morning" (BL 651-2)

"A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed" (BL 652-654)

"A Description of a City Shower" (BL 654-656)

Gay, from Trivia (BL 681-691)

30 Term paper is due.

Journals will be collected.

Swift, A Modest Proposal (BL 646-651)

Ramsay, "Polwart" (BL 696-97)

"Give me a Lass . . ." (BL 697)

Duck, "The Thresher's Labour" (BL 822-824)

Collier, "The Woman's Labour" (BL 942-943)

Goldsmith, "The Deserted Village" (BL 1054-1064)

Cowper, "The Negro's Complaint" (BL 1067-699)

"The Castaway" (BL 1072)

Crabbe, from The Village (1160-1164)

Burns, "Epistle to Davie" (1176-1180)

"To a Mouse" (1180-1181)

December

7 Burke, from Philosophical Inquiry into the . . . Sublime and the Beautiful (BL 1031-1037)

Milton, Paradise Lost Book 2, ll.629-1055 (BL 91-101)

Addison, Spectator No. 279 (BL 670-673)

Pope, Rape of the Lock, Canto V (BL 719-722)

Pope, from The Dunciad: "Arguments to the Books" and "Book the First" (BL 725-737)

Thomson, Winter: A Poem (BL 811-822)

Smart, from Jubilate Agno (BL 1003-1007)

14 7:00-8:30, 517 WH Poetry test is due

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