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Academic Year 2005/2006

The Conversational Eighteenth Century
ENGL 359 FA

We often think of reading and writing as serious, solitary activities, and the Enlightenment in particular is commonly associated with cool reason and disengaged observation. In the eighteenth century, however, writing, reading, and talking were much closer than they are today, and the period offers us powerful models for thinking of literary activity as a form of dialogue. This course will examine the eighteenth century's considerable interest in play, ridicule, unruly argument, and sociable pleasure. In reading British, French, and American literature, we will explore the different ways in which satire, correspondence, essays, dialogues, and novels represent and embody conversational exchange.

MAJOR READINGS

Periodical essays by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, dialogues by Benjamin Franklin and Denis Diderot, satire by Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, and the correspondence of Ignatius Sancho and Mary Wortley Montagu, among others. Secondary readings will include philosophical debates on the legacy of Enlightenment, cultural histories of conversational spaces, and, of course, literary criticism.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Frequent short papers leading up to a final paper, as well as individual and collaborative projects.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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