ENGLISH 313: AUGUSTAN WRITERS I
(English Literature, 1660-1714)
Fall 1998

Online Resources

Events & Updates

Reserve List

Study Questions


Dr. Battigelli
217 Champlain Valley Hall
Office Hours: T, Th 8-9:30 & by appointment

Required Texts
Robert DeMaria, British Literature, 1640-1789
Graham Parry, The Seventeenth Century: The Intellectual and Cultural Context
William Congreve, The Way of the World

Required Writing
First paper 10%
Second paper 30%
Exam #1 10%
Exam #2 10%
Final exam 30%
Class preparation 10%

Attendance is mandatory. Papers must be handed in at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Failure to submit any assignment will result in a failing grade for the class.

Objectives
This class is designed to familiarize students with the literature written in England between 1660 and 1714. Because much of this literature concerns political or religious ideas of the period, the first two weeks of the course will be devoted to providing an overview of seventeenth-century history.

Syllabus
T Sept. 1 I: The Cultural Contexts of Seventeenth-Century England
DeMaria, Ballads and Newsbooks from the Civil War (1640-1649);
Edmund Waller, "Of English Verse" [handout]
Abraham Cowley, "Ode of Wit," "To Mr. Hobbes"

 

Th Sept. 3 Parry, "The Iconography of Charles I, 1625-1649" (28-41); "The Arts in Stuart England" (42-81)
QUIZ:   The Stuart Monarchy

 

T  Sept. 8 Parry, "Cultural Life During the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth" (82-106); "The Restoration Ethos, 1660-1688" (107-134); John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, "Upon Nothing" [handout] and "Satire Against Mankind" [handout]

 

Th Sept. 10 Parry, "The Scientific Milieu" (135-165); "Antiquarianism: The Relevance of the Past"; (168-180); John Dryden, "To My Honoured Friend, Dr. Charleton"

 

T  Sept. 15 Parry, "Varieties of Religious Experience" (181-211); "Political Theory" (212-239)
EXAM #1

 

Th Sept. 17 II: Literature and Religion
Abiezer Coppe, from A Fiery Flying Roll
Anna Trapnel, from The Cry of a Stone: or a Relation of Something spoken in Whitehall
Lucy Hutchinson, from Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson

 

T   Sept. 22 John Bunyan, from Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners; Margaret Cavendish, from A True Relation [handout]

 

Th Sept. 24 John Dryden, Religio Laici

 

T  Sept. 29 John Dryden, Religio Laici
See study questions

 

Th Oct. 1 III: Literature and Politics
Andrew Marvell, "An Horatian Ode Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" (1650); Thomas Hobbes, from Leviathan

 

T  Oct. 6 Robert Filmer, from Patriarcha
John Locke, from An Essay Concerning the True Original and End of Civil Government (1690)

 

Th Oct. 8 MIDTERM EXAM

 

T   Oct. 13 Columbus Day Break--No class

 

Th Oct. 15 John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester, "A Satire on Charles II"
John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

 

T Oct 20 John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

 

Th Oct 22 John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

 

T Oct 27 IV: The Literary Tradition
John Dryden, MacFlecknoe

 

Th Oct 29 John Dryden, "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham"
John Dryden, "Lines on Milton"

 

T Nov. 3 John Dryden, selected prose [handout]
Paper #1 due, in class

 

Th Nov. 5 John Dryden, selected prose [handout]

 

T Nov. 10 V: Literature and the Social World
William Congreve, The Way of the World

 

Th Nov. 12 William Congreve, The Way of the World

 

T Nov. 17 William Congreve, The Way of the World
Please bring Absalom and Achitophel papers to class

 

Th Nov. 19 Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock

 

T Nov. 24 Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock
Anne Finch, "The Answer (to Pope's Impromptu)"

 

Thanksgiving Break
(Wednesday, November 25 - Sunday, November 29)

 

T Dec. 1 Eliza Haywood, Fantomina: or Love in a Maze
Paper #2 due, in class

 

Th Dec. 3 Eliza Haywood, Fantomina: or Love in a Maze

 

T Dec. 8 Eliza Haywood, Fantomina: or Love in a Maze

 

Th Dec. 10 REVIEW

 

EXAM WEEK Bring a blue book and pen or pencil to the exam.