HL4017: Advanced Studies in Restoration
and Eighteenth-Century Literature
THIS DRAFT IS SUBJECT TO MINOR REVISIONS: PLEASE REFER TO THE
SYLLABUS ON EDVENTURE ONCE THE SEMESTER BEGINS.
STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING TRACK OF DEADLINES IN ORDER
TO SUBMIT ASSIGNMENTS ON TIME.
Fall 2013
Instructor: Sam Cahill
Time and Location: TBA
Office: HSS-03-73
Office hours: TBA
Contact number: 6592 1534
Email: sacahill@ntu.edu.sg
Curriculum Requirements
 This course fulfills Elective Category F (Specific Interest Subjects)
Co-requisites: HL101
 Format: Seminar (39 hours/semester)
Learning Objective
 To explore canonical texts of English literature written between the Restoration (1660) and
the English reaction to the French Revolution (1790s).
 To articulate arguments about literary form, the content of literary texts, and the relationship
between form and content using critical theory and vocabulary
 To chart developments and continuities in literary forms, discourses, and traditions
Content
We will study canonical examples of English poetry, drama, and prose written during the period
1660-1800 to understand their form, content, and historical significance. In order to
contextualize these works historically, we will study major developments in England during this
period, including evolutions in national identity; challenges to social hierarchies of class, race,
and gender; and innovations in literary forms and genres. We will contextualize literary texts,
choices, and practices by analyzing them in terms of contemporary philosophical and political
theories. By the end of the course, students will be able to articulate how various authorities and
identities are negotiated (or constructed) within the forum of fictional literature.
Student Assessment
 Participation: 10% (this includes writing exercises and group activities)
 Midterm assignment (1000 words): 10%. Choose one primary text (a text on the syllabus that
was published between 1660 and 1800). Select three works of scholarship (at least one of which
must have been published in the last ten years) that focus on your primary text. Summarize the
argument of each scholarly work (at least a paragraph for each source) and then briefly evaluate
the “scholarly conversation” (You might address questions like: What are the main literary
theories that have been used to evaluate your primary text? Have there been any particularly
famous or notorious interpretations of the text offered? Who are or have been the main scholars
of your primary text? What gaps are there in the conversation?). The assignment must include a
Works Cited page and be formatted according to MLA conventions.
 Final Essay (2000-2500 words): 30%. Essays must concentrate on one primary text and utilize
three texts of modern scholarship. You *may* but are *not required* to write your final essay on
the same primary text as your midterm assignment. Essays will be evaluated according to the
following criteria: proper use of standard English (spelling, punctuation, grammar, style); use of
primary and secondary texts (quotes, specific concrete details, analysis); organization and clarity
(identifiable thesis, logical argument and transitions, sufficient evidence to support thesis,
succinct and accurate conclusion); proper page layout and documentation (margins, spacing,
MLA citation format).
 Final Exam: 50% (Essay Questions)
* Hard copies of all papers must be turned in to me directly by 5:30pm on the due date. Late
essays will be docked by 1/3 of a mark (AA-; B+B) for every day late except in cases of
documented family or medical emergency.
Textbooks/References
--Moll Flanders (1722), Daniel Defoe
--Tom Jones (1749), Henry Fielding
--Vathek (1786), William Beckford
--Handouts on edveNTUre
Course Outline
Week 1
Introduction, historical overview
Week 2
Religion, Politics, and Authority
Reading: Dryden, “Absalom and Achitophel”; Locke, selection from “A Letter Concerning
Toleration” (edveNTUre)
Week 3
Libertines, Fops, and Cits
Reading: Etherege, The Man of Mode (edveNTUre)
Week 4
The Augustans
Reading: Swift, “A Description of a City Shower” and “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift”; Pope,
“Epistle to Burlington” and “Essay on Man” (edveNTUre)
Week 5
Ancients vs. Moderns, Country vs. City
Reading: Mandeville, selection from The Fable of the Bees (edveNTUre); Defoe, Moll Flanders,
first half
Week 7
Women, Commerce, and Luxury
Reading: Finish Moll Flanders
*Midterm Papers Due (in my office by 5:30pm): TBA*
Midterm recess: 30 September - 5 October (Week 8)
Week 9
Love and Epistolary Fiction
Reading: Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard” (edveNTUre); Behn, selection from Love-letters between a
noble-man and his sister (EEBO, 1693 edition, Image # 13-21/646)
Week 10
“Realism” and the “Rise” of the Novel
Reading: Fielding, Tom Jones, Books I-VI
Week 11
“Realism” and the “Rise” of the Novel, continued
Reading: Fielding, Tom Jones, Books VII-XII
Week 12
“Realism” and The “Rise” of the Novel, continued
Reading: Fielding, Tom Jones, Books XIII-XVIII
Week 13
Revolution, the Fantastic, and the Oriental Tale
Reading: Selections from Arabian Nights (edveNTUre); Beckford, Vathek; selection from Paine
in Norton (edveNTUre)
Week 14
Final Thoughts and Semester Review
*Final Papers Due (in my office by 5:30pm): TBA*