Below are the sentences on the back of the handout, taken from the second assignments, in which the writers stake some claim about the texts they have chosen to analyze.
Which of these claims seem like the most promising avenues for an analysis of a C18 text? Or to put the question another way: which of these claims can the writer most convincingly defend, based solely on the information available in the chosen text? In class I identified #4 as one claim that could be persuasively argued in these terms. Which others have similar potential? Which would yield the most insight into later C18 literature?
1. The subject matter of this poem makes it possible for students to still be able to relate to “An Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.” We all have a future and no one really knows what it holds for us.
2. While [John Hill’s Lucina Sine Concubitu] certainly speaks to the period’s conventions, investigating this work as part of such discourse yields a unique insight to the role of the public and literature in later eighteenth-century British culture.
3. This text claims to be about self-improvement, but the basis for this improvement is not really grounded in making the individual happier in herself. It does little to put the power to achieve happiness in the hands of an individual woman.
4. [The author, Africanus,] acknowledges that an appeal to the senses or the emotions of the reader will not awaken the desire to end the slave trade that is required; instead he attempts to appeal to their civilized nature.
5. This type of argument stands in a stark contrast to modern social discourse. The notions of evidence in the form of statistics, medical studies, etc. are not yet the standard, but a reliance on the perceived truths of religion and the classics is present.
6. What makes this poem interesting is the fact that it is difficult to classify. It has qualities in it that would make it a [R]omantic-[era] poem, but at the same time its praise of this mortal man who is described as being a king contradicts many of the ideals behind Romanticism.
7. The book draws clear gender lines and class lines for its reader. Each person is relegated to one or two adjectives that describe their character and place in society…these are very simple descriptions that help the young reader to learn new words, bu also allow them to understand the different class divisions within the society.
Keep in mind that these are written by your peers, and that the goal of this sort of exercise is to arrive at some understanding of what it looks like to do literary history effectively, using the tools that you have available to you. In other words, be kind and constructive.
Deadline: Friday (3/6), 10am.
6 comments:
I thought that #3 seemed to provide an interesting topic as well as one that could most likely be easily supported by the text. I am assuming the text was a "guidebook" or some sort of book of advice. The evidence would simply be any example of suggestions for self-improvement that actually turn out to be condescending. The lack of female autonomy in these texts should also be fairly obvious, returning to the claim made in the thesis.
It is in my opinion that number #5 creates an interesting topic an argument. It looks at the differences in which thruth is descovered then and now, and shows how at that time religion was a truth that could not be questioned. It makes a important connection to history, and to understand history will allow us to better understand the text.
To me, number 2 is worthy of a successful argument. It has the potential to explore the agendas of the writers we have studied thus far in the later 18th century, and it is capable of recognizing how this piece of literature deviates from the norms of the time. It mentions the "role of the public and literature," and in a time of little availability of printed texts, the public is extremely important in determining the circulation and use of these texts. It extends into the deeper questions of why these texts are important and why they were interesting at the time. The topic can be a major addition to the discussions we have had in class about the similarities and goals in 18th century literature.
I think that #7 would be a good place to start for an analysis because it talks about the concepts of education during the period, and social biases. Both of these topics would allow for "fact" based arguments drawn from the later c18 literature, culture, and social discourses. With this in mind, I believe that analysis for "fact" and "truth" are two very different concepts. Facts are tangible where as truths are more emotionally based. Experiencing a truth through literature, is experiencing the human condition of the period.
I think that number 2 does a good job of setting up a claim that you can validate through the text. You can look at the text and dissect the role of the public and the influence of British culture. It also opens the door to exploring and defining what exactly the period's conventions are. Do they pertain to a certain social class are they differentiated by gender? These are all options at the authors' disposal and most importantly can be proved through the text.
I think that number 6 could open up into an interesting line of discourse. There are certain aspects that we now consider to be characteristic of Romantic-era texts. If one were to look at how whatever work this was frustrates those notions, it may help refine our definition of C18 literature.
I'd tread carefully in that direction, though, as it would be easy to pin the era's literature as merely a reaction to other literature. I think we've seen far too many unique works to really accept that.
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