ASSIGNMENTS: Essays and Activities

Click a unit or assignment below:

1. THE RESTORATION

  1. London Reborn
  2. Reading Political Poetry: Absalom and Achitophel

2. DEBATING WOMEN
  1. Restoration Provocations
  2. Arguments in Verse: Gender and Class

3. SLAVERY AND FREEDOM
  1. Oroonoko in Context

4. SATIRE
  1. Satiric Modes: Burlesque and Mock-Heroic

5. NEW WORLDS
  1. The Order of Things
  2. The Poet and the Scientist

6. THE COUNTRY AND THE CITY
  1. "Town" and "Country"
  2. Baneful Arts: Satirizing the City
  3. Poetry and Social Change: The Villages of Goldsmith and Crabbe

7. MAKING LITERARY HISTORY
  1. Dryden's Chaucer
  2. Johnson's Shakespeare


1. THE RESTORATION

  1. London Reborn
    In Annus Mirabilis, Dryden prophesies a glorious future for the city of London reborn from the ashes of the great fire. What aspects of London's future is Dryden most eager to celebrate? Are there signs in the poem that he is less confident than he claims to be? Does he suggest that anything of value has been permanently lost?
  2. Reading Political Poetry: Absalom and Achitophel
    How successful is Absalom and Achitophel as a poem, and how successful is it as a piece of propaganda? Do the two aims strike you as complementary or as mutually exclusive? Why?

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2. DEBATING WOMEN

  1. Restoration Provocations
    The titles of both Behn's and Rochester's poems are interestingly ambiguous. Who do you think suffers "Disappointment" in Behn's poem, and who, in Rochester's, experiences "The Imperfect Enjoyment"?
  2. Arguments in Verse: Gender and Class
    The works gathered in "Debating Women: Arguments in Verse" respond to each other across the divides of sex and of class. How do questions of class enter into the various poems about the war between the sexes? Are class divisions highlighted or obscured in the querelle des femmes?

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3. SLAVERY AND FREEDOM

  1. Oroonoko in Context
    Short Essay
    Write on one of the following themes:
    1. Given that she was not opposed to the slave trade, why might Behn have chosen the tale of an African prince to express her royalist views? What image of the slave trade does Oronooko give, apart from the sufferings of its royal hero?
    2. Make a close comparison between Oronooko's capture and transportation to slavery and accounts of the "Middle Passage" by John Newton and William Snelgrave. In what respects does Behn's version agree, and where does she deviate from these accounts?

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4. SATIRE

  1. Satiric Modes: Burlesque and Mock-Heroic
    Try to think of an example of burlesque or mock-heroic that currently popular (be it a film, a television program, a novel, or even a comic strip). What features identify it as burlesque or mock-heroic? Make a comparison between this contemporary satire and Hudibras, "Mac Flecknoe," or The Rape of the Lock. What, in generic terms, do they have in common? To what extent has mock-heroic been forced to adapt itself in an era when epics are no longer widely read?

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5. NEW WORLDS

  1. The Order of Things
    Writing Assignment
    Write a brief response paper on one of the following themes:
    1. "The world" is an ambiguous term, which can stand at once for the earth or universe as a whole and for a particular social class, the privileged and fashionable people who set the tone of society. What is the relation between the cosmic or microscopic worlds discovered by the new science and the elite social class that takes pleasure in them? In the last analysis, is the plurality of worlds a democratic doctrine, or a doctrine that suggests that certain people and classes are superior to others?
    2. Why would English women of the Restoration and eighteenth century have been interested in exploring other worlds? Why and to what extent would men have regarded this as a suitable female pursuit? How would Margaret Cavendish and the writer in The Female Spectator have regarded each other's writings and views about the role of women in science? How, given the views expressed in The Aims of the Spectator and the essay On the Scale of Being, would Addison respond to both?
    3. While some writings on the new science emphasize the pleasure and wonder aroused by microscopic and astronomical discoveries, others make these discoveries the basis of religious and moral contemplation. What links, and what tensions, if any, do you perceive between the pleasure derived from the new science and its moral value?
  2. The Poet and the Scientist
    Writing Assignment
    Write on one of the following themes:
    1. What does Johnson's tale of the deluded Egyptian astronomer Rasselas suggest about the potential pitfalls of the new learning? How does the scientist fall into his madness, and by what means can such delusions be cured? Is the scientific method a corrective to the astronomer's delusions, or their cause?
    2. Pope in The Dunciad and Johnson in Rasselas both use the science of botany and especially the study of flowers to symbolize what is wrong with science (as opposed to poetry). Why do you think they choose this field of learning in particular as an object for derision? What do they imply is the appropriate way to think about tulips and carnations?

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6. THE COUNTRY AND THE CITY

  1. "Town" and "Country"
    Writing Assignment
    Answer one of the following:
    1. Is the country squire Sir Wilfull Witwoud in The Way of the World simply a butt of mockery, or does he possess admirable qualities associated with his rural life? Which of the Witwoud brothers is more sharply criticized—or are they equally absurd?

    2. How does Pope's depiction of aristocratic rural life in "Epistle to Miss Blount" compare with Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"? To what extent does the comparison between the vibrant city and the dull country allow these poets to gloss over the difference between landed gentry and agricultural laborers?
  2. Baneful Arts: Satirizing the City
    Rain in poetry is often associated with ideas of cleansing, purification, and renewal. Is this the case with Swift's "Description of a City Shower"? Or is the city after the rainstorm as foul as when it began? What would it take, in the poet's view, to really clean up London
  3. Poetry and Social Change: The Villages of Goldsmith and Crabbe
    Both Goldsmith and Crabbe seem to believe that they can bring about social change by writing poetry. What distinguishes the methods they adopt, and whose method seems to you more likely to be effective? Can you think of any cases where literature has contributed to social change?

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7. MAKING LITERARY HISTORY

  1. Dryden's Chaucer
    In Dryden's view, nothing is more important in a literary text than fidelity to Nature. Can you define in your own words what "nature" seems to mean for Dryden? How, according to Dryden, does Chaucer's relationship to "nature" compare with Shakespeare's?
  2. Johnson's Shakespeare
    Writing Assignment
    Do one of the following:
    1. Summarize, in your own words, Johnson's account of the virtues and vices of the "Metaphysical Poets"? Then add a paragraph either agreeing with or debating Johnson's views.
    2. Summarize, in your own words, Johnson's account of the strengths and weaknesses of Shakespeare's King Lear. Then add a paragraph either agreeing with or debating Johnson's views.

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