Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

School: School of Letters, Art and Media

Department: English

Unit of Study: ENGL3623 The Eighteenth Century: Scandal and Sociability

Session: Semester 1, 2015

Un i t o f S tudy Out l ine

Unit coordinators are listed on undergraduate and postgraduate coursework semester timetables, and can be consulted for help with any difficulties you may have. Unit coordinators (as well as the Faculty) should also be informed of any illness or other misadventure that leads students to miss classes and tutorials or be late with assignments.

Unit Coordinator: Dr Nicola Parsons Location: N312, Woolley Building, A20 Email address: nicola.parsons@sydney.edu.au Phone: +61-2-9036 7229 Consultation Hours: Friday 9-11am

This Unit of Study Outline MUST be read in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Student Administration Manual (sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/student_admin_manual.shtml) and all applicable University policies. In determining applications and appeals, it will be assumed that every student has taken the time to familiarise themselves with these key policies and procedures.

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ENGL3623: The Eighteenth Century: Scandal and Sociability UNIT DESCRIPTION In eighteenth-century Britain, authors were brought into new relation with readers. Commercial publication, now central to literary production and dissemination, meant texts reached an anonymous and potentially limitless readership. How did awareness of this new public dimension shape literary texts? This unit evaluates the constitutive role of scandal and sociability in the period’s most important texts. We focus on the development of the novel as a sociable form and assess recent theories addressing public engagement in eighteenth-century literature. OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES Objectives This unit will develop your understanding of eighteenth-century literature in its historical and cultural context. Through a sustained investigation of literary representations of sociability and scandal, you will uncover connections between literary genres and the spaces in which they are produced and consumed. As part of this investigation, you will be introduced to contemporary debates surrounding literary communities, sociable practices, and the dark side of sociability – scandal. Through in-class discussion and written work, you will develop your analytical skills and your ability to identify and employ appropriate theoretical terms and methodologies for analysing eighteenth-century texts. Outcomes By the end of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• understand the relationship between eighteenth-century literature and forms of social, cultural, and political practice.

• analyse eighteenth-century literature in a knowledgeable manner • demonstrate skills in research through the competent use of the library and

resources that are particular to the study of eighteenth-century literature • communicate arguments and ideas effectively and articulately both in writing and

to others. LEARNING STRUCTURE Each week, you will attend:

• 1 x 1 hour lecture, Thursday 10-11am in DT Anderson Lecture Theatre

Lectures will be recorded, but each lecture will only be available for one week.

• 1 x 2 hour seminar, on Thursday at either 12-2pm (Mackie 107) OR 5-7pm (Eastern Avenue 116)

Your seminar time has been allocated to you by the Student Centre. If you need to change classes, you must do online in the first 2 weeks of semester.

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UNIT SCHEDULE NB: A detailed schedule of lecture and seminar readings begins on p. 10 of this outline

Week Week beginning

Lecture Seminar

1 02 March Introduction The Eighteenth-Century Public Sphere

2 09 March *Periodicals and Coffee House Culture Selections from The Tatler & The Spectator

3 16 March Eighteenth-Century Poetry: Public or Private?

Alexander Pope, An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot (1734)

4 23 March *The Adventures of Rivella: Can Gossip be a Political Act?

Delarivier Manley, The Adventures of Rivella (1714)

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30 March The Adventures of Rivella: Scandal and the Law

Delarivier Manley, The Adventures of Rivella (1714)

BREAK 06 April SESSION BREAK / EASTER

6 13 April Introducing Moll Flanders

Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders (1722)

Assignment Due Monday 13 April

7 20 April A Self out of Scandal: Criminality and Serial Fiction

Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders (1722)

8 27 April READING WEEK READING WEEK

9 04 May Literary Scandal: Samuel Richardson’s ‘new species of writing’

Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740)

10 11 May Resisting Pamela Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740)

Essay Due Monday 11 May

11 18 May *Literary Celebrity: Considering Samuel Johnson

Selections from James Boswell’s Life of Johnson & Hester Thrale Piozzi’s Anecdotes of the Late Doctor Johnson

12 25 May Models of Feminine Sociability Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall (1762)

13 01 June Reflections: Scandal and Sociability

* Entries in your assessable reading journal are required in weeks 2, 4, and 11. See pp. 5-6 below for a full description of this task.    

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READING REQUIREMENTS

The novels listed below are central to this unit of study. Please acquire the editions I’ve specified. They are available for immediate purchase at the Co-op bookshop or, if you order in advance, from online retailers such as Book Depository. Fisher Library also has copies of all four novels that can be borrowed. Regardless of where you obtain your books, make sure you bring your text to class.

• Delarivier Manley, The Adventures of Rivella, edited by Katherine Zelinsky (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 1999)

• Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, edited by Paul A. Scanlon (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2005)

• Samuel Richardson, Pamela, edited by Thomas Keymer and Alice Wakely (Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics, 2001; Reissued 2008)*

* NOTE: There are substantial differences between editions of Pamela, so please make sure you buy this edition. Otherwise, you could – quite literally – be reading a different text

• Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall, edited by Gary Kelly (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2001)

In addition to these four novels, you will be asked to read a number of short literary texts and to complete weekly critical reading. Details of these texts are given in the Seminar Reading Schedule that begins on p. 10. This reading is available online, via the Library’s eReading service. Except for the instances noted in the reading schedule, the best way to access these readings is to search the Library catalogue by the UoS code (ENGL3623).

ONLINE COMPONENTS

This unit requires regular use of the University’s Learning Management System (LMS), also known as Blackboard Learn. You will also be required to submit your assignments online; this process is described on p. 7 below. You will need reliable access to a computer and the Internet to use the LMS and submit your work.

The easiest way to access is through MyUni (click on the ‘MyUni’ link on the university home page, http://sydney.edu.au or link directly to the service at https://myuni.sydney.edu.au/. There is a ‘Blackboard LMS’ icon in the QuickLaunch window on the left hand side of the screen.

If you have any difficulties logging in or using the system, visit the Student Help area of the LMS site, http://sydney.edu.au/elearning/student/help/.

Mobile Learn You can also access your LMS sites via the Sydney Uni App for iPhone and Android. The full set of features available on the mobile app for the University LMS can be found in detail in this PDF document: Features in the mobile App for the University LMS (PDF)

To download the University of Sydney mobile app directly to your phone or mobile device you need to be able to access the marketplace associated with your device's operating system.

• iTunes store on your iPhone/ iPod touch or iPad

• Play Store or the Android Marketplace (depending on the phone's OS)

• BlackBerry App World® on your BlackBerry® smartphone device

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• Palm App Catalog on your HP webOS device

Once you are at the marketplace or app store:

1. Search for University of Sydney

2. Install the app

3. Open the app and click on the icon 'Bb Learn' to access the LMS

4. Login to the LMS with your UniKey and password.

Important: due to the limitations of mobile devices you cannot submit assignments using the assignment tool. You should not complete graded tests (quizzes) using your mobile device due to the possibility of Internet drop out.

The University’s Privacy Management Plan governs how the University will deal with personal information related to the content and use of its web sites. See http://sydney.edu.au/privacy.shtml for further details.

ASSESSMENT TASKS AND DUE DATES All assessment tasks must be attempted for you to be eligible to pass the unit. If you score a failing mark in a piece of assessment, this does not mean you will necessarily fail the unit. Here’s a breakdown of the assessment tasks required for this unit:

• One 1,500 word research assignment, worth 35%, due Monday 13 April • One 2,000 word research essay, worth 45%, due Monday 11 May • One 1,000 word reading journal, worth 20%, throughout the semester.  

One 1,500-word research assignment (worth 35%, due Monday 13 April) The publication of The Tatler (1709-11) and its successor, The Spectator (1711-12), are central to critical arguments regarding the public sphere. For Jurgen Habermas, for example, the new periodicals and the coffeehouses with which they were associated were vital cultural sites in a developing public culture of rational discussion. This assignment asks you to evaluate discussion of the relationship between the periodical and the public sphere by analysing any three numbered issues of The Tatler AND/OR The Spectator in relation to one critical lens. Further details about this assignment will be distributed in week one.

One 2,000-word essay (worth 45%, due Monday 11 May) For this assessment task, you will be asked to write a 2,000-word essay in response to one of a selection of set questions. In preparing your essay, you will need to consider the text on which you are writing, as well as a number of critical essays. Essay questions will be distributed in class in Week 5, and further advice about this assessment task will be provided in lectures and seminars.

One 1,000-word reading journal (worth 20%, throughout the semester) For this assignment, you will keep a reading journal that consists of at least five entries and totals 1000 words. You must write in your reading journal in weeks 2, 4 and 11, and two weeks of your own choosing. These entries are to be made in your private journal on Blackboard and must be submitted by midnight the day before class in the weeks you nominate. This assessment task is described more fully below.

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Why? The purpose of the reading journal is to help you come to grips with each week’s material, to enable you to develop ideas about the texts, and to act as a record of your thoughts. It will also help you to prepare for class discussion by enabling you to synthesise ideas and formulate questions before class. Your journal is meant to be a reflective tool and a document that helps you generate and develop ideas about the literary and critical texts we work with. You should think of each entry you write as a potential starting point for the two formal assignments in this unit, and revisit your journal in the early stages of your research.

When? Excluding the first and final weeks of semester, we have 10 weeks of class. You will post an entry for 5 of those 10 weeks. You must write an entry for week 2, week 4, and week 11; the other weeks in which you post are entirely up to you. On the weeks you choose not to post, simply write “pass” in your journal.

I will read your journals every week before class. You will receive feedback from me on your entries, but not every week. You can expect comments from me in weeks 2, 5, 10 and 13. These comments will be on all your posts to date, not just on entries made in the nominated weeks.

How? In weeks 2, 4 and 11, and two weeks of your own choosing, you will write a short entry in your journal about the week’s reading. Make your entry in your online journal on Blackboard, and be sure to submit it before class (this means by midnight on Wednesday). Your journal is private: it is only visible to you and to me.

Please don’t try and encompass the entire work in your entry. Entries work much better – and will be more useful to you – if they are focused and specific. For example, you might concentrate on a particular passage or an aspect of the text that has you flummoxed. You may find it works better to formulate questions about the text rather than develop ideas. Think of this kind of entry as a thread you can pick up in class discussion or in your assignments. If your entry does take the form of a question, make sure you take the time to show how your question comes out of the text. For instance, you might need to point to an illustrative scene or describe a textual dynamic to make sense of the question you ask.

You will receive a mark for this assessment task according to criteria you will find in the assessment section of Blackboard.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA This unit uses standards referenced assessment for award of assessment marks. Students’ assessment will be evaluated solely on the basis of students’ achievement against criteria and standards specified to align with learning outcomes. For reference to criteria and standards, please consult the grade descriptors for the Department of English at http://sydney.edu.au/arts/english/postgrad_research/grades.shtml

SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN WORK Compliance Statements All students are required to submit an authorised statement of compliance with all work submitted to the University for assessment, presentation or publication. A statement of

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compliance certifies that no part of the Work constitutes a breach of Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy.

The format of the compliance statement will differ depending on the method required for submitting your work (see “Assessment Submission” below). Depending on the submission method, the statement must be in the form of:

a. a University assignment cover sheet; b. a University electronic form; or c. a University written statement.

Assessment Submission Electronic submission of assessment tasks via the University’s Learning Management System will be required by the due date. You must complete an online compliance statement via LMS before you submit your assignment. You must include your name and SID in the file name, and it is also good practice to repeat this information in the header and footer of your assignment.  Essays and assignments not submitted on or before the due date are subject to penalty. Refer to http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/late_work.shtml for the Policy on Late Work.  

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM Academic honesty is a core value of the University. The University requires students to act honestly, ethically and with integrity in their dealings with the University, its members, members of the public and others. The University is opposed to and will not tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism, and will treat all allegations of academic dishonesty or plagiarism seriously.

The University’s Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012 and associated Procedures are available for reference on the University Policy Register at http://sydney.edu.au/policies (enter “Academic Dishonesty” in the search field). The Policy applies to the academic conduct of all students enrolled in a coursework award course at the University.

Under the terms and definitions of the Policy,

• “academic dishonesty” means “seeking to obtain or obtaining academic advantage (including in the assessment or publication of work) by dishonest or unfair means or knowingly assisting another student to do so.

• “plagiarism” means “presenting another person’s work as one’s own work by presenting, copying or reproducing it without appropriate acknowledgement of the source.”

The presentation of another person's work as one's own without appropriate acknowledgement is regarded as plagiarism, regardless of the author’s intentions. Plagiarism can be classified as negligent (negligent plagiarism) or dishonest (dishonest plagiarism).

An examiner who suspects academic dishonesty or plagiarism by a student must report the suspicion to a nominated academic in the relevant faculty. If the nominated academic concludes that the student has engaged in dishonest plagiarism or some other sufficiently serious form of academic dishonesty, the matter may be referred to the Registrar for further disciplinary action under the terms of the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012 and Chapter 8 of the University of Sydney By-Law 1999 (as amended).

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SPECIAL CONSIDERATION The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences assesses student requests for assistance relating to completion of assessment in accordance with the regulations set out in the University Assessment Policy 2011 and Assessment Procedures 2011. Students are expected to become familiar with the University’s policies and Faculty procedures relating to Special Consideration and Special Arrangements.

Students can apply for:

• Special Consideration - for serious illness or misadventure

• Special Arrangements - for essential community commitments

• Simple Extension – an extension of up to 5 working days for non-examination based assessment tasks on the grounds of illness or misadventure.

Further information on special consideration policy and procedures is available on the Faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/special_consideration.shtml.

OTHER POLICIES AND PROCEDURES RELEVANT TO THIS UNIT OF STUDY The Faculty’s Student Administration Manual is available for reference at the “Current Students” section of the Faculty Website (http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/). Most day-to-day issues you encounter in the course of completing this Unit of Study can be addressed with the information provided in the Manual. It contains detailed instructions on processes, links to forms and guidance on where to get further assistance.

STAYING ON TOP OF YOUR STUDY For full information visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/staying_on_top.shtml

The Learning Centre assists students to develop the generic skills, which are necessary for learning and communicating knowledge and ideas at university. Programs available at The Learning Centre include workshops in Academic Reading and Writing, Oral communications Skills, Postgraduate Research Skills, Honours, masters Coursework Program, Studying at University, and Workshops for English Language and Learning. Further information about The Learning Centre can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/.

The Write Site provides online support to help you develop your academic and professional writing skills. All University of Sydney staff and students who have a Unikey can access the WriteSite at http://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has units at both an Undergraduate and Postgraduate level that focus on writing across the curriculum or, more specifically, writing in the disciplines, making them relevant for all university students. To find out more visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/writing_hub/index.shtml and http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/pg_writing_support/index.shtml.

In addition to units of study on writing, The FASS Writing Hub offers drop-in sessions to assist students with their writing in a one-to-one setting. No appointment is necessary, and this service is free of charge to all FASS students and/or all students enrolled in WRIT units. For more information on what topics are covered in a drop-in session and for the current schedule, please visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/writing_hub/writing_support/index.shtml

Pastoral and academic support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is provided by the STAR Team in Student Support services, a dedicated team of professional Aboriginal people able to respond to the needs of students across disciplines. The STAR team can assist with tutorial support, mentoring support, cultural and pastoral care along with a range of other services. More information about support for Aboriginal and Torres

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Strait Islander students can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/student_services/indigenous_support.shtml.

The Library offers students free, online tutorials in library skills at http://sydney.edu.au/library/skills. There's one designed especially for students studying in the Humanities and Social Sciences at http://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/. And don't forget to find out who your Faculty Liaison Librarians are.

OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES Disability Services is located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building G20; contact 8627 8422 or email disability.services@sydney.edu.au. For further information, visit their website at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/disability/.

Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) are located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building G20; contact 8627 8433 or email caps.admin@sydney.edu.au. For further information, visit their website at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/counselling/.

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SEMINAR READING SCHEDULE NB: unless otherwise noted, all items are available via ereadings

WEEK ONE 5 March

The Eighteenth-Century Public Sphere

Required Reading: Anon, The Character of a Coffee-House, with the Symptomes of a Town-Wit, 1673. In The Commerce of Everyday Life: Selections from the Tatler and Spectator, ed. Erin Mackie (Boston: Bedford, 1998), pp. 137-48

Edward Ward, ‘A Visit to a Coffee-House’, 1709. In The Commerce of Everyday Life: Selections from the Tatler and Spectator, ed. Erin Mackie (Boston: Bedford, 1998), pp. 144-8

WEEK TWO 12 March

The Tatler and The Spectator

Required Reading: The Tatler, numbers 1, 155, 160, 178, 225, and 264

The Spectator, numbers 1, 2, 10, 49, 262, 568, 625

Stuart Sherman, ‘“To Print My Self Out”: Correspondence and Containment in the Spectator and its Predecessors’, in Telling Time: Clocks, Diaries, and English Diurnal Form, 1660-1785 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)

WEEK THREE 19 March

Public Writing: Eighteenth-Century Poetry

Required Reading: Alexander Pope, An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, in The Poems of Alexander Pope: a one-volume edition of the Twickenham text, edited John Butt (London: Methuen, 1968), pp. 597-612

J. Paul Hunter, ‘Couplets and Conversation’, in The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Poetry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 11-36.

NB: This is available as an eBook. To locate the reading, search the catalogue by the title of the companion.

WEEK FOUR 26 March

The Adventures of Rivella: Can Gossip be Political?

Required Reading: Delarivier Manley, The Adventures of Rivella, ed. Katherine Zelinsky (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 1999), Available from the Co-op Bookshop

Catherine Gallagher, ‘Political Crimes and Fictional Alibis: The Case of Delarivier Manley’, Eighteenth-Century Studies 23.4 (Summer, 1990): 502-521.

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WEEK FIVE 2 April

The Adventures of Rivella: Scandal and the Law

Required Reading: Delarivier Manley, The Adventures of Rivella, ed. Katherine Zelinsky (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 1999), Available from the Co-op Bookshop

Kathryn Temple, ‘Manley’s “Feign’d Scene”: Fictions of Law at Westminster Hall, Eighteenth-Century Fiction 22.4 (Summer 2010): 573-98.

WEEK SIX 16 April

Introducing Moll Flanders

Required Reading: Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, ed. Paul A. Scanlon (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2005). Available from the Co-op Bookshop

WEEK SEVEN 23 April

Moll Flanders: Criminality and Serial Fiction

Required Reading: Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, ed. Paul A. Scanlon (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2005). Available from the Co-op Bookshop

Hal Gladfelder, ‘Moll Flanders and her Confederates’, in Criminality and Narrative in Eighteenth-Century England (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), pp. 113-130.

WEEK EIGHT 30 April

READING WEEK

This reading week is designed to give you the opportunity to begin reading Pamela. This novel is central to the course, so you should use this time to make substantial progress reading the novel and thinking through the critical issues it raises.

WEEK NINE 7 May

Literary Scandal: Samuel Richardson’s “new species of writing”

Required Reading: Samuel Richardson, Pamela, edited by Thomas Keymer and Alice Wakely (Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics, 2001; Reissued 2008), pp. 1-219. Available from the Co-op Bookshop

William Warner, ‘The Pamela Media Event’, Licensing Entertainment: The Elevation of Novel Reading in Britain, 1684-1750 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998), pp. 176-230.

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WEEK TEN 14 May

Resisting Pamela

Required Reading: Samuel Richardson, Pamela, pp. 220-503, (available from the Co-op Bookshop)

AND

James Grantham Turner, ‘Novel Panic: Picture and Performance in the Reception of Richardson’s Pamela’, Representations No. 48 (Autumn, 1994): 70-96.

OR

Henry Fielding, An Apology for the Life of Shamela Andrews (London, 1741), in Joseph Andrews/Shamela, edited by Judith Hawley (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1999), pp. 3-43, 336-44.

WEEK ELEVEN 21 May

Literary Celebrity: The Life of Samuel Johnson and Anecdotes of the Late Dr Johnson

Required Reading: Hester Piozzi, Anecdotes of the Late Dr Johnson, (London: Cassell, 1887), pp. 15-21, 38-41, 47-8, 60-3, 135-6, 142-9, 164-73

James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, (New York: Knopf, 1992), pp. 9-24, 242-51, 387-99, 454-6, 464-71, 482-3, 598-604, 671-81, 828-831, 1174-9

Catherine N. Parke, ‘Johnson and the arts of conversation’, in The Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson, ed. Greg Clingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 18-33.

NB: This is available as an eBook. To locate the reading, search the catalogue by the title of the companion

WEEK TWELVE 28 May

Models of Feminine Literary Sociability: Millenium Hall

Required Reading: Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall, edited by Gary Kelly (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2001). Available from the Co-op Bookshop

Betty A. Schellenberg, ‘Authorizing the Marginalized Circle in Sarah Scott’s Millenium Hall’, in The Conversational Circle: Re-reading the English novel, 1740-1775 (Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 1996), pp. 88-101, 154-56.

WEK THIRTEEN 4 June

Reflecting on Scandal & Sociability

This final seminar is an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve discovered about scandal and sociability in the eighteenth century and to draw some conclusions from our discussion. There is no set reading for this seminar, but you may be asked to think through some specific questions in preparation for discussion.