Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel is clearly and unarguably written to advance an agenda. (In this it differs from Eliza Haywood's Fantomina, a text that masks its message, if it has one.)
Identify a passage (2 - 5 lines) from the poem (other than those we discussed in class today!) that (a) signals to the reader that Dryden is doing something other than retelling a biblical story, AND (b) gives some clues as to what his agenda is. Write a sentence or two explaining what the passage you've chosen tells us about Dryden's political views.
Deadline: Wednesday (9/2), start of class.
Monday, August 31, 2009
For Credit: What's So Bad about Achitophel?
In Absalom and Achitophel, Achitophel (a.k.a. "Shaftesbury") gets described in lines 150 - 213; his character is further conveyed by his direct addresses to Absalom/Duke of Monmouth (l. 230 - 302 and l. 373 - 476).
How does Dryden characterize Shaftesbury/Achitophel? Isolate one specific trait that Dryden attributes to him and cite the lines where that element of his character gets described.
Deadline: Wednesday (9/2), start of class.
How does Dryden characterize Shaftesbury/Achitophel? Isolate one specific trait that Dryden attributes to him and cite the lines where that element of his character gets described.
Deadline: Wednesday (9/2), start of class.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Absalom and Achitophel: A Map of the Poem
As I type this, a couple of excellent paraphrases have already appeared in response to the blog post below. Nice work!
To help you make your way through this initial reading of the poem, here's a breakdown of the various sections of the poem. This is just meant as an aid to reading--no response on the blog is required!
l. 1 – 149: Sets up and explains the background for the conflict conveyed in the poem.
l. 150 - 229: Describes Achitophel
l. 230 – 302: Achitophel’s first address to Absalom (a.k.a. Absolon)
l. 303 – 314: Reactions to Achitophel’s address (the narrator’s and Absalom’s)
l. 315 – 372: Absalom’s reply to Achitophel
l. 373 – 476: Achitophel’s second address to Absalom
l. 477 – 543: The outcome of the conversation between Achitophel and Absalom
l. 544 – 681: Descriptive list of David’s many enemies.
l. 682 – 722: Absalom greets the crowd and gives a speech.
l. 723 – 752: The reaction to Absalom
l. 753 – 810: The narrator’s commentary on the political issues at stake in the story/
l. 811 – 913: Descriptive list of David’s many friends.
l. 914 – 938: David’s friends react to the activities of Absalom and Achitophel.
l. 939 – 1031: David’s speech and the poem’s conclusion.
Do jot down any questions that arise as you read so you can ask them in class on Monday.
(that's our author, John Dryden)
To help you make your way through this initial reading of the poem, here's a breakdown of the various sections of the poem. This is just meant as an aid to reading--no response on the blog is required!
l. 1 – 149: Sets up and explains the background for the conflict conveyed in the poem.
l. 150 - 229: Describes Achitophel
l. 230 – 302: Achitophel’s first address to Absalom (a.k.a. Absolon)
l. 303 – 314: Reactions to Achitophel’s address (the narrator’s and Absalom’s)
l. 315 – 372: Absalom’s reply to Achitophel
l. 373 – 476: Achitophel’s second address to Absalom
l. 477 – 543: The outcome of the conversation between Achitophel and Absalom
l. 544 – 681: Descriptive list of David’s many enemies.
l. 682 – 722: Absalom greets the crowd and gives a speech.
l. 723 – 752: The reaction to Absalom
l. 753 – 810: The narrator’s commentary on the political issues at stake in the story/
l. 811 – 913: Descriptive list of David’s many friends.
l. 914 – 938: David’s friends react to the activities of Absalom and Achitophel.
l. 939 – 1031: David’s speech and the poem’s conclusion.
Do jot down any questions that arise as you read so you can ask them in class on Monday.
(that's our author, John Dryden)
Friday, August 28, 2009
For Credit: Reading Absalom and Achitophel
This poem is rich in historical and political context, but before delving into its background, it's helpful to focus on the poem itself. Just to reiterate the advice I gave in class on Friday (it applies as well to the other long poems we'll be reading this semester):
1. Ignore (for now) all prefatory material and footnotes: just try to make sense of the poem itself.
2. Read it as you would read an essay or narrative, for its surface meanings.
3. Read sentence by sentence, from the capital letter following one period to the next period, and make sure that you include all parts of the sentence in your effort to understand it.
3. Better to read a portion of the poem with care and comprehension than run your eyeballs over all of it without understanding what you're reading.
To help you get familiar with reading this kind of poetry, between now and Monday's class, you can get blog credit by attempting a paraphrase of a single sentence of this poem.
To paraphrase something is to restate it in your own words. You should strive to retain as much of the meaning as possible while "translating" it directly into C21 language that is clear, comfortable, and accessible. Don't try to rhyme, preserve Dryden's line breaks, or copy his sentence structure! It's fine to use more than one sentence for your paraphrase.
Post your paraphrase as a "comment" on this post, indicating the line numbers of the sentence you have paraphrased. You should not paraphrase a sentence a classmate has already paraphrased, unless you think the paraphrase entirely misses the meaning (in which case, you should add a sentence or two to your post explaining why yours is more accurate). I will not, however, penalize inadvertent cross-posting.
Deadline: Monday (9/1), 10am.
1. Ignore (for now) all prefatory material and footnotes: just try to make sense of the poem itself.
2. Read it as you would read an essay or narrative, for its surface meanings.
3. Read sentence by sentence, from the capital letter following one period to the next period, and make sure that you include all parts of the sentence in your effort to understand it.
3. Better to read a portion of the poem with care and comprehension than run your eyeballs over all of it without understanding what you're reading.
To help you get familiar with reading this kind of poetry, between now and Monday's class, you can get blog credit by attempting a paraphrase of a single sentence of this poem.
To paraphrase something is to restate it in your own words. You should strive to retain as much of the meaning as possible while "translating" it directly into C21 language that is clear, comfortable, and accessible. Don't try to rhyme, preserve Dryden's line breaks, or copy his sentence structure! It's fine to use more than one sentence for your paraphrase.
Post your paraphrase as a "comment" on this post, indicating the line numbers of the sentence you have paraphrased. You should not paraphrase a sentence a classmate has already paraphrased, unless you think the paraphrase entirely misses the meaning (in which case, you should add a sentence or two to your post explaining why yours is more accurate). I will not, however, penalize inadvertent cross-posting.
Deadline: Monday (9/1), 10am.
For Credit: Follow-Up to Friday's Discussion (last opportunity to post for Week 1)
Some of the responses to the "Practice" question on what students will be reading in 2259 raised the issue of historical interest vs. literary quality. Some argue that particular texts (Harry Potter, Twilight) will be preserved in the future because they tell a lot about us and our time, even if they're not all that good they as literature; others suggest that certain works will be preserved because they ARE good literature and any historical insight they convey is secondary to the fact that they offer a valuable reading experience.
People have been reading Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, pretty much ever since it was written, and including it in collections and anthologies because of its intrinsic merits as a work of poetry. It is, as we say, part of the canon of great literature. Fantomina has only surfaced in the last few decades as a literary work worthy of study and critique for a non-specialist audience (which is to say, scholars have known about it for a long time, but it has only made it into textbooks and teaching anthologies very recently).
Now that you've read Fantomina, do you think that it deserves to be studied largely as a sort of historical document that reveals the past to us, or do you think that it deserves to be studied as a piece of literature, for its intrinsic artistic qualities?
Cite a specific passage/episode/quote from the novel to support your position.
Deadline: Midnight on Saturday (8/29).
People have been reading Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, pretty much ever since it was written, and including it in collections and anthologies because of its intrinsic merits as a work of poetry. It is, as we say, part of the canon of great literature. Fantomina has only surfaced in the last few decades as a literary work worthy of study and critique for a non-specialist audience (which is to say, scholars have known about it for a long time, but it has only made it into textbooks and teaching anthologies very recently).
Now that you've read Fantomina, do you think that it deserves to be studied largely as a sort of historical document that reveals the past to us, or do you think that it deserves to be studied as a piece of literature, for its intrinsic artistic qualities?
Cite a specific passage/episode/quote from the novel to support your position.
Deadline: Midnight on Saturday (8/29).
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
YOWZAH!
There have been some terrific responses thus far on the Fantomina questions: well done, guys! Looking at the length of the responses, though, you may have two fears: (a) that the first few contributors have left you nothing to say and (b) that you need to respond at similar length with a similar number of observations in order to take part in the conversation.
Let me just be clear here on the blog expectations. If you have as much to say as these initial respondents do, by all means say it! They've given us a lot to think about, which is great. But don't think that you have to write at such length to take part in the conversation--a one-sentence insight supported by a relevant quote can be a useful contribution (and is sufficient for full blog credit).
Also, keep in mind that the blog is meant to be a comfortable and informal space for writing about the course material without the performance anxiety of class discussion or graded papers. Reasonable responses can include things like questioning the question (e.g., "I don't see any oppression at all going on here"), expressions of bafflement ("I didn't really get why Fantomina disguised herself in the first place, much less how she's empowered"), or resistance to what other people are saying (e.g., "after reading Classmate X's comment, I can see how Fantomina is at fault, but she didn't really strike me that way when I was reading it"). Just be sure to ground your reflections in the text--cite a brief passage that illustrates what you're saying.
This is a wonderful start to the semester. If you haven't posted to any of the questions yet, by all means do so! There's lots more to say.
Let me just be clear here on the blog expectations. If you have as much to say as these initial respondents do, by all means say it! They've given us a lot to think about, which is great. But don't think that you have to write at such length to take part in the conversation--a one-sentence insight supported by a relevant quote can be a useful contribution (and is sufficient for full blog credit).
Also, keep in mind that the blog is meant to be a comfortable and informal space for writing about the course material without the performance anxiety of class discussion or graded papers. Reasonable responses can include things like questioning the question (e.g., "I don't see any oppression at all going on here"), expressions of bafflement ("I didn't really get why Fantomina disguised herself in the first place, much less how she's empowered"), or resistance to what other people are saying (e.g., "after reading Classmate X's comment, I can see how Fantomina is at fault, but she didn't really strike me that way when I was reading it"). Just be sure to ground your reflections in the text--cite a brief passage that illustrates what you're saying.
This is a wonderful start to the semester. If you haven't posted to any of the questions yet, by all means do so! There's lots more to say.
For Credit: Grrrl Power?
Would you say that Fantomina's story is a tale of female empowerment or of female oppression?
Cite some text to support your claims.
You can respond by disagreeing with a classmate's post or by suggesting additional evidence to support a classmate's claim--just be kind and collegial as you do so.
Deadline: Friday (8/28), start of class.
Cite some text to support your claims.
You can respond by disagreeing with a classmate's post or by suggesting additional evidence to support a classmate's claim--just be kind and collegial as you do so.
Deadline: Friday (8/28), start of class.
Monday, August 24, 2009
For Credit: The More Beguiled?
"I have outwitted even the most subtle of the deceiving kind, and while he thinks to fool me, is himself the only beguiled person," thinks Fantomina/Celia/Widow Bloomer to herself, at the bottom of p. 3092.
Whose behavior is more blameworthy, hers or Beauplaisir's?
Cite some evidence from the text to support your claim.
Deadline: Friday (8/28), start of class.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Practice Question (for credit): 250 Years Later?
This is the required course blog for English 206/CWL 257: Enlightenment Literature and Culture. As explained in the document in the sidebar (which will be handed out in class), participating on this blog is a required part of the course.
Not everyone is familiar with blogging, so this question is simply practice--an opportunity for you to try out the blog and identify any problems you have with it before the semester gets underway. There are no better or worse answers to it--anything you write will earn the maximum three points for a blog post. Just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of the text.
The question:
In 250 years, if universities and literature classes still exist in anything like their current form, students will take gen. ed. courses in which they study the period of time that we are living in now, in 2009. What literature from our time will students read in such classes? Identify one work and briefly explain why you think it will still be of interest in 2259. Feel free to construe the term "literature" as broadly as you think appropriate.
Deadline: Friday (8/28), noon. If you register during the first two weeks of class, please feel free to ask for an extension on this deadline.
Not everyone is familiar with blogging, so this question is simply practice--an opportunity for you to try out the blog and identify any problems you have with it before the semester gets underway. There are no better or worse answers to it--anything you write will earn the maximum three points for a blog post. Just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of the text.
The question:
In 250 years, if universities and literature classes still exist in anything like their current form, students will take gen. ed. courses in which they study the period of time that we are living in now, in 2009. What literature from our time will students read in such classes? Identify one work and briefly explain why you think it will still be of interest in 2259. Feel free to construe the term "literature" as broadly as you think appropriate.
Deadline: Friday (8/28), noon. If you register during the first two weeks of class, please feel free to ask for an extension on this deadline.
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