Professional Documents
Culture Documents
School:
Department:
English
Unit of Study:
ENGL3623
The Eighteenth Century: Scandal and Sociability
Session:
Semester 1, 2015
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:
Location:
Email address:
Phone:
Consultation Hours:
Dr Nicola Parsons
N312, Woolley Building, A20
nicola.parsons@sydney.edu.au
+61-2-9036 7229
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.
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:
UNIT SCHEDULE
NB: A detailed schedule of lecture and seminar readings begins on p. 10 of this outline
Week
Week
beginning
Lecture
Seminar
02 March
Introduction
09 March
16 March
Alexander Pope, An
Epistle to Dr
Arbuthnot (1734)
23 March
Delarivier Manley,
The Adventures of
Rivella (1714)
30 March
Delarivier Manley,
The Adventures of
Rivella (1714)
BREAK
06 April
13 April
20 April
27 April
04 May
Samuel Richardson,
Pamela (1740)
10
11 May
Resisting Pamela
Samuel Richardson,
Pamela (1740)
18 May
Selections from
James Boswells Life
of Johnson & Hester
Thrale Piozzis
Anecdotes of the
Late Doctor Johnson
12
25 May
Sarah Scott,
Millenium Hall
(1762)
13
01 June
* 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.
READING REQUIREMENTS
The novels listed below are central to this unit of study. Please acquire the editions Ive
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.
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 Librarys 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 Universitys 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.
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.
Why?
The purpose of the reading journal is to help you come to grips with each weeks 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 weeks 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 dont 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
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 Universitys 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.
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 Universitys policies and Faculty procedures relating to Special
Consideration and Special Arrangements.
Students can apply for:
WEEK TWO
12 March
Required Reading:
WEEK THREE
19 March
Required Reading:
WEEK FOUR
26 March
Required Reading:
10
WEEK FIVE
2 April
Required Reading:
WEEK SIX
16 April
Required Reading:
WEEK SEVEN
23 April
Required Reading:
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
Required Reading:
11
WEEK TEN
14 May
Required Reading:
Resisting Pamela
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 Richardsons 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
Required Reading:
WEEK TWELVE
28 May
Required Reading:
WEK THIRTEEN
4 June
This final seminar is an opportunity to reflect on what weve 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.
12