Instructor: Jahyeon Kwon

Class Time: M/W 2:15-3:30

Classroom: Boylan 3156

Email: [email protected]

Office Hours: W, 3:30-4:30 (or by appointment)

This class explores British prose and poetry from the long eighteenth century, spanning the 1680s to the 1820s, with a focus on the reconstruction of notions of authorship within a commercial revolution and an expanding empire. This period is marked by momentous social, political, and economic changes, such as a growing empire, a globalizing market economy, urbanization, scientific advancements, and a booming print culture, reflected in the eclectic and lively literature that sought new ways of representing the world. As we read the works of philosophers, poets, journalists, memoirists, and fiction writers, we will focus on their efforts to find language to observe, record, satirize, and interpret the rapidly changing world during the English Enlightenment. We will pay particular attention to how the era was defined by a rediscovery of the value of the senses, aesthetics, and empiricism, while also witnessing an unprecedented effort to formulate the foundational principles of philosophy, science, history, psychology, art, and economics—human and social sciences that would later be formally established as autonomous disciplines. As these discourses sought to define new categories of human thought and morality, we shall also examine how they created exclusions regarding who could be considered “human” within the context of empire. Since this period played a crucial role in the development of what we now call “Western modernity,” exploring these texts will lead us to reflect on the origins and development of the present moment. I encourage students to engage with the present through the lens of history.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• identify key terms, events, and figures from across the British eighteenth century, including the characteristics of the period and its genres, lines of influence, and debates among writers.
• analyze literary texts through close attention to style, form, genre, and language, with proficiency in the basic vocabulary of literary criticism.
• communicate your ideas about literary texts clearly both orally and in writing, crafting concise, focused literary analyses.

Textbooks: 

*Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (Oxford) 

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (Norton)

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Turkish Embassy Letters

Laurence Sterne. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (Oxford)

Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano (Oxford)

Thomas De Quincey. Confessions of an English Opium Eater (Penguin)

*We’ll read this one first, so order asap!

I’m happy to share these texts in the public domain (via the Gutenberg Project, etc.), which you can print and bind yourself. However, I recommend purchasing physical copies for a better reading experience, especially if you plan to write a paper on them. The other texts will be provided as PDFs.

You might find it useful to listen to audiobook versions of some of these novels in addition to reading them. LibriVox has free public-domain audiobooks. Also, if you have an NYPL library card, you have access to Hoopla, a free app with tons of good quality audiobooks. 

Class website:
https://18cprosepoetry.commons.gc.cuny.edu/. The site is part of the CUNY Academic Commons, a CUNY-wide digital platform, and is accessible only by invitation. I will send you an invitation to join via your CUNY email account, so you need to be able to access your CUNY email at least once. After accepting the invitation, you should be able to change your primary email account for the site. And if you are already a member of the CUNY Academic Commons, you should be able to join the site easily.

Assignments: 

Attendance and Participation, including in-class writing/quizzes 20%

I allow up to two excused absences before there are consequences regarding your grade. After six unexcused absences (which would equal three weeks of missed class), you may not be able to successfully complete the class. Two lateness is equivalent to one absence & tardiness over 20 minutes without excuse is considered an absence. If you have less than two absences, you will get a bonus point. 

Weekly Blog Posts 20%

There will be weekly writing assignments throughout the semester. Unless indicated on the course schedule below, posts are due Sunday by 11:59 pm. This should comprise: 

(1) a brief explanation of what you found most valuable/notable in the material (4-5 sentences)

(2) a passage you’d like to linger upon, whether to understand the passage better, to absorb its power, or to critique it (the quote and a 1-2 sentence explanation)

(3) a question you had (1-3 sentences).

Mid-term Project (TBD) 30%

Final Paper 30%

(Details for all assignments will be distributed well in advance of deadlines. All assignments must be turned in to pass the course.) 

Late Submission

I expect you to submit your work in by the due dates listed on course schedule. You can turn your work in after the due date with a slight reduction in points, but it’s important that you do not do this often. If you turn your work in late, you must email me and let me know in order to get credit.

Plagiarism

Don’t do it. This also counts for work written by chatGPT- it will result in an automatic fail. I am infinitely more interested in your words. We have scaffolding assignments like weekly blog posts, in-class writings, presentations, and individual conferences that will help your writing process. Remember, writing assignments are all about being free from the fear of making mistakes; I do not expect you to produce a finished product by asking machines for answers.

Keep in mind that properly citing and giving credit to others’ work does not compromise your originality; conversely, it shows how you have learned how to converse with other texts, which is one of the major goals for writing a research composition.

Accommodations

If you have a disability or need particular accommodations, please make an appointment to see me early in the semester to talk about how I can help make our class a comfortable and accessible learning space for you. If you haven’t already done so, please contact the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. Students who have a documented disability (or suspect they have a disability) must register with the Center for Student Disability Services before they can receive disability-related academic accommodations. Once registered, please provide me with the course accommodation form and discuss with me the specific accommodations you require.

Academic Support

 Brooklyn College offers academic, counseling, and campus services, including the Learning Center, which houses both a writing as well as a peer tutoring center. The Library maintains a collection of links to sites that can assist you with research and with proper citation format and paraphrasing and quoting other authors. In addition, the reference librarians are available to help you with research.

You have educational rights regardless of status. As an educator, I support the rights of undocumented students to an education. If you have any concerns in that regard, feel free to discuss them with me, and I will respect your wishes concerning confidentiality. For resources and support, please check-outBrooklyn College’s Immigrant Student Support Office email: [email protected] Instagram: @issobc or visit:https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/DACA

Know Your Rights. We are under a new presidential administration, and for many CUNY students, faculty, and staff, as well as their families, the uncertainty surrounding immigration rights, safety, and security is confusing, anxiety-provoking, even frightening. Here are a few links with helpful videos and information to help you understand your rights. These resources are also useful for allies: 

○    CUNY Know Your Rights

○    Know Your Rights with ICE from the Immigrant Defense Project

○    Referrals for free legal services are available at [email protected] or 646-233-0967.

○    Free, confidential assistance with U.S. citizenship is available for members of the CUNY community at bit.ly/CUNYCitizenshipNow

Inclusivity Statement: All ages, backgrounds, beliefs, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, national origins, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, abilities, and other visible and nonvisible differences, are welcome here. All members of this class are expected to contribute to a respectful, welcoming, and inclusive environment for every other member of the class. 

Additional resources on campus:

The Women’s Center

227 Ingersoll Hall Extension

Mon – Thurs 10am – 6pm

Fri 10am – 4pm

Sau-fong Au, Director

Amber Prophete, Assistant

LGBTQ+ Resource Center

219-221 Student Center Building (SUBO)

[email protected]

Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm

Kelly Spivey, Director

Immigration/Citizenship Support: As an educator, I support the rights of undocumented students to an education. If you have any concerns in that regard, feel free to discuss them with me, and I will respect your wishes concerning confidentiality. For resources and support, please check out Brooklyn College’s Immigrant Student Success Office, website: Immigrant Student Success Office; email: [email protected]; Instagram: @issobc or visit: https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/DACA. CUNY also has resources specifically for undocumented students: https://www.cuny.edu/undocumented-student-support/

In addition, the College has a range of other student support services, including: a Personal Counseling service (0203 James Hall: 718-951-5363), a *free* Health Clinic (114 Roosevelt Hall: 718-951-5580), an office of Veterans Services (1407 James Hall: 718-951-5105), a Black and Latino Male Initiative office (3309A James Hall: 718.951.5766), a Women’s Center (227 Ingersoll Hall: 718-951-5777), an LGBTQ Resource Center (Student Center 219-221; 718-951-5739), a Food Pantry (524 Student Center: 718-951-5059), and the Carrol and Milton Petrie Student Emergency Grant Fund “for the purpose of providing quick-response emergency grants to students in good standing with short-term financial emergencies.”  The BC Women’s Center has a range of terrific services and activities, including peer counseling and mentoring, open office hours, yoga and meditation sessions, and more.

Brooklyn College is committed to fostering a safe, equitable, and productive learning environment. Students experiencing any form of discrimination or harassment on or off campus can find information about the reporting process, their rights, specific details about confidentiality, and reporting obligations of Brooklyn College employees on the Office of Diversity and Equity Programs website: https://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/offices/diversity.php

Additional information about student services is available on the College website here: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/campuslife/services.php

Additional Resources:

Resources for Communities – Immigrant Defense Project

Know Your Rights with ICE – Immigrant Defense Project https://www.nyic.org/2/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/immigrants_nyCUP.pdf

Undocumented Student Support – The City University of New York

NYC ICE Watch Instagram Account

Know Your Rights/Community Resources for Immigrant NYers.

Know Your Rights Red Cards (printable); Know Your Rights Cards for your wallets, backpacks, etc. in a variety of languages.

We Have Rights videos/infographics in English, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin, Haitian-Creole, and Russian.

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project: An off campus resource for TGNC folks.