Seminar. English Literature of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.

(En I B, 2 nd semester)
Instructor: Lecturer Amelia Precup (amelia.nan@gmail.com)

Objective: the aim of the seminar is to offer guidance to students of English with regard to authors and texts
(poetry, prose, drama) relevant to the understanding of the literary context of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.

Description. The seminar is an extension of the English Literature course for English major students; it focuses on
seven of the major topics discussed at the course. The structure of the seminar uses a traditional chronological
approach and includes a selection of authors and texts that reflect the complexity and the diverse character of the
literary context of the period. Teaching methods: close reading, heuristic dialogue, short lectures (when
necessary), presentations, discussions and debates meant to deepen the students’ insights and cultivate their
analytical and argumentative skills.

Requirements from students. Students are required to read the texts before each seminar meeting, following the
seminar schedule below. Students must bring a copy of the text to class. Active participation and class
presentations are required.

Seminar schedule:

S1 Metaphysical poetry. John Donne: “The Flea”, “Batter My Heart”

S2 Restoration poetry. The Court Wits. John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester: “Love and Life: A Song”, “On Mistress
Willis”

S3 Restoration comedy. William Congreve, The Way of the World

S4 Letter-writing in the eighteenth century – the familiar letters of travellers. Mary Wortley Montagu,
“Turkish Letter” & Mary Wollstonecraft, “Letter Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and
Denmark”

S5 Eighteenth-century poetry. The mock-heroic poem. Alexander Pope: “The Rape of the Lock”

S6 The Rise of the English Novel: Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel (Chapters I and II) & Daniel Defoe, Robinson
Crusoe

S7 The Development of the Novel: Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

All the texts are available at the library. Most of them are also available on the Internet.
For S1, S2, S4 and S5, please refer to the following anthologies:
Mihaela Mudure (ed.)The Provinces of Short Writing. Ed. Mihaela Mudure, Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2013 (S4)
Mihaela Mudure (ed.)Things of Beauty, Things of Joy. Ed. Mihaela Mudure, Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2013 (the
second edition, revised and enlarged). (S1, 2, 5)