This course will introduce you to the literary culture of the early eighteenth-century. We’ll read exemplary works of prose fiction, drama and poetry, and study how major writers in different genres responded to the social and intellectual challenges of early modernity, interacted with tradition, and invented new styles and genres. Texts and Recommended Editions: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (Dover Thrift); Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (Oxford World’s Classics); Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (Dover Thrift); John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera (Dover Thrift); Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey (Dover Thrift).

Midterm and final.