Didst thou ever see a white bear? cried my father, turning his head round to Trim, who stood at the back of his chair:——No, an' please your honor, replied the corporal.——But thou could'st discourse about one, Trim, said my father, in case of need?——How is it possible, brother, quoth my uncle Toby, if the corporal never saw one?——'Tis the fact I want, said my father—and the possibility of it, is as follows.
(Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy V:xlii.)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The First Week in English 427

The Syllabus
I've e-mailed everyone the syllabus, but if you've lost the attachment or need to refer to it while you're online, it's right over there in the sidebar, under "Helpful Pages."  Do not be alarmed by the amount of white space in the schedule for the semester, or by the fact that only a handful of pages from the two assigned course texts are specified as assigned readings.  You will be making more intensive use of these books as you and your classmates figure out (with plentiful guidance from me) what you need to know about later eighteenth-century literature and how you can best go about learning it.  Please feel free to e-mail me (kwilcox@illinois.edu) if you have questions or concerns, or if you notice discrepancies in the syllabus.  [UPDATE 1/18:  the table formatting in the syllabus under "Helpful Pages" is a little screwy--you can find a tidier and printable version in the "Readings" box in the sidebar.  Or you can click here.]

Getting Comfortable With the Blog. 
Over in the sidebar on the right (under "Helpful Pages") are guidelines for how the blog functions as a course requirement in 427, and some suggestions for troubleshooting.  Below are two posts you can respond to for credit during this first week (half-week) of class.  One is worth a single point.  It's there so you can give the blog a trial run and make sure you know how to respond.  The other blog post has more substance to it, so it's worth a maximum of three points (the system for grading blogs is described in the "The Blog: Rules of Engagement" page).  More posts will be available for you to respond to after the first day of class, but it's a good idea to get familiar with the blog now.  Please e-mail me if you run into any problems or have any questions!

Week 1 Reading
For the first day of class (Wednesday) we will be looking at Joseph Warton's poem, "The Dying Indian," which you can find on p. 391 of the poetry anthology (Eighteenth-Century Poetry: An Annotated Anthology, ed. David Fairer and Christine Gerrard) assigned for the course.  The reading for class on Friday will be p. 363 - 366 of The Life and Opinion of Tristram Shandy.  (Yes, the excerpt is confusing, but NOT because you're starting the book in the middle--trust me on this one!  Feel free to read some of the chapters leading up to it, but be aware that they won't help.  Never fear though--all will become clear.)
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