Essay on Man for 11/4

Your reading for Tuesday's class is Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. Please read all four epistles or sections as well as "The Design" (appears right before the argument of the first epistle), all of which you can find online through the Project Gutenberg online ebook. Do not beyond the four epistles. This ebook contains the Essay on Man as well as some of Pope's other texts (Moral Essays and Satires). Stop reading when you hit "The Universal Prayer." Even if you prefer to read the essay online, please print a copy and bring it to class on Tuesday.

There are additional copies of Pope's text online: Penn State's pdf of the essay or The University of Toronto's online edited version, for example. However, Penn State's copy lacks the arguments before the epistles (think of Milton's arguments or summaries before each book of Paradise Lost) and the UT version, while it offers a very helpful annotated ebook of the first two epistles, does not provide the entire Essay on Man. Therefore, we'll use the Gutenberg online edition. You might find that pulling up the UT version--at least for the first two epistles--aids in your understanding because it offers footnotes about key lines or figures. However, you're only required to read and print the Gutenberg book.

Reading Questions:
Where do you detect a resonance with Milton's Paradise Lost?
How is Pope's "vindication" different from Milton's "justification"?
What do you notice about Pope's poetic style?
What is his basic argument? Do you find it convincing?
What "signs of the times" are there in Pope's essay? In other words, how has Enlightenment thought (science, religion, reason) affected Pope's arguments? Other influences?

Library Research

Just a reminder, that your custom designed library research guide is up on our wiki, courtesy of librarian Catherine Pellegrino. Catherine has included some very helpful screen shots to walk you through the process of using SMC's available databases. In addition, she has included a great "cheat sheet" for using MLA bibliography. Remember that the five sources that you list for your assignment due on Thursday must follow MLA guidelines, so go make your life easier and look at our guide.

Milton Mania!

In his Preface to Paradise Lost, David Scott Kastan reminds us that Milton's epic was "the first English poem to receive full scholarly annotation" only 28 years after it was first published in 1667 (viii). With such early and extensive attention in print, it is not at all suprising that Milton has received due attention online as well. You can read a digital version of the poem, complete with reader-friendly interactive annotations in Dartmouth's Milton Reading Room. Original images of nearly every page of the second edition of Paradise Lost (1674) are available on John Geraghty's impressive facsimile collection. More dynamic yet, Paradise Lost Audiotexts provides four distinct ways of interacting with Milton's text: 1. text-only (modernized) 2. Annotation (displaying notes parallel to the text) 3. Comparison mode (displays the 1674 page next to the modern page) and 4. Your notes (allowing you to take notes next to the page as you read). Perhaps the most exciting bit about this site, though, is the ability to listen to Books 1, 2, and 9 with the audiotext feature. Finally, even The New York Times and the New York Public Library can't resist a little Milton mania: check out this exhibit of related art and artifacts.

Library Sign-Ups for Paper 2

Catherine Pellegrino, a research librarian at SMC, has offered to meet with each of you to discuss the specific trajectory of your Annotated Bibliography/Research Projects. As I mentioned in class, Catherine has created a page on our wiki specifically designed for you to sign up for one meeting time the week of October 27-31. Please go online and sign up by editing the wiki page and entering your name. You can link directly to the page here, or you can find it by going to our wiki, then assignments, then Paper 2 where you'll find a link at the top of the page near the part of the assignment that describes your library meeting.

Also, a quick reminder: remember to read all aspects of the assignment sheet. For Tuesday, remember to bring in any relevant draft materials in a folder with a hard copy of your Paper 1. Other important details are on the assignment sheet. The same goes for your Oral Presentation assignments. Make sure you fulfill all of the required elements described on the handout and online.

Good luck writing!