ENGL 340 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - French Revolution, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edmund Burke
12 Oct 2018
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Department
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ENGL 340
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
What is romanticism? Usually considered the literary period between 1798-1832. It was defined by
political events such as the French Revolution breaking out in 1789, Napoleonic Wars, Outlawing the
transatlantic slave trade in 1807, the passage of the Great Reform Act in 1832.
Two very influential books still shaping scholarship on Romanticism.
o Jeroe McGa’s The Romantic Ideology: suggests that we are still thinking inside the terms
that Roaticis has set. “truggles to see hat uifies ee the Big “ix Roatic poets.
Realizes that Romanticism one of the very first literary movements that does not seek to find
definitive answers, but prefers an ongoing struggle, agon.
Nicola Watson and Mary Favret, At the Limits of Romanticism: blows the doors open to more voices,
more authors, more fields of study, especially gender. Start of a movement to re-evaluate the Romantic
canon, to include more authors (Hemans) and value more forms of writing (for literary magazines and
other reasons).
The age of the spirit of the age.
By the end of ENGL340, we will be familiar with the careers of the major figures who shape the
landscape of British Romanticism and you will have a detailed knowledge of some of their major texts.
We will understand the intersection between literature, politics and cultural transformation- that is, we
will see how poetry and novels both influenced and were influenced by the historical context that
surrounded them.
Foundational thinkers of Romanticism will be discussed next week. Romantic poets and novelists who
were hugel influential to the Big “i will e disussed the week after net.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Which passage is written by Burke and which by Paine? But the age of chivalry is gone. That of
sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever.
This is Buke’s itig, ou a tell ho a ad epetitie it is. His itig is e daati. He as
very chivalrous to people in need, he would have taken his hat off. Much like how Mr. Zaha donated
oe to the plaes o the oe’s soe tea in the UK, Burke would have done a similar deed.
Edmund Burke: supports the American War of Independence; Attacks the East India Co. and its private
a’s apait i Idia; pophetiall, ealizes that Feh Reolutio e liale ideed to degeeate
ito Teo, o’t suppot.
Fouded ode oseatie thought, ooted i oal, atual la ad este taditio. Autho of A
Philosophial Eui ito the Oigi of Ou Ideas of the “ulie ad Beautiful 757. This tet
discuses the mixed experience of pleasure and pain, attraction and terror. It questioned clarity, arguing
that agueess ad osuit ee oe eoatie tha the uko. This ook as a eolutio i
atisti ad litea thought.
A Whig, and unafraid to champion liberal causes. He defended the rights of colonies, especially America.
He opposed the control shown over parliament by allies of George III, supported the cause of Irish
Catholics, campaigned for the emancipation of British India and abolition of the slave trade. A
reputatio as a oato: the ost elouet a of his tie: his isdo as geate tha his
elouee.
The French Revolution was meant to introduce a new order of things based on a rationalistic philosophy
which he deemed as bogus. He saw man as essentially evil and in need of strict regulation. He believed
in judgements derived from the reason of the ages.
Refletios sold 30,000 copies in the first 2 years; it was translated to French and German, with
arguments that became common currency in ideological discourse in the 1790s. His work inspired other
such as Coleridge and Hazlitt.
The Sublime: essentially, more feelings than the body can contain. The climax of a symphony
performance, the height of a song, etc. Represents the strongest emotions of the human mind, such as a
storm or the human experience of isolation (a vast ocean, etc.). Things that basically scare us and make
us feel uncomfortable, but we still enjoy them. An epiphany is a very sublime feeling; trying to write a
paper and you finally find the idea you were looking for, this overwhelming knowledge at once.
Present in several 18th etu thikes’ ok. Fasiatio ith the sulie is used to ap the shift
from Neoclassicism to Romanticism.
The sulie is pooked geat ad teile object, while a sense of the beautiful is aroused by small
ad pleasig oes. The fist aouses ou adiatio, the seod ou loe… this distitio Is shapeed
a ooplae assoiatio of the foe ith e ad the latte ith oe. The Roatic
sublime is identified with emotion, genius, spontaneity, imagination, the individual-all those things that
eeed a liteatue ased o ules ad oetio.
Burke’s Aestheti ad Politial Writigs:
A Philosophial Euiy… Of the Sulie ad Beautiful: to make anything very terrible, obscurity seems
in general to be necessary. When we know the full extent of any danger, when we can accustom our
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
It was defined by political events such as the french revolution breaking out in 1789, napoleonic wars, outlawing the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, the passage of the great reform act in 1832. Two very influential books still shaping scholarship on romanticism. Jero(cid:373)e mcga(cid:374)(cid:374)"s the romantic ideology: suggests that we are still thinking inside the terms that ro(cid:373)a(cid:374)ticis(cid:373) has set. Truggles to see (cid:449)hat u(cid:374)ifies e(cid:448)e(cid:374) the (cid:862)big ix(cid:863) ro(cid:373)a(cid:374)tic poets. Realizes that romanticism one of the very first literary movements that does not seek to find definitive answers, but prefers an ongoing struggle, agon. Nicola watson and mary favret, at the limits of romanticism: blows the doors open to more voices, more authors, more fields of study, especially gender. Start of a movement to re-evaluate the romantic canon, to include more authors (hemans) and value more forms of writing (for literary magazines and other reasons). (cid:862)the age of the spirit of the age. (cid:863)
