11:15a-12:30p TR (30) 3 cr.
OPEN TO MAJORS ONLY. DECLARED MINORS OBTAIN AUTHORIZATION FROM BH
442.
Whereas Darwinism took the world by storm at the end of the nineteenth
century as a way to
interpret the workings of the world, an earlier--and equally
pervasive--attempt at such an
all-inclusive interpretation was the Great Chain of Being. The Great
Chain of Being argued
that the world was ordered in a strictly hierarchical fashion: God
stood at the top of all
things, while such things as plant life were placed at the bottom.
This course will examine
texts that participated in a dialogue with the idea of the Great Chain
of Being by exploring
writers who, to varying degrees, either accepted or fought against
this notion of cosmic
ordering. We will begin with Milton’s famous poem on God’s
relationship to His creation and
end with various notions of the common man which circulated around the
time of the American
Revolution. Along with frequent reading quizzes, there will be both
long and short papers.
The readings will be intense and diverse. Be prepared to work hard if
you sign up for this
class.
Texts May Include:
Milton’s Paradise Lost
Shakespeare’s Henry V
Behn’s Oroonoko
Defoe’s Moll Flander
s
Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Abott’s Religion and Domestic Violence
Brown’s Wieland
Chesterfield’s Letters to My Son
Paine’s Common Sense
And a course reading packet