Poetry Week! Smith & Cowper

This upcoming week (Thursday, Oct 16th) we are focusing on the works of two brilliant Romantic British poets, William Cowper and Charlotte Smith.

Click on the titles of the works below for links to full text. As always, read through what you can of the suggested list--but come with ideas and questions nonetheless!

Cowper
Book I of The Task (1785)
"The Castaway"(1799)

Optional:
"Sweet Meat Has Sour Sauce; Or, the Slave-Trader in the Dumps" (1788)

Smith
Beachy Head (1807)
From Elegiac Sonnets (1800):

• "On being cautioned against walking on a Headland overlooking the Sea, because it was frequented by a Lunatic" 
• "The Dead Beggar"
• "Ode to Death"
• "To Dependance" 

Optional: 

The Emigrants ("Dedication: To William Cowper, Esq" and "Book the First") (1793)

We hope to see you on Thursday, October 16th, from 2 - 3 p.m. at Sweet Claire's on Third Street. We will also be discussing our first "Dinner with...." night, discussing which faculty and author we would like to invite to kick-start our most popular (read: populated!) series!

This week -- Descartes & Montaigne

Hi everyone!

Thanks to everyone for last week's excellent discussion of Equiano! For this week, we will be reading selections from Descartes and Montaigne. We'll be looking at three of Montaigne's Essais and Descartes Discourse on Method. You need not read all of Discourse, though it is not terribly long. What's important are his ideas about doubt, so you can read/skim for that topic.

Montaigne's Essais

"That the Soul Expends Its Passions Upon False Objects, Where the True Are Wanting"
"On the Education of Children"
"That it is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by Our Own Capacity"

Optional:
"Of Liars"
"Of Books"
"Of Friendship"

Descartes:
Discourse on Method

You might always be interested in Descarte's Meterology, originally published with Discourse, but I couldn't find a copy online. Feel free to bring it if you have it.

Finally, since what connects Descartes & Montaigne is their rejection of Aristotle, it might be useful to check out the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Aristotle, and specifically his four causes. 

Once again, we'll be meeting at Sweet Claire's on 3rd street Thursday from 2-3pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

C18 Group next week -- Olaudah Equiano

Hi everyone!

We'll be meeting at 2pm on Thursday, October 2nd at Sweet Claire's on 3rd Street and Grant to discuss Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. The link included here will take you to a project Gutenberg site, but you might also consider reading several texts that were published along with Equiano's in an anthology called Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English Speaking World of the Eighteen Century. The following texts are available through Box:

Unchained Voices, "Introduction"
Belinda, "Petition of an African Slave, to the legislature of Massachusetts"
Benjamin Banneker, "Copy of a Letter from Benjamin Banneker to the Secretary of State, with His Reply"
George Liele "An Account of Several Baptist Churches"
Boston King, "Memoirs of the Life of Boston King, a Black Preacher"

Thanks everyone & we look forward to seeing you Thursday!

Spring Newsletter / Fall Preview

Dinner with Smollett and Dr. Jesse Molesworth

Hello All:

Please join us on Tuesday, April 29th, from 6-7:30 p.m for our last reading group discussion of the term. We will be joined by Dr. Jesse Molesworth (restaurant TBD) for an excellent discussion on Smollett's novel, Peregrine Pickle.

Drinks, snacking, and casual conversation will run from 6-6:30 p.m., so don't sweat it if you're late! Discussion proper begins at 6:30 and runs for an hour.

Please RSVP 24 hours before the event either through Facebook or by emailing Rachel at raseiler@indiana.edu so we know how many to request for a table!


For a link to the text, please see below:

Smollet, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle


Optional/Recommended Text

Molesworth, "Can the Novel Enlighten?" from Chance and the Eighteenth-Century Novel: Realism, Probability, Magic*

*This is the introduction to Jesse's book--I will try to post a PDF about a week before the event for people to read through at leisure.

Vindications with two Marys!

Hi All:

For the month of April, we will be reading Mary Wollstonecraft with our very own Dr. Mary Favret! Dr. Favret has written on Wollstonecraft quite extensively, and teaches Wollstonecraft's works across her undergraduate and graduate courses.

For the venue, Dr. Favret has selected Ami (1500 E. 3rd ST.) as the restaurant and meeting place of choice. While there are a variety of vegetarian, meat, and fish dishes to choose from admist sushi and traditional Japanese dishes, there is also good wine and beer selection, as well as reasonably low priced appetizers if you prefer to sip and snack, rather than feast, during discussion.

We will be meeting Monday, April 7th, at Ami from 6 - 7:30 p.m. From 6-6:30 p.m., we will have casual discussion, snacking, and ordering. Discussion proper will begin at 6:30 and run until 7:30.

Please let Rachel or Kate know if you plan on attending so we know how many to ask for when we get a table! Do show up to support your group and your faculty--especially considering it's a short read this week! For a link to the text, click below.

Readings

Primary: Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Man

Secondary: (not required, but if you can get your hands on Mary Favret's chapter on Wollstonecraft in Romantic Correspondence, you should give it a good read--it's excellent! If I can get my hands on a copy in time, I will post it here!)

Dinner with Godwin

Greetings! For those of you attending dinner with Godwin, here is the information:

Reading: Political Justice Vol. 1 Books 2 & 3
Location: Finch's Brasserie
Time: Wednesday February 26, 6-7 pm
Reservation name: Kate Blake (in case you arrive early)

Thanks to all of those who RSVP'd! We look forward to talking with you!