The Syllabus
I'll be e-mailing everyone the syllabus, but there are two places to find it throughout the semester (apart from clicking on the links embedded in this paragraph. There's a linked blog page with the syllabus over there in the sidebar, in the "Pages" box. The formatting of the tables is a little wonky, though--so it's best to use it if you just want to check something quickly while you're online. If you want a copy to save or print out, better to use the "Syllabus (doc.)" link, in the "Readings" box in the sidebar. Or click here.
Getting Comfortable With the Blog
Over in the sidebar on the right (under "Pages") are guidelines for how the blog functions as a course requirement in 206/257, 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
There is no reading that you need to do in advance for our first day of class (Wednesday), but on Friday we'll start discussing Fantomina by Eliza Haywood, which you can find on pages 568 - 586 of your Longman anthology. If you find yourself baffled by class discussion on Wednesday, or if you fear that you don't have enough background information to speak with confidence in class discussion, by all means read the introduction to the Longman anthology ("The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries" that begins on p. 1). The later section entitled "The Age of the Enlightenment" (p. 185 - 199) will also be helpful.
