for john mureith

 

• *William Byrd–The History of the Dividing Line PRQ #2  Due Date: Jan. 25 at 11:30 p.m. evening   Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Byrd Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words. What are the positive points of Bearskin’s religion that I can see as possible for me to believe? What beliefs do I share with him, if any?
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

• *St. Jean de Crevecoeur–“What is an American?” Pgs. 220-23 PRQ #2Due Date: Jan. 25 at 11:30 p.m. evening   Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.  
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Crevecoeur Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words. . Do I think that individual differences among Americans is a good quality or a  negative quality?  
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

• *William Bartram–“Travels Through . . .” pgs. 242-48, 831-32 PRQ #2 Due Date: Jan. 25 at 11:30 p.m. Evening  Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Bartram Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words.     Can I imagine the land when it was in its natural state before the cars, motels, theme parks, shopping malls, and asphalt? What do I think about these changes?
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

• *Identification–Age of Reason Eighteenth CenturyDue Date: Jan. 25 at 11:30 p.m. evening   Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • Use ONLY the material posted at Content / Units Study Material / Unit I /ENG 251 Background Notes Age of Reason / Nine Thematic  Characteristics for credit.
  • Use correct standard English.
  • Submit a paragraph written in sentences and not listing to identify Age of Reason Eighteenth Century Nine Thematic Characteristics.  You are taking information given in a list to adapt it to logical sentences to form a paragraph. Do not include any material that is not on the posted notes.  Use no outside source.
  The skill you are using is to take information in one format (list) and to present it in another format (sentences to form a paragraph).

• *Benjamin Franklin–“Speech in the [Constitutional] Convention” pg. 332 PRQ #6Date Due: Jan. 29 at 11:30 p.m. Evening  Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Franklin Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words. . What do I think about a statesman who is publically willing to say that he may not have been right about everything he has thought was right in the past?
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

• *Identification–DeismDue Date: Jan. 29 at 11:30 p.m. evening   Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • Use ONLY the material posted at Content / Units Study Material / Unit I /ENG 251 Background Notes Six Characteristics of Deism for credit.
  • Use correct. standard English.
  • Submit a paragraph written in sentences and not listing to identify the six characteristics of Deism. You are taking information given in a list to adapt it to logical sentences to form a paragraph. Do not include any material that is not on the posted notes.    Use no outside source.
  The skill you are using is to take information in one format (list) and to present it in another format (sentences to form a paragraph).

• *Thomas Paine–“The Age of Reason” PRQ #4Due Date: Jan. 29 at 11:30 p.m. Evening Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Paine Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words.  How can I defend Paine against accusations that he was an atheist?
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

• *Thomas Jefferson–The Declaration of Independence PRQ #3  Due Date: Jan. 29 at  11:30 p.m. evening  Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Jefferson Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words.  What do I think about the second sentence of the document? Do I really believe it?
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

• *Olaudah Equiano–The Interesting Narrative of the LIfe. . .Pgs. 392-96 PRQ #5Due Date: Jan. 29 at 11:30 p.m. evening  Read the literature on the syllabus before completing weekly assignments.  
  • With critical thinking, look at the heading of this assignment and use the named personal response question (PRQ) located at the end of the Equiano Author Study Sheet to discuss the question in 50 words. What do I think about “Christians” supporting and participating in the slave trade?
   • In order to receive credit, use specific material (characters, setting, events) from the named literary work to guide your personal response. A quote is not required; however, if you use a quote, do not just give a quote without explanation of the context.
  • Deductions will be made for grammar errors and misspelled words.
  • Use NO OUTSIDE sources; use only your opinion and specifics from your reading of the literature.

ENG251 THE AGE OF REASON

Eighteenth Century

MAJOR LITERARY FORMS

essays, autobiography, satire, pamphlets, documents, poetry, sketches

THEMATIC CHARACTERISTICS

1. Influenced by European philosophers:

Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. He laid the foundation for

differential and integral calculus. His work on optics and gravitation make him one of the greatest scientists

the world has known.

John Locke
Much of John Locke’s work is characterized by opposition to authoritarianism. This opposition is both on

the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church. For the

individual, Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion

of authorities or be subject to superstition. On the level of institutions, it becomes important to distinguish

the legitimate from the illegitimate functions of institutions and to make the corresponding distinction for

the uses of force by these institutions. The positive side of Locke’s anti-authoritarianism is that he believes

that using reason to try to grasp the truth and determining the legitimate functions of institutions will

optimize human flourishing for the individual and society both in respect to its material and spiritual

welfare. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/

Rene Descartes
After an expanded statement of the method of doubt, he argued that even the most dire skepticism is

overcome by the certainty of one’s own existence as a thinking thing. From this beginning, he believed it

possible to use our clear and distinct ideas to demonstrate the existence of god, to establish the reliability of

our reason generally despite the possibility of error, to deduce the essence of body, and to prove that

material things do exist. On these grounds, Descartes defended a strict dualism, according to which the

mind and body are wholly distinct, even though it seems evident that they interact.

http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/desc.htm

2. Interest in Deism—God governing through natural laws (see
handout on Deism)

3. God humanity and nature existing in harmony

4. Reason , reflection, investigation, prudence, common sense

as guides to understanding divine design

5. Emphasis on the present world and conditions here

6. The natural rights of human beings

7. Political rights of the colonies, arguments for separation from England

8. Defining an “American”

9. Contrast and comparisons of Europeans and Americans

STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS

English form and style—American sensibility

Many pamphlets and manifestos, highly rhetorical rather than lyrical

Practical, political, and persuasive

Clarity and precision in prose

Poetry emphasizing form and meter

Importance of wit

Propaganda for the American Revolution

Evocation of a national sense

Topical subject matter

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NEOCLASSIC WRITING

Used heroic couplet (two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter expressing a thought)

Cultivated poetic diction

Generalized about the situation and abstract in philosophy

Strove for perfection of form—regularity, clarity, standard

Conformed to law and order—Pope’s “Whatever is, is right.”

Stressed intellect, reason, common sense

Emphasized satire and criticism

Emphasized society and its institutions

Interested in city life

Interested in the contemporary world but also interested in the Greek and Roman

classical works

Examples of classical architecture from Rome and Greece:

The Colesseum in Rome

The Parthenon in Athens

Examples of neoclassical architecture in the United States:

The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D. C.

Mount Vernon, home of George Washington

The White House in Washington, D. C.

The Capitol in Washington, D. C.

Example of neoclassical gardens:

BenjaminFranklin

Be sure to read the introduction in the textbook. Access the notes on the Age of Reason

(Eighteenth Century) posted on the Background Study Notes. Your textbook has an essay

“Reason and Revolution 1725-1800.” The page numbers are in the Table of Contents and

also on your syllabus of Works to Read.

Franklin is a major representative of the Age of Reason, which is also called the

Enlightenment. This era dates roughly from 1700-1800, the

18
th

century.

Franklin was born in Boston and died in Philadelphia. He lived for the majority of the

18
th

century through exciting times in American history. He was a crucial influence on

the development of this country.

Franklin was apprenticed as a printer when he was 12 years old. He was basically self-

educated. As a teenager he became the editor of a newspaper. He moved to Philadelphia

when he was 17 and began to make his fortune in that city.

He retired when he was 42. He made wise investments, worked hard, and saved his

money. You can see some of the achievements in the introduction. He was a scientist, a

diplomat, a businessman, a writer, a politician, an inventor. He had many interests and

talents.

Franklin spent many years in France and England, working on the American cause. He

worked on the Declaration of Independence and served the Constitutional Convention.

Look at the footnote to the beginning of “The Autobiography.” The work was written

when he was 65 years old and his son was an adult. I have asked you to look at only a

small section. Look at the list of Works to Read for the pages.

He first listed 12 virtues but was told by a Quaker friend that he needed another one, so

he added #13. He tells the reader that he wants to arrive at moral perfection. He develops

a list of moral virtues, which he wants to possess. They are listed in the pages you are to

read. He stresses that he intends to acquire the habit of these virtues and that trying to do

them all at once would be difficult. He decides to try them one at a time. He also

organizes his schedule so that nothing is wasted. You can see that schedule. Notice

especially the questions he asks himself each morning and each evening.

He says that he did not acquire the reality of humility but did work on the appearance of

virtue.

In “The Way to Wealth,” Franklin uses a pen name to write. Richard Saunders is the

author, but it is actually Franklin. Almanacs were popular reading material. The sayings

were used for filler in the almanac and have been the part that is important. The sayings

were not original for the most part, but Franklin gave them new emphasis for the

American experience. The most famous collection of these sayings was “The Way to

Wealth.”

You can read this section to get the idea of the sayings. You will recognize many of

them. They are common sense approaches to life. They deal with subjects like laziness,

time management, money management. The advice is practical.

Franklin spent many years in France as a diplomat. He had married Deborah Read when

he arrived in Philadelphia. She was not educated, but the two seemed to have a respectful

marriage. He was often away from home on diplomatic missions.

In the “Letter to Ezra Stiles,” Franklin responds to questions regarding his personal

beliefs. In a time when there was no instant communication, letters were crucial in

sharing with others. Letters were used for more than factual news—they also contained

philosophical, religious, political, and other insights. Stiles had asked Franklin about his

religion in a previous letter. In paragraph 3 Franklin addresses this.

Be sure you access the posted notes in Background Study Notes that discuss Deism.

Deism is a philosophical attitude that was prominent in the 18
th

Century Age of Reason.

The notes give you a definition and discussion. You need to have that information.

Franklin, like most of the founders of the nation (including Jefferson and Paine), was

Deist. Paragraph 4 of the letter begins Franklin’s account of his own beliefs. He also

responds to the question about the nature of Jesus. Franklin says that Jesus left the best

system of morals if people would only follow it. However, corrupting changes have

occurred.

Franklin says the issue of divinity is not something he will have to expend much energy

on because at his elderly state, he will have the opportunity of knowing firsthand the truth

of the situation. Since he has prospered in this life, he has no reason to doubt its

continuation in the next. Franklin died five weeks after he wrote this letter as you see in

the footnote.

The “Speech in the Constitutional Convention” was delivered on September 17, 1787,

when the Constitution was signed. It is important to notice that he says he does not

entirely approve of the document, but that does not mean he will never approve. He does

agree to the Constitution even with its faults because government is necessary. It is

powerful that Franklin says he has found with his long life that he has been wrong about

things he once thought were true.

DEISM: The religion of those believing in a God who rules the world by

established laws but not believing in the divinity of Christ or the

inspiration of the Bible; “natural” religion, based on reason and a study

of nature, as opposed to “revealed” religion. The scientific movement

which grew out of the new knowledge of the world and the universe

following upon the discoveries and theories of Columbus, Copernicus,

Galileo, Francis Bacon, and later the members of the Royal Society,

furthered the development of a rationalistic point of view which more and

more tended to rely upon reason instead of upon revelation in the

consideration of humanity’s relation to God and the Universe. The fact

that the conceptions of the physical world found in the Old Testament

seemed inconsistent with the newer knowledge shook the faith of many in

the doctrine of the special inspiration of the Bible. DEISM was a

product of this general point of view.

1. The Bible is not the inspired word of God; it is good so far

as it reflects “natural” religion and bad so far as it

contains “additions” made by superstitious or designing

persons.

2. Certain Christian theological doctrines are the product of

superstition or the invention of priests and must be

rejected; e.g., the deity of Christ, the doctrine of the

Trinity, and theory of the atonement for sins.

3. God is perfect, is the creator and governor of the Universe,

and works not capriciously but through unchangeable laws

(hence “miracles” are to be rejected as impossible).

4. Human beings are free agents, whose minds work as they

themselves choose; even God cannot control human thought.

5. Since human beings are rational creatures, like God, they are

capable of understanding the laws of the universe; and as God

is perfect, so can humanity become perfect through a study of

nature, which shows design and must therefore be an

expression of God.

6. Practical religion for the individual consists in achieving

virtue through the rational guidance of conduct (as

exemplified in the scheme for developing the moral virtues

recorded by Franklin in his Autobiography).

(Thrall, Hibbard, Holman. A Handbook to Literature.)