January 31: Smollett, The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker (to end of Vol. I) (pick one)

1. The narrative of Humphrey Clinker is presented in epistolary form.  That is, the novel is actually a series of letters, and through these letters we get multiple perspectives on the people and places that the traveling group encounters as a whole.  Comparing/contrasting differing writers' description of similar events emphasizes the multiple perspective of the novel as a whole.  What is the overall effect on having several "authors" of the novel?  How are ways in which different characters describe the same place or collection of events?  How do the differing priorities and perspectives revealed in their letters indicate the characters of the individual letter writers?  What sort of biases or prejudices do each reveal?  Who speaks for Smollett, if anyone?  Are any of the letter writers more authoritative, more central to the novel?  Discuss the multiple viewpoints of Humphrey Clinker by comparing/contrasting differing versions of the same events.

2. At the end of Vol. I our travelers finally make it to the capital and we get some description of the character and politics of London.  What description of the state of London do we receive from the novel?  What is Bramble's characterization of the politicians and writers he describes while in London?  What about Melford's?  Again, how does Bramble's description of London differ from  from Lydia's?  Is there a description of the politics and society of London that could be said to be Smollett's?  Discuss the state of London society, as depicted in the letters of the traveling group.
 

February 7: The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker (read to end) (pick one)
1. Even before the party make their way into Scotland they meet up with the eccentric Scottish military man, Obadiah Lismahago, who becomes a prominent player in the book.  What sort of character is Lismahago?  Where does he come from and what is his life like?  What are his attitudes toward the English?  What is his reaction to anti-Scots prejudice?  Are his remarks meant to be taken seriously or is he meant to be seen as a comical figure?  What do you think is Smollett's interpretation of Lismahago's Scottish character? Serious or satirical?  Discuss the character of Lismahago and his

2. By the last third of the novel, our party arrives in Scotland, where Bramble and others describe the northern kingdom of Great Britain in their own peculiar perspectives.   How is Scotland characterized?  Do Bramble and the others continue their descriptions of Scotland within the same framework as in England, or does Scotland bring on a change of perspective?  How does Bramble (or the others) compare Scotland with England?  How is Scotland "different"?  Is there an internal Scottish difference, between Lowland and Highland regions within Scotland?  Are the Highlands doubly distinct?  How does Scotland measure up in relation to other British "nations."  Discuss the image of Scotland and its comparison to elsewhere, using one or some of the character descriptions in Humphrey Clinker.

February 14: Poetry of the '45
1. All of the poetry we are reading concerning the anti-Union and generally (in Scotland) anti-English failed Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 is in Gaelic and generally supportive of Bonnie Prince Charlie's monarchical  ambitions.  It also seems as much about cloth as it is about culture and politics.  Why the focus in these poems on making and wearing a kind of cloth, particularly the tartan?  What is the meaning of "wearing the plaid" for these writers, politically and culturally?  How do the laws forbidding wearing the plaid threaten their culture and way of life?  How does writing about clothing become an act of political resistance?  Since all of these poets are men, what is the significance of wearing the plaid for these men's sense of Highland "manliness."  What sort of things does a Highland man do in his tartan?  Discuss the political, cultural, or personal importance of wearing the plaid, as suggested by one or more of the '45 poets.