His 2400, Paper 1

week 4. War, Trade, and Empire in the Eighteenth Century

Sept. 16. Perry, Western, ch. 17 (pp. 420-6)

Sept. 18. [note: first readings moved from Sept. 16 to 18] Tierney and Scott, Documentary, section 3 (pp. 68-75, 78-84) [Commerce, North America, Far East]; (pp. 85-99) [Old Colonial, European Empires]; Voltaire, Candide, chs. I-VI

week 5. Ancien Regime Europe and Its Discontents

            Sept. 23. Perry, Western, ch. 18; Voltaire, Candide, chs. VII-XVIII; Candide pre-assignment due

Sept. 25. Tierney and Scott, Documentary, section 4 (pp. 102-30) [Nature, God, Progress, Skepticism, Politics]; Voltaire, Candide, all

weeks 6 & 7. French Revolution and Europe, 1787-1815

Sept. 30. Perry, Western, ch. 19;

Oct. 2. Candide’s Eighteenth Century papers due

Pre-assignment question:

Write a typed double-spaced paragraph on what Voltaire satirizes and why in Candide. chapter _________.

Paper question (use one), for a typed, double-spaced essay (5 pp., 15%):

1. Was Voltaire a product of or a critic of the Age of Enlightenment? Examine Voltaire's evaluation of Enlightenment ideals in Candide. Does Voltaire only criticize and satirize the practices of his age, or does he also criticize Enlightenment thought? Are there any Enlightenment ideals that he defends? Is he accurate? Use at least two additional documents (Tierney and Scott, sections 3 and 4) to identify thought and practices.

2. Ecrasez l'infâme (Crush the infamous thing!) cried Voltaire in his letters. But what is "the infamous thing" Using documents on either religion or 18^th-century war, trade, and empires, argue what Voltaire finds most objectionable about his period focusing on three different aspects of the subject. Is he accurate? Use at least two additional documents (Tierney and Scott, sections 3 and 4) to identify thought and practices.

Use at least two of the texts on reserve for context of the eighteenth century.