Final Project. Constructing Class Texts.
Pick one of the books we have read (Moll Flanders, Persuasion, Hard Times, or Down and Out
in Paris and London) and place it within time and space by writing a paper (10 pp., double-spaced, 12 pt., and one-page summary with pictures or brief powerpoint sent to me so that I can
put the presentations online for the others to see; due 2 Aug.) showing how it represents social
relations and social differentiations in its particular place and era.
- Overall the essay should focus on the one book and one theme. But I expect the introduction and
conclusion to reflect on how the notion of social class in the work fits or does not fit the
appropriate discussion of class in Cannadine.
- And I expect the body of the paper to analyze the text of the work (quotes, summaries, telling
phrases as part of proofs of your points, followed by analysis of what is important in your own
words), as well as context (discussion of relevant places you have seen, comparison with other
works you have read [you can, for purposes of comparison draw upon other works above], what
historians think about the period, and relevant facts you bring to the argument.
- I expect you to draw upon at least three places or things you have seen on this trip, at least three
historians (Cannadine can be one), at least three websites, and at least two other works of art (one
of these can be another piece of contemporary literature we have read).
- Citations should follow Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style (see <http://ux1.eiu.edu/~nekey/citate.htm>). But if a number of citations are from one
work, then a p. # in parentheses at the end of the quote is sufficient. For example, a paper on Persuasion might emphasize the geography of status, when the girls note: "I hope we shall be in
Bath in the winter; but remember, papa, if we do go, we must be in a good situation: none of
your Queen Squares for us!"
Queen Square had been a desirable location when built in the early
18th century, but by the early 19th century, other locations further up the hills were more desirable.
- Sir Walter had taken a very good house in Camden Place, a lofty dignified
situation, such as becomes a man of consequence; and both he and Elizabeth were
settled there, much to their satisfaction. (book II, ch. 3, p. 159)
- As we are using a number of different editions, you need to tell me your edition in the first note,
and, if possible, note the chapter before the page number. Remember you are following note
citation, not bibliographic citation (if there are full note citations the first time [you abbreviate
subsequent citations to the same work], so do not put last name first (you are not alphabetizing
notes).
- For those who have noted their topic is Hard Times, here are some helpful sites:
- Primary Sources on Class and Industry in the 1840s
- Friederich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1845
- Life of the Industrial Worker in Ninteenth-Century England
(compiled by Laura Del Col , from The Victorian Web)
- Andrew Ure, Philosophy of Manufactures (1835) (from Modern History Sourcebook)
- Utilitarianism
- John Stuart Mill, "Utilitarianism" (1861, selections)
- Jeremy Bentham
- The Rationale of Reward (1825, selection)
- You might consider what Dickens thought (and what his character the "educator" Mr. Gradgrind thought of the following: "
The utility of all these arts and sciences,—I speak both of those of amusement and curiosity,—the value which they possess, is exactly in proportion to the pleasure they yield. Every other species of preeminence which may be attempted to be established among them is altogether fanciful. Prejudice apart, the game of push-pin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry. If the game of push-pin furnish more pleasure, it is more valuable than either. Everybody can play at push-pin: poetry and music are relished only by a few. The game of push-pin is always innocent: it were well could the same be always asserted of poetry. Indeed, between poetry and truth there is natural opposition: false morals and fictitious nature. The poet always stands in need of something false. When he pretends to lay has foundations in truth, the ornaments of his superstructure are fictions; his business consist in stimulating our passions, and exciting our prejudices. Truth, exactitude of every kind is fatal to poetry. The poet must see everything through coloured media, and strive to make every one else do the same. It is true, there have been noble spirits, to whom poetry and philosophy have been equally indebted; but these exceptions do not counteract the mischiefs which have resulted from this magic art. If poetry and music deserve to he preferred before a game of push-pin, it must be because they are calculated to gratify those individuals who are most difficult to be pleased."
- Extract from Jeremy Bentham's Last Will and Testament (just because you have to read this to believe it!)
- Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854)
- Relevant Secondary Works
(mainly historians, all from JStor, available through Booth Library or other libraries)
- William O. Aydelotte, " The England of Marx and Mill as Reflected in Fiction," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 8, Supplement: The
Tasks of Economic History. (1948), pp. 42-58.
- Elaine Scarry, "Work and the Body in Hardy and Other Nineteenth-Century
Novelists,"
Representations, No. 3. (Summer, 1983), pp. 90-123.
- W. D. Rubinstein, "Wealth, Elites and the Class Structure of Modern
Britain," Past and Present, No. 76. (Aug., 1977), pp. 99-126.
- Philip Collins, " Dickens and Industrialism," Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 20, No. 4,
Nineteenth Century. (Autumn, 1980), pp. 651-673.
- D. C. D. Pocock, " The Novelist's Image of the North," Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New
Series, Vol. 4, No. 1. (1979), pp. 62-76. (to the British, virtually anything north of London is the North)
- E. P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism,"
Past and Present, No. 38. (Dec., 1967), pp. 56-97.
- Neil McKendrick, "Josiah Wedgwood and Factory Discipline,"
The Historical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1. (1961), pp.
30-55.
- Rondo Cameron, "The Industrial Revolution: A Misnomer,"
The History Teacher, Vol. 15, No. 3. (May, 1982), pp.
377-384.
- Michael W. McCahill, "Peers, Patronage, and the Industrial Revolution,
1760-1800,"
The Journal of British Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1. (Autumn,
1976), pp. 84-107.
- Sidney Pollard, "The Factory Village in the Industrial Revolution,"
The English Historical Review, Vol. 79, No. 312. (Jul.,
1964), pp. 513-531.
- Michael Goldberg, "From Bentham to Carlyle: Dickens' Political
Development,"
Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 33, No. 1. (Jan. -
Mar., 1972), pp. 61-76.
- E. J. Hobsbawm, "The Standard of Living during the Industrial Revolution: A
Discussion"
The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 16, No. 1.
(1963), pp. 119-134.
- For those focusing on Down and Out in Paris and London, here are some helpful sources:
- Primary Sources on London Working Class and Poor in the early 20th century
- Down and Out in Paris and London
- "The Spike," by Eric Blair (Orwell's real name, in Adelphi, April 1931)
- Charles Booth, Charles Booth's London: a portrait of the poor at the turn of the century drawn from his Life and labour of the poor in London, ed. A. Fried and R.M. Elman (London: Hutchinson, 1969) (Royal Historical Society Bibliography).
- Note: we saw Charles Booth's map of London poverty (and wealth) circa 1898-99 at the Museum of London. Booth's map is also available online.
- "The Poplar Case Examined" (a contribution over what to do with the destitute before the stock market crash and Great Depression [note: Orwell probably "tramped" in the late 1920s before the Depression], 1926)
- "The Reform(!) of the Poor Law" (a Labour Research Department policy paper, 1927)
- Secondary Works (mainly historians, all JStor unless noted) on London Working Class and Poor in the early 20th century
- Penny Summerfield, "Mass-Observation: Social Research or Social Movement?," Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 20, No. 3. (Jul.,
1985), pp. 439-452.
- Harold Perkin, "'The Condescension of Posterity:' The Recent Historiography of the English Working Class," Social Science History, Vol. 3, No. 1. (Autumn, 1978), pp.
87-101.
- John Rodden, "On the Political Sociology of Intellectuals: George Orwell and the London Left Intelligentsia of the 1930s," Canadian Journal of Sociology; Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 15, No. 3. (Summer, 1990), pp.
251-273.
- JohnThompson, Orwell's London, photographs by Philippa Scoones (London: Fourth Estate, 1984) (Royal Historical Society Bibliography).
- MichaelWard, Red flag over the workhouse: the unemployed in South West London, 1918-23 (London: Battersea/Wandsworth Soc. Hist. Group, 1983) (Royal Historical Society Bibliography).
- RosemaryO'Day, 'Retrieved riches: Charles Booth's Life and labour of the people of London,' History Today, 39 (1989), 29-35 (Royal Historical Society Bibliography).
- Ernest Peter Hennock, 'The measurement of urban poverty: from the metropolis to the nation, 1880-1920,' Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 40 (1987), 208-27 (Royal Historical Society Bibliography, & JStor).
- SallyAlexander, 'Men's fears and women's work: responses to unemployment in London between the wars', Gender & History, 12:2 (2000), 401-25. (Royal Historical Society Bibliography)
- JerryWhite, '"Penniless and without food": unemployment in London between the wars', in Outsiders & outcasts: essays in honour of William J. Fishman, ed. by Geoffrey Alderman and Colin Holmes (London: Duckworth, 1993), 119-35. (Royal Historical Society Bibliography)
- JamesGillespie, 'Poplarism and proletarianism: unemployment and Labour politics in London, 1918-34', in Metropolis London, ed. D.M. Feldman and G. Stedman Jones (London: Routledge, 1989), 163-88. (Royal Historical Society Bibliography)
- Barry Eichengreen, 'Unemployment in interwar Britain: new evidence from London,' Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 17 (1986-7), 335-58. (Royal Historical Society Bibliography)
last updated
August 16, 2006