Voltaire, Candide, Chapters 1-7

Link to the PDF text of Pearson's translation of Candide

Candide, or Optimism, translated from the German (text) of Doctor Ralph

Overview and Close Reading Suggestions

General - generic significance of the narrative frame as picaresque or bildungsroman

"Translated from the German of Doctor Ralph Together with the addenda which were found in the Doctor's pocket when he died in Minden (in Westphalia) in the year of grace 1759" (1). 

Chapter 1- the role of "nature" in Candide's disposition, his questionable social status in the castle of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, the Baron's own questionable distinction, "scientific" experiments

Close Reading: basic characterizations

Chapter 2 - Bulgars vs. Abars, Candide conscripted -- loses natural freedom, the King of the Bulgar's "clemency" -- Mildness or gentleness of temper, as shown in the exercise of authority or power; mercy, leniency (OED, 'clemency,' n. 1.a).

Close Reading: heroism versus freedom ("His feet were promptly clapped in irons...(6) -> "a clemency that will be praised in every newspaper and in every century" (7). 

Chapter 3 - Armies in war: "fine...dashing...glittering...well-regulated" armies vs. "hell," "heroic butchery," descriptions of depredations. Te Deums -- An ancient Latin hymn of praise in the form of a psalm, sung as a thanksgiving on special occasions, as after a victory or deliverance; also regularly at Matins in the R.C. Church, and (in an English translation) at Morning Prayer in the Church of England. (OED, 'te deum,' n.a.) Protestants in Holland (anti-papists) vs. Jacques, "a worthy Anabaptist."

Close Reading: description of warfare, paragraphs on 7-8.

Chapter 4 - Candide's "compassion" toward Pangloss's reduced state, Pangloss's rationalizations. The origins and genealogy of syphilis (10-11), the "charitable" Anabaptist's assistance

Close Reading: the mixed sources of Pangloss's disease ("Oh my dear Candide!" (10)..."'twenty thousand cases of the pox on either side'" (11).

Chapter 5 - The Lisbon disaster -- Jacques and the sailor, Pangloss's justification, encounter with "an agent of the Inquisition" (14)

Close Reading: Events on the ship (12)

Chapter 6 - The auto-da-fe -- Pangloss's punishment vs. Candide's, the Jewish "Portuguese" 

Close Reading:The auto-da-fe ("After dinner men came and tied up Dr Pangloss...the din was fearful" (14-15)

Chapter 7 - the old woman's inexplicable "charity" toward Candide -- Cunegonde still alive (picaresque conventions)

Close Reading: n/a

Voltaire

In-Class/Blog Discussion Questions: 
1. Why might Voltaire have called his hero "Candide?" (OED: candid, adj.)
2. Any insight into the name "Pan-gloss"?
3. What brings about Candide's exile from the "beautiful castle" (2) that he considers" paradise on earth" (3)? Any allegorical considerations?
4. Who are the first people to be kind to Candide following his exile? Why are they kind to him? What kind of a world does he venture out into?
5. What happens to Pangloss in the intervening years between Cunegonde witnessing him in the garden and Candide reuniting with him?
6. Why might Voltaire make the most "worthy" character in the early story (Jacques) an Anabaptist?
7. What is an auto-da-fe and how do Candide and Pangloss end up wrapped up one?
...

General

1. What are some connections and distinctions between rationalism and optimism? (links to OED definitions)
2. What does providentialism mean and how does this ideology bear on the story?

For Thursday 1/23:

Supplementary readings: Voltaire's Preface and "Poem on the Lisbon Disaster" for Thursday 1/23 and Rousseau's "Letter to Voltaire on Optimism" for Tuesday 1/28

From Pearson's Introduction: "Voltaire's faith in God had been severely shaken by the Lisbon Earthquake on 1 November (All Saints' Day) 1755 which killed 20,000 or more people; and his poem on the subject, published in 1756, is a devastating cri de coeur against Pope and Leibniz, not to mention the Almighty" (Pearson xix).

Engraving of the Lisbon Disaster

Excerpt from Voltaire's "Poem on the Lisbon Disaster":

Oh wretched man, earth-fated to be cursed; 

Abyss of plagues and miseries the worst!

Horrors on horrors, griefs on griefs must show, 

That man's the victim of unceasing woe, 

And lamentations which inspire my strain, 

Prove that philosophy is false and vain.

Approach in crowds, and meditate awhile

Yon shattered walls, and view each ruined pile, 

Women and children heaped up mountain high,

Limbs crushed which under ponderous marble lie;

Wretches unnumbered in the pangs of death, 

Who mangled, torn, and panting for their breath, 

Buried beneath their sinking roofs expire, 

And end their wretched lives in torments dire. 

Say, when you hear their piteous, half-formed cries,

Or from their ashes see the smoke arise, 

Say, will you the eternal laws maintain,

Which God to cruelties like these constrain?

Whilst you these facts replete with horror view, 

Will you maintain death to their crimes was due?

And can you impute a sinful deed

To babes who n their mothers' bosoms bleed?

Was then more vice in fallen Lisbon found, 

Than Paris, where voluptuous joys abound?

(Hazlitt, Candide -- from Voltaire, Works, trans. Tobias Smollett et al. (25 vols, London, J. Newbery, 1761-5).

Fundamentals: Close Reading Guidelines

What is Close Reading?
Close reading is a method of reading in which a reader focuses specifically on word choices
(diction) and other formal features of a text including but not limited to: tone; end rhyme,
internal rhyme, or flow of free verse; alliteration or consonance; repeated words or phrases;
and structural aspects of the text including organization, genre, identifying “speaker” and
intended “audience.”

In order to properly close read, you have to have the right mindset. I recommend thinking of a text as having a structure akin to an onion or pomegranate. Sure, the whole text is important, but the whole is composed of complex parts that fit together. Figuring out how all of these distinct layers or seeds of language and meaning come together to form a text is the goal of a close reading.

Why Close Read?
When you devote incredibly close and careful attention to a small portion of text, “small” meaning NO MORE (and ideally less) THAN

2 paragraphs of prose MAX!

You can often discover depths or layers of meaning that are not immediately apparent or significant in a quick read-through of a lot of material.

But isn’t the whole the sum of its parts and therefore the real deal?
Sure, but by carefully examining a well-chosen small part you can learn more about the whole.

When attempting to close read, consider: the choices of language on the word, sentence, and phrase level; imagery; word order; any symbolic language – metaphors or puns; punctuation; and rhyme or rhythm.

Not every passage of a work or excerpt from a poem is created equal, but as you close read
more frequently your attention will be increasingly drawn toward paragraphs with interesting
language and formal aspects that can grant you greater insight on the author’s expression.

Close reading entire works is long hard work – these kinds of readings end up in critical literary articles or book chapters.

In order to get you to pay the right kind of close attention to language and meaning 
and keep assignments relatively short, you have to start really small. Even two paragraphs is
probably too much prose – address one instead if you can. 

If needed, use ellipses [...] to eliminate material that does not contribute to your reading. 

How to close read:
Step 1: After you have read all of a selection – it's important to have a sense of general
meaning with which to inform your close reading, choose 1-2 paragraphs or a stanza or two
of poetry that you feel are important in terms of: the specific language used, making meaning in
the piece overall, new ideas being introduced or important words defined, places where
something is happening and you don’t know what it is, places where something is clearly
happening – a shift in the text. LESS IS MORE!

Step 2: Type out this selection yourself. Don’t just copy and paste from an online source, after
all, it shouldn’t be very long. Actually send your fingers over the words and you’ll find yourself
paying a different kind of attention to the way that the passage is constructed. Make it double
spaced – give yourself room to write by hand.

Step 3: Print it out and mark it up. Circle, underline or highlight key words. Draw arrows
connecting ideas or linking repeated words. Write questions you have about various parts of
the passage around it in the margins. You cannot be overly specific in a close reading. It is FAR
more likely that your initial treatments of the text will be overly vague.

Step 4: Using your marked up passage, start at the top. Explicate (analyze) the passage in your
own words, quoting KEY LANGUAGE from your selection. You should rarely quote a full
sentence in your close reading, if you do so, it should be to introduce words and ideas in their
original relation. General guideline: If you do quote an entire sentence, you should spend at
least two more taking it apart.

For more details see the Close Reading Assignment Sheet and Grading Rubrics.

Other resources:

• "How to Do A Close Reading" - Patricia Kain for the Harvard Writing Center
• Close Reading Poetry from the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
• A general, non-academic guide to "The Art of Close Reading" from The Foundation for Critical Thinking
• Tips for Close Reading (from an previous section of E314)

Voltaire's Candide, PDF & Reading Schedule

Here's a link to a PDF of the entirety of Candide (thanks to your classmate Alyssa's search skills).

This is the correct translation (Roger Pearson) with the same pagination as the new editions arriving shortly at the Co-Op.

Supplementary readings: Voltaire's Preface and "Poem on the Lisbon Disaster" for Thursday 1/23 and Rousseau's "Letter to Voltaire on Optimism" for Tuesday 1/28

Censorship Statement, due by Monday 1/20

E314 Banned Books
Censorship Statement

DUE by Monday 1/20 (MLK Holiday - no classes)

Overview
Research a written work or another kind of text (art, film, music, etc.) that has been banned or censored by some institutional body (school systems, the government, the Catholic Church, other religious officials, etc) to get a sense of what the work is about (especially if you haven't read it) and why it was considered controversial.

Write a comment discussing
(1) the nature of this work - what is it about, why was it found to be controversial?
(2) What measures were taken to ban or restrict access to the work.
(3) Whether or not you find these procedures to be right (ethically, morally, or intellectually).

Censorship Resources

• ALA (American Library Association) lists of frequently challenged books
• Wikipedia list of books banned by governments
• OCLC (Library Database) 112 banned books from the Top 1000 Books List (2005)
• The Index Librorum Prohibitorum (a list of books prohibited by the Catholic Church)-- background & list
• Wikipedia lists of films banned in the United States and worldwide
• Banned visual artwork
• Banned music videos @RollingStone
• Banned recording artists @Billboard
• The expression "I know it when I see it" 

"The phrase "I know it when I see it" is a colloquial expression by which a speaker attempts to categorize an observable fact or event, although the category is subjective or lacks clearly defined parameters. The phrase was famously used in this sense by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his threshold test for obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964). In explaining why the material at issue in the case was not obscene under the Roth test, and therefore was protected speech that could not be censored" ("I know it when I see it," Wikipedia).

•  (VIDEO) New York Public Library Live discussion of censorship and other issues by authors Toni Morrison and Junot Díaz

Milton's "Areopagitica" word frequency cloud

Reading Checkpoint #1

Reading Checkpoint #1

Hint: Use CTRL+F or APPLE KEY + F to open a search and find field in your browser window. 

1. To whom is Areopagitica addressed? What is the goal of Milton's speech? 

(Find “for though I should affirme and hold by argument…” & “If ye be thus resolv’d”)

 2. Why is Milton concerned about censors, especially ‘Imprimatur’ (check the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for clarification)?

Access the OED on http://lib.utexas.edu/ ‐> Click the 'Databases' tab on SCOUT search -> 'O' -> 'OED (Oxford English Dictionary) 

Campus computers automatically sign-in. If you are working elsewhere, you'll need to sign-in to the Library website with your UT EID and password. 

 3. Who are the primary victims of censorship?

(Find "manifest hurt it causes")

4. Using the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) -- see instructions above for question 2 -- discuss the differences between ‘scandalous,’ ‘seditious,’ and ‘libellous.'

Welcome to E314L: Banned Books + Introductions

Welcome to E314L: Banned Books and Novel Ideas!
Section 35190 -- "Censors and Citizens"
TTh 3:30-5:00, FAC 10

Important Links: 

Course Policies

Course Schedule UPDATED

Major Assignment Prompts and Rubrics

Blackboard (https://courses.utexas.edu/)

This Blog (http://314bannedbooks.blogspot.com/) 

Course Twitter (https://twitter.com/E314BannedBooks)

Course Texts: 

For the purposes of this course, in which we focus on close reading -- analysis of language on the level of words, sentences, and paragraphs -- it is strongly recommended that you use the approved editions of the text.

The three books required for this course are available at the UT CO-OP for a total of around $30 new or less used. They are listed below in the order assigned.

1. Voltaire, Candide and Other Stories. Translator: Robert Pearson. Oxford World Classics, 2008. (1759)
ISBN-13: 978-0199535613. About $8 new, or $6 used.

• Candide will be covered from next Tuesday 1/21 through Tuesday 1/30. 
• Repeatedly banned
• This novella (a work with a length between that of a long story and a novel) is originally written in French and translations vary widely. I have selected the Robert Pearson translation because I find it to be the most accessible and rewarding translation for close reading in English.
• Note that editions by other publishers will not have the same words, let alone the same pages. Earlier Oxford editions are acceptable if they are the only ones you can find, but they do have different pagination: 

2. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Dover Thrift Editions, 2005. (1851-52) 

ISBN-13: 978-0486440286. $5 new or about $4 used.

• Uncle Tom's Cabin will be covered from Thursday 2/6 through Thursday 2/27.
• Banned in the southern states as "abolitionist propaganda"
• Other editions cost more and have different pagination. 
• Avoid the Dover Study Edition. It is not the same edition and is more expensive.

NOT THE RIGHT ONE 

3. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man. Vintage, 1995. (1952)

ISBN-13: 978-0679732761. $16 new, $12 used from CO-OP. 

• Invisible Man will be covered after Spring Break from Thursday 3/18 through Thursday 4/17.
• Earlier Vintage editions have different covers but should still have the same pagination. Just make sure that you don't have H.G. Wells's Invisible Man (1897). 
• 2013 banning efforts in North Carolina (and the lifting of the ban)

A free fair-use digital course reader hosted on Google Drive will be cross-linked to this course blog.

Now introduce yourselves:

Reply to the following prompts in a comment: 

Preferred Name: 

Where are you from? 

Classification (Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior): 

Major or Potential Major: 

Other Areas of Study/Interest: 

OPTIONAL BONUS EXTRA-CREDIT ROUND!!!Congratulations! You've been declared King/Queen of the World...

• What/whom do you ban/banish as your first decree?
• Why? And how would you propose to enforce this decree? 
• Bonus points (for real) for a related link.

Assignment Prompts

All Major Assignments and Grading Rubrics

• Post+Presentation Requirements

Scheduled throughout semester starting Thursday, 1/23. Make a 500+ word blog post and give a 5-8 minute presentation with Q&A ~ 10 minutes -- signups will open on Google Docs in class on Tuesday 1/28.

• Close Reading Assignments and Rubrics

Three writing assignments due on Sundays by midnight throughout the semester (#1 by 2/9, #2 by 2/23, #3 by 3/30 ). One full single-spaced page (about 500-700 words). 

• Essay Assignments and Rubrics 

Two essays, 5-7 pages each (double-spaced). Essay #1 due by Sunday 3/9 and Essay #2 due by Sunday 5/4.