Switching gears

As I looked at the calendar, it became clear that we really don't have time to continue with Defoe and attend to The Review. There's at least one other writer we've agreed to have a look at, Samuel Johnson.

We also have a break coming up. So here's a choice for you. Over the break, either read a couple of hours' worth of The Review, and post a reading journal -- questions, observations, concerns -- on the Review strand of the Wider reading in Defoe forum, or read the first hour's worth of each of two sections of Boswell's Life of Johnson -- the first part of 1725, and the first part of 1763 -- that's how the book is laid out, by year; you can find a fairly readable version online via Jack Lynch's 18th century e-texts. The one those links point to is the Adelaide version of the abridgement of the Life by Osgood). Post your reading journal on the Boswell forum on the course Web site.

Or, of course, you can read and post about both.

Back in class, on March 12, we'll see what people chose to read, discuss their reflections on their reading, and organize to make some choices about what to read in Johnson.

Have a break. Don't waste it all in idleness, as Dr. Johnson would have said.