EN2035

BA/DIPLOMA OF HE EXAMINATION
COMBINED DEGREE SCHEME EXAMINATION

ENGLISH

Group B Advanced Unit/Level 5 Course: Augustans and Romantics

Release date: Monday 15 May 2023 at 10.00 am British Summer Time

Submission date: Wednesday 17 May 2023 by 10.00 am British Summer Time

Submission Period: 48 hours

Time allowed: 3 to 5 hours

Answer THREE questions, ONE from EACH section (all three questions carry equal
marks). Candidates may NOT discuss the same text in more than one answer, in this
examination or in any other Advanced Level Unit/Level 5/Level 6 examination.

You are NOT expected to spend all of the 3-5 hours writing your answers. You have been
given this extended time period to accommodate the need for correct referencing in an
open book style exam. The 48-hour format allows you to begin your exam at a time
convenient to you, during the submission window.

There is no specific minimum or maximum word limit. This is because excessively short
and excessively long answers are self-penalising, and weaknesses in argument and
structure as a result of essay length will be assessed using the standard marking criteria
and exam rubric. Informally, a good essay should be approximately 1200-1500 words for
literature papers, excluding references and bibliography. This generally allows for an
argument of sufficient fullness and depth. It is recommended that you plan your work
carefully before starting to write.

© University of London 2023

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Further secondary research is NOT required to answer these questions; you are expected
to rely on your revision and your learning on the module. However, any and all direct or
indirect quotations that you do use must be referenced. If you do make use of the work of
others, by memorising or copying it, this material should be included within single
quotation marks, with no spaces between the text and quotation marks. You should also
include the details of where you have copied or memorised the material from in the
following format (Author, Date, Page Number). For example: ‘Sample Text’ (University of
London, 2023, p.1). Please ensure your referencing is as accurate as possible. Imperfect
referencing will not be penalised.

All submitted work will be checked by Turnitin, and must adhere to University of London
Worldwide’s strict policy on plagiarism. You are NOT permitted to consult with other
people in the preparation or composition of your answers. Neither should you discuss your
completed answers with other people before the submission period has elapsed. In writing
your answers you may make use of research and thinking that informed your formative
essay, and of the feedback received, but you must NOT simply reproduce any submitted
essay, or ‘cut and paste’ sections from formative work. It is also forbidden to ‘cut and
paste’ material from online teaching resources (this includes audio files of lectures and
postings on tutor forums), or any other source.

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 SECTION A

1. Write on ONE of the following passages, indicating those qualities which you think
make it characteristic of the period. Pay particular attention to the subject, the form,
and the use of language and image. (In addressing this question you are reminded
of the general advice, above, that ‘further research is NOT required’ in order to
complete your answer.)

(a)

I knew a Yeoman, 1 who for thirst of Gain,

To the great City drove from Devon's Plain
His numʼrous lowing Herd; his Herds he sold,
And his deep leathern Pocket baggʼd with Gold;
5 Drawn by a fraudful Nymph, he gazʼd, he sighʼd;
Unmindful of his Home, and distant Bride,
She leads the willing Victim to his Doom,
Through winding Alleys to her Cobweb Room.
Thence throʼ the Street he reels, from Post to Post,
10 Valiant with Wine, nor knows his Treasure lost.
The vagrant Wretch thʼassembled Watchmen spies,
He waves his Hanger, 2 and their Poles defies;
Deep in the Round-House 3 pent, all Night he snores,
And the next Morn in vain his Fate deplores.
15 Ah hapless Swain, unusʼd to Pains and Ills!
Canst thou forgo Roast-Beef for nauseous Pills?
How wilt thou lift to Heavʼn the Eyes and Hands,
When the long Scroll the Surgeon's fees demands!
Or else (ye Gods avert that worst Disgrace)
20 Thy ruinʼd Nose falls level with thy Face,
Then shall thy Wife thy loathsome Kiss disdain,
And wholesome Neighbours from thy Mug refrain.

Yet there are Watchmen, 4 who with friendly Light,

Will teach thy reeling Steps to tread aright;
25 For Sixpence will support thy helpless Arm,
And Home conduct thee, safe from nightly Harm;
But if they shake their Lanthorns, 5 from afar,
1 I knew a Yeoman: in the original edition this section is subtitled ‘A dreadful Example’.
2 Hanger: a kind of sword.
3 Round-House: a prison.
4 Yet there are Watchmen: in the original edition this section is subtitled ‘Of Watchmen’.
5 Lathorns: portable lanterns, originally made from animal horns.

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 To call their Brethʼren to confedʼrate War,
When Rakes resist their Powʼr; if hapless you
30 Should chance to wander with the scowʼring Crew;
Though Fortune yield thee Captive, neʼer despair,
But seek the Constable's considʼrate Ear;
He will reverse the Watchman's harsh Decree,
Movʼd by the Rhetʼrick of a Silver Fee.
35 Thus would you gain some favʼrite Courtier's Word;
Fee not the petty Clarks, but bribe my Lord.

(JOHN GAY, from Trivia; or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, 1716)6

(b)

NOTHING more plainly shews a weak and degenerate mind, than taking a delight in
whispering about every idle story we are told to the prejudice of our neighbours. This is
a fault charged more generally on our sex7 than the other; and I am sorry to say, with
but too much justice. Some will have it, that this unlucky propensity in us proceeds from
5 a greater share of envy and malice in our natures; others, less severe, ascribe it merely
to a want of something else wherewith to employ ourselves. This latter is certainly the
most true, because we often find women, who in no other respect can be accused of ill-
nature, yet take a prodigious pleasure in reporting every little scandal they hear, even
though it be of persons whom they have neither any quarrel against, nor can any way be
10 supposed to envy.
But this motive, tho' less criminal, is equally shameful, and ought to make every woman
blush when about to repeat the little affairs of persons with whom she has no manner of
concern, to think she finds an incapacity in herself of at tending to those of her own, and
which, it is not to be doubted, stand in sufficient need of regulation.

15 I have seen a fine lady, who has been sunk, as it were, in lassitude, half dying with the
vapours, and in such a lethargy, both of mind and body, that it seemed painful to her even
to drawl out a word, or lift up a finger; yet this insensible to all things else, has no sooner
heard of some new intrigue, no matter whether true or false, or between persons of her
acquaintance, or those she only knew the names of, than all the lustre has returned into
20 her eyes, smiles have dimpled her cheeks, and she has immediately started up, called in
a hurry to be dressed, ordered her coach, and almost killed a pair of horses in galloping
round the town with this intelligence.

6 The excerpt is from Book III, lines 285–320.

7 our sex: i.e.. women.
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 So great is the vanity some people have of being thought to be the first in hearing any
piece of news, that to it they will sacrifice all considerations whatever, or rather
25 consideration is itself absorbed In this ridiculous ambition. An ambition, did I call it? — Of
what? — Of being a tale bearer! — a gossip! — a lover of raking into filth! — Shameful
character, even to the lowest bred, much more so for a woman of quality and condition!
— None, I believe, will be willing to acknowledge it their own, but too many give substantial
proofs that it is so.

(from ELIZA HAYWOOD, The Female Spectator, 1744–46)8

(c)

THE PIEDMONTESE 9

Ah, merry swain, who laugh’d along the vales,

And with your gay pipe made the mountains ring,
Why leave your cot, your woods, and thymy gales,
And friends belov’d, for aught that wealth can bring?
5 He goes to wake o’er moon-light seas the string,
Venetian gold his untaught fancy hails!
Yet oft of home his simple carols sing,
And his steps pause, as the last Alp he scales.
Once more he turns to view his native scene—
10 Far, far below, as roll the clouds away,
He spies his cabin ’mid the pine-tops green,
The well-known woods, clear brook, and pastures gay;
And thinks of friends and parents left behind,
Of sylvan revels, dance, and festive song;
15 And hears the faint reed swelling in the wind;
And his sad sighs the distant notes prolong!
Thus went the swain, till mountain-shadows fell,
And dimm’d the landscape to his aching sight;
And must he leave the vales he loves so well!
20 Can foreign wealth, and shows, his heart delight?
No, happy vales! your wild rocks still shall hear
His pipe, light sounding on the morning breeze;
Still shall he lead the flocks to streamlet clear,
And watch at eve beneath the western trees.
25 Away, Venetian gold—your charm is o’er!

8 The Female Spectator: a monthly periodical publication, loosely modelled on The Spectator (1711–14).
9 THE PIEDMONTESE: the subject of this poem is a person from Piedmont, a region bridging modern-day
Italy and France.
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 And now his swift step seeks the lowland bow’rs,
Where, through the leaves, his cottage light once more
Guides him to happy friends, and jocund hours.
Ah, merry swain! that laugh along the vales,
30 And with your gay pipe make the mountains ring,
Your cot, your woods, your thymy-scented gales—
And friends belov’d, more joy than wealth can bring!

(from ANN RADCLIFFE, The Mysteries of Udolpho: A Romance, interspersed with some
pieces of poetry, 1794) 10

(d)

A man shut up all his life in his shop, without any thing to interest him from one year’s
end to another but the cares and details of business, with scarcely any intercourse with
books or opportunities for society, distracted with the buzz and glare and noise about
him, turns for relief to the retrospect of his childish years; and there, through the long
5 vista, at one bright loop-hole, leading out of the thorny mazes of the world into the clear
morning light, he sees the idle fancies and gay amusements of his boyhood dancing like
motes in the sunshine. Shall we blame or should we laugh at him, if his eye glistens, and
his tongue grows wanton in their praise? […]

If familiarity in cities breeds contempt, ignorance in the country breeds aversion and
10 dislike. People come too much in contact in town: in other places they live too much apart,
to unite cordially and easily. Our feelings, in the former case, are dissipated and exhausted
by being called into constant and vain activity; in the latter they rust and grow dead for
want of use. If there is an air of levity and indifference in London manners, there is a
harshness, a moroseness, and disagreeable restraint in those of the country. We have
15 little disposition to sympathy, when we have few persons to sympathise with: we lose the
relish and capacity for social enjoyment, the seldomer we meet. A habit of sullenness,
coldness, and misanthropy grows upon us. If we look for hospitality and a cheerful
welcome in country places, it must be in those where the arrival of a stranger is an event,
the recurrence of which need not be greatly apprehended, or it must be on rare occasions,
20 on ‘some high festival of once a year.’ Then indeed the stream of hospitality, so long
dammed up, may flow without stint for a short season; or a stranger may be expected with
the same sort of eager impatience as a caravan of wild beasts, or any other natural
curiosity, that excites our wonder and fills up the craving of the mind after novelty. By
degrees, however, even this last principle loses its effect: books, newspapers, whatever
25 carries us out of ourselves into a world of which we see and know nothing, becomes
distasteful, repulsive; and we turn away with indifference or disgust from every thing that

10The Mysteries of Udolpho: an early gothic novel, this poem is composed by the protagonist Emily St
Aubert.
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 disturbs our lethargic animal existence, or takes off our attention from our petty, local
interests and pursuits. Man, left long to himself, is no better than a mere clod; or his
activity, for want of some other vent, preys upon himself, or is directed to splenetic,
30 peevish dislikes, or vexatious, harassing persecution of others. I once drew a picture of a
country-life: 11 it was a portrait of a particular place, a caricature if you will, but with certain
allowances, I fear it was too like in the individual instance, and that it would hold too
generally true.

If these then are the faults and vices of the inhabitants of town or of the country, where
35 should a man go to live, so as to escape from them? I answer, that in the country we have
the society of the groves, the fields, the brooks, and in London a man may keep to himself,
or chuse his company as he pleases.

(from WILLIAM HAZLITT, from ‘On Londoners and Country People’, 1823)

11 I once drew a picture of a country-life: Referring to an earlier essay by Hazlitt on William Wordsworth’s

long poem The Excursion.

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SECTION B

Answer ONE question.

2. ‘Yet malice never was his aim; / He lash'd the vice, but spar'd the name’
(JONATHAN SWIFT). With Swift’s words in mind, analyse how one satirist from
the period chose to target ‘vice’ in general and/or wrote with ‘malice’ about
specific individuals.

3. Write about how one eighteenth-century novelist sought to use fiction in order
to provoke change in the individual and/or collective lives of their readers.

4. How does the work of one writer from the eighteenth century engage with the
material world of goods and/or material practices of consumption?

5. Analyse how work by one writer from the period is characterised by the language
of sensibility, feeling, and/or emotion.

6. But who can paint

Like Nature? Can imagination boast,
Amid its gay creation, hues like hers?
[JAMES THOMSON]

How does the verse of one poet from the period examine the potential and
limitations of ‘imagination’ for representing the life of ‘Nature’?

7. How does one Romantic writer explore religious ideas and/or religious faith in
their work?

8. To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
[WILLIAM BLAKE]

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 With these lines by Blake in mind, write about how one Romantic writer made use
of a macroscopic and/or microscopic perspective in their work 12.

9. Discuss the representation of any one of the following by one writer from the
period:

(a) books
(b) animals
(c) sleep

12
Macroscopic: large-scale; microscopic: concerned with minute detail.
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SECTION C

Answer ONE question.

Your answer in this section should refer to AT LEAST TWO authors. For the purposes of
this examination, Jane Austen will be deemed a nineteenth-century author.

10. Analyse how at least two eighteenth-century satirists manipulated conventions

of literary form and/or genre in order to achieve their purposes in writing.

11. Compare and contrast the narrative perspectives and strategies of novels by at
least two eighteenth-century writers.

12. ‘[H]ow much it behoves the Fair Sex to stand upon their Guard against [men’s]
artful Contrivances, especially when Riches and Power conspire against Innocence
and a low Estate’ [SAMUEL RICHARDSON]. With these words from Samuel
Richardson’s novel Pamela in mind, explore how dynamics of ‘Riches and Power’
inform relationships between men and women in fictions by at least two novelists
from the period.

13. ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to
know.’ [JOHN KEATS]. Bearing in mind Keats’s contention, compare and contrast
how at least two Romantic poets conceive the capacity of aesthetic ‘beauty’ to
convey ‘truth’ about humanity and/or the universe.

14. The speaker of a lyric by William Wordsworth famously ‘wandered lonely as a

cloud’, while ‘London’ by William Blake opens by describing how ‘I wander thro’
each charter’d street’. Analyse how at least two Romantic authors explore
practices of physical and/or imaginative movement and ‘wandering’.

15. Compare and contrast the representation of nationhood and/or national identity in
works by at least one Augustan and one Romantic author.

16. Examine the writing of at least two authors in whose work you detect a tension
between the customary, traditional, or ‘ancient’ (on the one hand) and the new,
innovative, or ‘modern’ (on the other).

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17. Consider the ways in which at least two writers of the period represent ideas about
and/or experiences of one of the following:

(a) childhood
(b) racial identity
(c) illness and/or disability.

END OF PAPER

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