EXAM 1
Due Friday, March 19, 4:30 p.m. Send as a Word file email attachment to twhitcom@keene.eduDo not send as a PDF or a link to a cloud fileFile name: [Student’s last name] Exam 1. Example: Smith Exam 1
Questions
How does Voltaire’s Candide portray Western society on the eve of the French Revolution (1789), and how does it treat the attempts of its characters, especially Dr. Pangloss, Martin the Manichaean, and the Turkish dervish, to explain horrific human and natural events? (At least 500 words; 50 percent of grade.)
How do the topics treated in the Declaration of the Rights of man and of the Citizen reveal the nature of the ancien régime and the particular concerns of the socioeconomic class of the authors? What may be viewed as its contradictions or omissions? (At least 500 words; 50 percent of grade.)
Notes on Candide
The authorVoltaire (François-Marie Arouet): 1694-1778
French philosophe and prolific writer, known for his contradictions: Controversies as to his real thought
The historical and cultural context
The ancien régime, the era of absolutism before the French Revolution (1789)
After the Seven Years’ War and the Lisbon Earthquake, which stirred debate about the origin of evilThe era of the Enlightenment, with growing popular interest in political, economic, and social reform
Censorship: Candide published under a pseudonym and purportedly translated from German
The genre and purpose
Genre: Satirical novel
Purpose: To discredit Leibniz’s doctrine of optimism
Western society on the eve of the French Revolution
Class divisions and socioeconomic inequality: Clergy, nobles, and commoners
Absolutist Governments
Armies and war
Attempts to explain horrific natural and human eventsProfessor Pangloss: Optimism
“All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds”; “Leibnitz could never be wrong.”
Martin: Pessimism/Manicheanism (look up)
“‘But for what end has this world been formed?’ said Candide. ‘To plague us to death,’ answered Martin.”
The Turkish Dervish: Deism (look up)
2
“When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease?”
Candide’s reaction to the evil he saw and the attempts of others to explain it“We must cultivate our garden.”
An alternative to optimism and pessimism?
Action?
Acceptance?
Focusing on one’s own concerns?
Notes on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The authors
Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and the Marquis de Lafayette, in consultation with Thomas Jefferson
Historical and cultural context
Adopted by the National Assembly, August 26, 1789, six weeks after the beginning of the RevolutionHad a major impact on the development of conceptions of individual liberty and democracy worldwideIncluded in the current Constitution of France
Genre and purpose
Genre: Proclamation of the National Assembly
Purpose: A statement of the values of the leaders of the first phase of the French Revolution
Topics treated in the Declaration reveal the nature of the ancien régime.
Unequal class system: The Three Estates
Absolutism: Officials not accountable
Arbitrary rule: No rule of law
Property not secure from expropriation without compensation
No freedom of speech
No religious dissent
Governance enforced through oppressionCriticism
Gender: Women were not citizens, subject to laws, but had no role in making them
Slavery
Sugar plantation slavery made Saint-Domingue the most profitable European colony
The authors may have omitted slavery because they profited from it through investments; cf. JeffersonThe omission inspired a slave uprising in Saint-Dominque and the creation of independent HaitiThe inequality caused by private property
The authors were all property ownersIgnored Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s theory that private property is the source of all oppression“Social distinctions can only be based on common utility” Article 1St).
3
Writing Guide
Content
A clearly articulated thesis and a coherent supporting argument based upon evidence from the assigned sources.
Additional sources, if used, shall be limited to scholarly books and articles (most articles are available at jstor.org). Other material from the Internet (dot.com), encyclopedias, popular magazines, and newspapers shall not be used.
Documentation (sources and page numbers) for all word-for-word quotations and for all ideas, opinions, and facts from the works of others which cannot be considered common knowledge.
Compliance with the College’s Academic Honesty Policy, especially with regard to producing original work and citing and referencing the ideas and work of others.
Composition
Division into paragraphs, each beginning with a topic sentence or main idea, followed by supporting or detail sentences which explain or supply evidence.
Correct English, including grammar, syntax, usage, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
A formal, impersonal style without contractions, abbreviations, colloquialisms, slang, clichés, stale and irrelevant popular metaphors, and statements in the first and second persons (“I,” “we,” “you,” etc.)
Format
A conventional 12-point black font, white background, one-inch margins, double line-spacing.
Information on the first page (no title page): complete name of the author (no nicknames), number of the course and section, the title of the course, date, and “Exam 1.”
The method of documentation discretionary; consistent throughout.
