FIFTH HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:
English Chapbooks

 

Due electronically by 5 PM, October 22. Send to <21H.418-students>:

 

1) Using arguments provided by Spufford, evaluate the readers of early modern English chapbooks. Were these the readers envisioned by Erasmus in The Paraclesis? Did they read their chapbooks the way Erasmus wanted Christians to read the New Testament? Is it possible to generalize about the reading practices of English chapbook readers?

2) Consider English chapbook readers in light of Ong's arguments about orality and literacy. To what extent do traces of orality remain in the texts of the chapbooks?

3) Are there texts available in print or online today that resemble any of the excerpts that you read from Samuel Pepys' Penny Merriments? Name one or two publishing genres today that you think might be distantly related to the early modern chapbook, and state why you think there are similarities.