Which are the elements of Augustan prose (Augustan literature)?

[Manuel2P]

Hello!

I am studying the Augustan period of English literature and I need someone to give me a hand and tell me which are some elements of Augustan prose. I think I have a few of them: satire, essay, dialogue, irony... but I guess I am missing some other important ones.

Could you help me, please?

Thanks in advance.

[hannah_arendt]

I think that, you can find some usefull information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustan_prose

[Manuel2P]

Exactly, I have already looked at that article, but I was searching for further information on this and I hoped to find specialized people or literature lovers to help me.

[OrphanPip]

Restoration and Augustan prose is precisely my field of specialization, but I'm not a big fan of doing people's homework for them. I imagine that your teacher assigned certain readings which you should be basing your observations on. What did you read for the class?

[Manuel2P]

Why do you have to infer those unfair assumptions? Can't you just see I have a problem with the issue? I have ALREADY studied the Augustan period but I do not want to have an incomplete vision about it and I want to amplify the question. What's more, studying at University requires that you manage yourself and try to look for further sources in order to complete your study. If it really is your field of study, why couldn't you help me?

By the way, it's elements of the Augustan prose what I am searching for.

[OrphanPip]

I didn't ask you to repeat the request from your first post, I asked you to elaborate on what your experience of Augustan prose has been. Telling you what I think without you having any first hand experience of that literature or what those elements mean in their context will do very little to help you learn. I assume you have the ability to read excerpts from The Spectator or a novel from the period and begin to put forward an idea about what characterizes these works as particularly Augustan. I am willing to help answer specific questions, but asking someone to summarize an entire literary movement for you is just lazy on your part.

[Manuel2P]

I see we have some difficulties in understanding each other. Let's see if I can explain it clearer. Let's take Gothic fiction as an example. The main elements/features/characteristics of Gothic fiction are: dark environments and atmosphere, supernatural causes of events, oppressiveness, isolation of characters...

I do not think it should be so difficult for you to define briefly elements which strongly characterizes Augustan prose. I have studied Pope and read Windsor Forest, and also The Rape Of The Lock.

Are you willing to help me now or should I look for more altruistic people?

[Charles Darnay]

what would spitting out a few words of characteristics help? The Augustan Period (as you might have surmised if you have read enough from the period) is not as unified as - say - Romantic Gothic, which is a fairly unified subgenre. The elements of satire and irony that you mentioned in the OP are part of some Augustan writings (such as Swift and Pope, but that doesn't provide much. Essay and dialogue are very generic and can be applied to most literary periods. There are more common threads that tie Swift, Pope, Goldsmith, Johnson (although Pip might argue that Johnson is not really part of the Augustan Period) - threads that become more self-evident the more your read these authors. If you are able to track it down, Goldsmith's "Augustan Age in England" (1759) is a good essay, well, at least an informative one.

[Manuel2P]

.................................................. ......................Yes, a few words of characteristics would help me a lot, that is just what I need in order to further develop my class notes.