The Coquette

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. “Seduction novels” were a popular genre in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Given the time period, what can you guess about the typical plot, themes, and characters of a seduction novel?

Teaching Suggestion: Students will appreciate The Coquette more deeply if they understand both the seduction novel tradition and its typical goals. As students will likely be able to make reasonable guesses about seduction novels, you might ask them to complete the prompt first and then offer them the first resource listed below as a way to check their ideas and refine their answers.

• This article offers a thorough introduction to seduction novels and their social and political context.
• This article from Rhetoric and Public Affairs explores key ideas from Donna R. Bontatibus’s text The Seduction Novel of the Early Nation: A Call for Socio-Political Reform. (Due to its length and complexity, this article is suggested as a teacher-facing resource.)

2. What is an “epistolary novel”? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of writing in this format?

Teaching Suggestion: Although students may have encountered the epistolary form in their previous reading, they may not have considered how the form impacts the reader’s experience. The resources listed below offer an introduction to the form and thoughts on its relative advantages and disadvantages. After reviewing these resources and answering the prompt question, students may enjoy sharing examples of epistolary narratives that they have read, watched, or played and discussing how the epistolary form impacted their understanding and engagement.

• This 7-minute video from Oregon State University explains the epistolary form and illustrates its characteristics with classic examples.
• This article considers some of the strengths and weaknesses of the epistolary form.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

If you were asked to write a modern-day seduction novel, what contemporary danger would your main character be “seduced” by? Who would your target audience be? Do you think there is room in today’s literature for stories like this, or do you think they might seem didactic and alienating to contemporary audiences?

Teaching Suggestion: The primary intention of this prompt is to offer students a way into the material through their own experiences and concerns—but it also serves to nudge them toward considering how The Coquette may be using the dangers of sexual seduction for 18th-century women as a stand-in for a larger and more timeless issue: How do we balance our desire for independence and our desire to be seen as “special” with the rules and norms that govern us as social beings? After students complete this prompt, you might follow up by explicitly introducing students to this idea and then asking how our beliefs about the balance between individual desires and society’s norms have changed since the 18th century and how that impacts their answer to the prompt’s final question.