Sylvia Kasey Marks is a student of British literature in the long eighteenth century and is particularly interested in the contribution of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century conduct literature to the history of the novel. She explored this theme in her first book on Samuel Richardson’s novel Sir Charles Grandison and expanded her research into a second book on eighteenth-century British fiction for young people from 1672 to 1839. Prof. Marks has published articles and book reviews on Richardson, Sarah Fielding, and Jane Austen and regularly presents conference papers on such authors as Austen, Frances Burney, Jane Porter, Samuel Johnson, and William Makepeace Thackeray. She will be speaking on Frances Burney’s novel Cecilia and on the playwright Arthur Miller’s short stories in the fall, 2015.
Besides her commitment to scholarly research in eighteenth-century British literature, Prof. Marks is an experienced teacher and administrator. Her university teaching career began at Polytechnic Institute of New York where she taught at the Brooklyn and Long Island campuses. At the Long Island campus she also served as Humanities Coordinator and Director of Freshman Writing until that campus closed in 2002. She has taught Freshman Writing and the traditional survey courses in British, American, and World Literature, as well as courses on the epic, novel, novella, short story, and drama.
As of January, 2014, Poly is now NYU’s School of Engineering. Prof. Marks has developed special topics courses in Ethical Questions in Literature, the City and Literature, Medicine and Literature, and the Environment and Literature. As an associated faculty member of the NYU English department she has taught the epic, novella, and short story at the Washington Square campus and has worked with MA students on their theses.
University of Michigan, 1964
B.A.Ed., English
University of Michigan, 1966
M.A., English
Princeton University, 1980
Ph.D., English
- American Society for Eighteen-Century Studies, James L. Clifford Prize: Honorable Mention Award 2004-05 for an an article: "From Fielding to Sherwood: Settig A Good Example." East-Central Intelligencer ns 17.3 (September, 2003): 13-21.
Books
Writing for the Rising Generation: British Fiction for Young People, 1672-1839. Victoria, British Columbia: University of Victoria English Literary Studies, 2003.
Sir Charles Grandison: The Compleat Conduct Book. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1986.
Recent Articles
"Delectando Monemus: An Examination of the Books That Delighted and Instructed Young Readers 1700-1840." The Eighteenth Century. Theory and Interpretation. 55.2-3 (Summer/Fall 2014): 313-17. Print. An essay-review of M. O. Grenby, The Child Reader 1700-1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
"Sarah Fielding's The Governess: A Gloss on Her 'Books upon Education.'" Women, Gender, and Print Culture in Eighteenth-Century Britain. Essays in Memory of Betty Rizzo. Ed. Temma Berg and Sonia Kane. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Lehigh University Press, 2013. 59-100.
"Hughes, Mary." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Ed. Jack Zipes. 4 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 2:226.
"Pilkington, Mary." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Ed. Jack Zipes. 4 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 3:254.
"Pinchard, Elizabeth Sibthorpe." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Ed. Jack Zipes. 4 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 3:255.
"From Fielding to Sherwood: Setting a Good Example." The East-Central Intelligencer N. S. 17.3 (September 2003): 13-21. Received the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, James L. Clifford Prize: Honorable Mention Award 2004-05.
Recent Book Reviews
Richardson, Samuel. The Early Works. Ed. Alexander Pettit (Cambridge 2012). In The Scriblerian47:1 (Autumn 2014): 42-44.
Harris, Jocelyn. A Revolution Almost beyond Expression. Jane Austen's Persuasion (Delaware 2007). In The Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer N.S. 23.1 (January 2009): 36-37.
Alderson, Brian and Felix de Marez Oyens. Be Merry and Wise: Origins of Book Publishing in England, 1650-1850 (Oak Knoll 2006). In The Scriblerian 41.1 (Autumn 2008): 64-66.
Fielding, Sarah. The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy. Ed. Candace Ward (Broadview 2005). In Ebronline: Eighteenth-Century Book Reviews Online, May, 2007.
Recent Conference Papers
"Drama in Frances Burney's The Wanderer." November 8, 2014, East-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, University of Delaware.
Roundtable paper "Representations of Women of Color During the Long Eighteenth Century": "Eighteenth-Century British Fiction for Young people in the Cause of Abolition," March 21, 2014, American Society for Eighteen-Century Studies, Williamsburg, Virgina.
Roundtable paper Honoring Betty Rizzo. Book Launch: Women, Gender, and Print Culture in Eighteen-Century Britain: Essays in Memory of Betty Rizzo, eds. Temma Berg and Sonia Kane, Lehigh University Press, 2013: "Betty Rizzo and My Article," November 8, 2013, East-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"The Mysteries of Pemberley: Jane Austen and the Gothic Novel," October 4, 2013, Northeast Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Yale University.
"Frances Burney's The Wanderer: A Study in Infamy," November 3, 2012, East-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Baltimore, Maryland.
"Another Jane [Porter]; Another Grandison?" November 4, 2011, East-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Pennsylvania State University.
"The Fountains: Samuel Johnson's Fairy Tale." October 8, 2009, East-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Lehigh University.
"Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring: A Piece of the Longer Eighteenth Century?" November 8, 2008, East-Central Society for Eighteeth-Century Studies, Georgetown University.