November 8th, 2020 
Essay question:
The aim of politeness was to reach an accommodation with the complexities of modern life and to replace political zeal and religious bigotry with mutual tolerance and understanding. The means of achieving this was a manner of conversing and dealing with people which, by teaching one to regulate ones passions and to cultivate good taste, would enable a person to realise what was in the public interest and for the general good. It involved both learning a technique of self-discipline and adopting the values of refined, moderate sociability. (Brewer, Pleasures of the Imagination, 102)
Appealing to the concepts invoked by John Brewer in the above citation, write a short essay explaining the connection of politeness and modernity in early 18th-century Britain.
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