Alexander Pope. A social poet – Language and subject matter directed at reading public Subject=...

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope

A social poet– Language and subject matter directed at reading

public

Subject= human nature in everyday living– Politics, education, economics, public taste and

the arts

Uses satire to present a moral code for society

Alexander Pope

Spokesman for the Age of Reason and Neoclassical poetry

Neoclassical poetry

1.Importance of flawless expression and clear and concise presentation of ideas; preference for the perfect balance if heroic couplets

Neoclassical poetry

2. Intellectual experience as the subject of poetry

Neoclassical poetry

3. Irrelevance of emotion

Neoclassical poetry

4. Imagination as a source of power, not a course of creativity

Pope’s “Essay on Criticism”

Essay = discussion

Read Part I and Part II Show how the excerpts reflect Neoclassical

approaches to each of the following:1. Balance and clarity2. Emphasis on the intellectual3. Attitude toward emotion4. View of imagination5. Use of satire


1. BALANCE AND CLARITY Written in heroic couplets Rhymed iambic pentameter


2. EMPHASIS ON THE INTELLECTUALPART I

“Both must alike from Heaven derive from light, / These born to judge, as well as those to write” (13-14)


2. EMPHASIS ON THE INTELLECTUAL

PART II

“True wit is nature to advantage dressed, / What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed:/ Something, whose truth convinced at sight we find./ That gives us back the image of our mind. / As shades more sweetly recommend the light, /So modest plainness sets of sprightly wit” (1-6).


2. EMPHASIS ON THE INTELLECTUAL

Part II

“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those moves easiest who have learned to dance” (41-42)


3. ATTITUDE TOWARD EMOTION

No emotional pleas

Part II- lists personal qualities that could cloud judgment


4.VIEW OF IMAGINATION

Imaginative use of language throughout


5. USE OF SATIRE

Part II

“Others for language all their care express / And value books, as women men, for dress;” (9-10)


5. USE OF SATIRE

“And bust so mimic ancients wits at best, / As apes our grandsires, in their doublets dressed” (35-36).


Summarize Pope’s points in his “Essay on Criticism”


Summarize Pope’s points in his “Essay on Criticism” Part I discussed the role of the writer-critic. Some

men are born to be critics and writers Part II discusses the qualities that hinder good

judgment. Discusses the good qualities a critic should possess

Reread part II and annotate the qualities that could hinder a critic

Note how the poem is logically organized.


Reread part II and annotate the qualities that could hinder a critic

Pride Imperfect learning Looking at a part instead of the whole Prejudice Partiality to moderns or ancients

Alexander Pope. A social poet – Language and subject matter directed at reading public Subject=...

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