an essay on criticism pope sparknotes

docxAlexander Pope- Understanding The Essay of Criticism6 PagesUploaded byDoğaç KutluViews  connect to downloadREAD PAPERDownloadUploaded byDoğaç KutluLoading PreviewSorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.RELATED PAPERSAn Evolutionary Approach to Shakespeare's King Learby Joseph Carroll.
This lesson will explore Alexander Pope's famous poem titled 'An Essay on Criticism.' In an attempt to understand the importance, influence and significance of the work, we'll look at the literary and philosophical context of the poem. Alexander Pope and the Enlightenment'A little learning is a dang'rous thing,' Alexander Pope famously writes in his poem 'An Essay on Criticism.' The poem is one of the most quoted in the English language and one that offers tremendous insight into Pope's beliefs and into the culture in which Pope was writing. Pope lived from 1688 to 1744 and was one of the most popular and influential writers of his time. He was writing during what we now call the Enlightenment era, which lasted from about 1660 to around 1800. Enlightenment thinkers emphasized the importance of science and reason and claimed that the world is knowable and testable. It was during the Enlightenment that modern science and many of the assumptions that govern our contemporary system of reason were developed. This context and the excitement that surrounded the changes brought to culture through the Enlightenment are central to 'An Essay on Criticism.' Overview of the PoemPope's 'Essay on Criticism' is broken into three different parts. The first part opens by describing the ways literary critics can actually cause harm. Pope argues that critics must be both careful and humble when critiquing a piece of literature, for the writing of bad criticism actually hurts poetry more than the writing of bad poetry does. Pope points out that each critic has his or her own opinion, and, if applied incorrectly, a critic can actually censure a talented writer. However, Pope argues that if a critic is honest, doesn't fall prey to envy and listens to the seeds of understanding that are naturally a part of him or herself, one can become a wise critic. The Greeks came to understand poetry.
Quote Horace still charms with graceful Negligence,And without Method talks us into Sense, Will like a Friend familiarly conveyThe truest Notions in the easiest way.He, who Supream in Judgment, as in Wit,Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,Yet judg'd with Coolness tho' he sung with Fire;His Precepts teach but what his Works inspire. Our Criticks take a contrary Extream,They judge with Fury, but they write with Fle'me:Nor suffers Horace more in wrong TranslationsBy Wits, than Criticks in as wrong Quotations. (An Essay on Criticism, ll. 653-664)Basic set up:In this section of Pope's poem (yeah, it's a poem, but it's also an essay), he praises the ancient Roman poet Horace. Thematic Analysis The Augustans' love for the classics is reflected in these lines. Here, Pope is waxing lyrical about what a wonderful writer the ancient poet Horace was.According to Pope, Horace is great at talking us into Sense. He conveys to us the truest Notions in the easiest way. Basically, if you ask Pope, Horace is so much better than all those hacks writing during Pope's own time, who judge with Fury, but write with Fle'me. That's phlegm, folks. Tasty image. Stylistic Analysis Pope doesn't just praise Horace in this excerpt; he also tries to emulate Horace's wit and style. Look at how neat and graceful those heroic couplets are: Horace still charms with graceful Negligence,/ And without Method talks us into Sense, / Will like a Friend familiarly convey/ The truest Notions in the easiest way. Like Horace, Pope is also trying to talk us into sense here. He's trying to convey Notions to us in the easiest way, that is, by employing a style and language that's graceful, convincing, and witty all at once. People who Shmooped this also Shmooped. Gothic Literature - Learning Guide Harlem Renaissance Literature - Learning Guide Victorian Literature - Learning Guide Movies Go behind the scenes on.
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Alexander Pope, a translator, poet, wit, amateur landscape gardener, and satirist, was born in London in 1688. He contacted tuberculosis of the bone when he was young, which disfigured his spine and purportedly only allowed him to grow to 4 feet, 6 inches. Pope grew up on his father’s property at Binfield in Windsor Forest, where he read avidly and gained an appreciation for the natural world. Though he remained in ill health throughout his life, he was able to support himself as a translator and writer. As a Catholic at that time in Britain, he was ineligible for patronage, public office, or a position at a university.   A sharp-penned satirist of public figures and their behavior, Pope had his supporters and detractors. He was friends with Jonathan Swift, Dr. John Arbuthnot, and John Gay. Pope’s poems include the “Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot” and the mock epic “The Rape of the Lock.” To read his work is to be exposed to the order and wit of the 18th century poetry that preceded the Romantic poets. Pope primarily used the heroic couplet, and his lines are immensely quotable; from “An Essay on Criticism” come famous phrases such as “To err is human; to forgive, divine,” “A little learning is a dang’rous thing,” and “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”   After 1718 Pope lived on his five-acre property at Twickenham by the Thames. He cultivated a much-visited garden that contained a grotto, and featured the formal characteristics of a French garden and the newer more natural “English” landscape style.   Pope wrote “An Essay on Criticism” when he was 23; he was influenced by Quintillian, Aristotle, Horace’s Ars Poetica, and Nicolas Boileau’s L’Art Poëtique. Written in heroic couplets, the tone is straight-forward and conversational. It is a discussion of what good critics should do; however, in reading it one gleans much wisdom on the qualities poets should.