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E491: History of Literary Criticism Alexander Pope Study Questions Al Drake | 520 Hum. M/W 12:00-1:00 | ajdrake@ajdrake.com "An Essay on Criticism" (1711) 1. What is the problem of individual judgment, according to Pope? Do few men have even the potential for good judgment? What ruins "good sense"? (lines 19-25) 2. What must a good critic know about himself? Why does Pope advise critics to "stoop to what they understand"? (lines 46-49) 3. To what should a critic adjust his judgment? What metaphor does Pope use to describe nature? In what three respects is nature related to art? (lines 68-73) 4. What is the proper relationship between wit and judgment? To what is the poet's wit compared? (lines 84-87) 5. Whence do the "rules" of poetry come? What is their relation to nature? (lines 88-91) 6. How does Pope rationalize the imitation of the ancients? What amazing discovery did Virgil make in his study of Homer? Why should a modern poet have a "just esteem" for "ancient rules"? (lines 130-35, 139-40) 7. In what special way does poetry resemble music? What does Pope think of those who "rise to faults"? Though a poet may break a rule, what must he never "transgress"? Can you give an example of such a happy violation? (lines 141-45) 8. What should a critic remember who thinks that "Homer nods"? (lines 175-80) 9. What is the great critical error made by those who are "fond of some subservient art"? What are some examples of this error, according to Pope? (lines 259-64) 10. From lines 335-439, Pope advises critics on the degree of toleration they must show towards what seem to be faults, and weighs in on the quarrel over ancient and modern literature. Why is toleration or patience necessary? And how does he view the arguments over whether the ancients or moderns are better? 11. From lines 424-429, how does Pope address the respective risks of being either too ignorant or too learned? 12. From lines 476-83, how does Pope characterize literary longevity in his own era? 13. From lines 530-559, what tendencies in his era's poetry does Pope say should obtain no pardon from critics? Why? 14. From lines 574-680, what attitude does Pope suggest critics take towards their audience and what principle should they follow in choosing the appropriate amount of honest criticism? What examples from ancient criticism does he offer? 15. From lines 681-end, what narrative does Pope offer for the development of criticism from the fall of Rome to his own day? Is the prognosis for sound English criticism hopeful, or is Pope a pessimist in that regard? Explain. Extra Discussion Questions 16. What metaphor dominates Pope's discussion of language? What is the metaphorical relationship between thought and expression? How does this metaphor guide a poet in his selection of language? 17. Does Pope seem to offer the possibility of a balanced reply to Socrates in the Ion? What about the question of the poet's relationship to the "rules"? What about the problem of the furor poeticus? 18. What indeed is Pope's theory of imitation? How can a poet imitate nature by imitating the ancients? Does the theory seem to imply a belief in historical progress or in the contrary? Does it suggest a negative view of history? Explain. 19. Pope designates pride as the greatest single cause of "Man's erring judgment." He thus suggests that there is a relationship between man's ability to know the truth and his moral disposition. Must Pope's poet, therefore, be a good man? Is "true wit" possible without humility? Do you believe this? 20. What Horatian ideas do you find in Pope? 21. Are there dangers in thinking of language as a kind of "clothing" for thought? Doesn't the metaphor separate thought from its verbal form? But is it really possible to think without language? Nakedly? How does the metaphor suggest Pope's pragmatic bias? His concern for the audience? 22. Does Pope use the term "nature" in the same way a Romantic might? Edition: The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. ISBN: 0393974294.
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