English 3 Alexander Pope & An Essay on Man please take out your norton Anthology and your notebooks. Put away your ipads! March 30, 2017

Warm up “…all that [Pope] disliked and feared in the tendencies of his time—the vulgarization of taste and the arts consequent on the rapid growth of the reading public and the development of journalism, magazines, and other popular and cheap publications, which spread scandal, sensationalism, and political partisanship—in short the new commercial spirit of the nation that was corrupting not only the arts but, as Pope saw it, the nation itself” (2666). What does Pope fear in his time? How are some of his fears realized today? What does this tell us about human nature? (specifically in regards to politics, publications/media, scandal, & sensationalism)

Alexander Pope 1688-1744 Roman Catholic—could not attend a university, vote, or hold a public office First English writer to build a lucrative, lifelong career by publishing his works Crippled by early tuberculosis of the bone—only grew to 4 feet, 6 inches tall—despite this, he was an optimist Wrote brilliant mock epics, witty satire, and beautiful pastoral poems Pope’s early poetry caught the attention of the Whigs—after the fall of the Whigs in 1710, Pope made friends with Tories (Jonathan Swift, Thomas Parnell, John Gay) In 1714, this group formed a club for satirizing all sorts of false learning

Alexander Pope 1688-1744 Their club was important because it inspired and fostered the satiric temper that would later produce Gulliver’s Travels and other works “The life of a wit is a warfare on earth”-Pope 1730s Pope moved on to philosophical, ethical, and political subjects in An Essay on Man The reigns of George I and George II appeared to him (and other Tories) a period of moral, political, and cultural deterioration Pope assumed the role of the champion of traditional values: right reason, humanistic learning, sound art, good taste, and public virtue

Alexander Pope 1688-1744 Satirist: deals with generally prevalent evils and generally observable human types—not always with particular individuals Pope created the I of the satires—detached observer, somewhat removed from the city, town, and court (centers of corruption) This I is a friend of the virtuous—demonstrates integrity—fond of peace, country life, the arts, morality, and truth Pope implies it is impossible for such a man—honest, truthful, and blunt—to not write satire The grave epistles that make up An Essay on Man are written in stately forensic language and tone and constantly employ the traditional rhetorical figures—survey of human nature, society, and morals Themes: the Creator and His creation, the universe, human nature, society, and happiness

Alexander Pope an essay on man His insistence that everything must be “right” in a universe created by God, skips over the tragic elements of experience that much of the great literary, philosophical, and religious expression confronts Problem: existence of evils in a world presumed to be the creation of a good God An Essay on Man avoids all specifically Christian doctrines—not because he disbelieved them—but because “man” is the subject Why would he do that? Concerned with the universal Divided into Epistles Epistle 1: essential order and goodness of the universe and the rightness of our place in it

Alexander Pope an essay on man Page 2714-2720 As you read, jot down at least 3 quotes from each stanza—then write some associations or commentary that come to mind Homework due Friday—finish reading and annotating An Essay on Man—we will fill in the rest of the graphic organizer together