ROTL INTRO-lesson #1

History

Alexander Pope

Born 1688

“Tubercular infection that curved his spine, severely stunted his growth, and caused unending pain.”

Catholic in Protestant England:  lived outside of London

“everywhere Pope looked he saw imperfection—own body, institutions, contemporaries’ writing, behavior of citizens

Aim:  to delight as well as instruct

Wit – “not just a truth, but a truth well phrased.”
Wit in many forms—Pope favored heroic couplet (2 lines of rhyming iambic pentameter)

Essay on Criticism “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,/As those move easiest who have learned to dance.” 

-warns against extremes and counsels humility

Samuel Johnson pronounced it “the most attractive of ludicrous compositions,” in which “New things are made familiar and familiar things are made new.”

Poetic Devices

9 key characteristics of an Epic Poem:

1) It opens in the midst of the story (medas res)

2) The setting is vast and it covers many nations, the world and the universe.

3) It usually begins with an invocation to Muse.

4) It starts with a statement of the theme.

5) The use of Epithets (descriptive terms).

6) It includes long lists.

7) It features long and formal speeches.

8) It shows divine intervention on human affairs.

9) The Heroes embody the values of civilization.