33 pages • 1 hour read
Alexander PopeAn Essay on Criticism
Nonfiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1711A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Develop an argument about how Alexander Pope uses the rhyming (or heroic) couplet to show that the form of a poem can develop its message or content.
The poem uses recurring images of medicine, the body, and health to develop its themes. Consider how it uses these images and what they add to its meaning.
What reasons does Pope give for wanting to offer an essay on the subject of literary criticism and poetry? How does his argument flow from those motivations?
Focus on one literary, historical, or mythical allusion: Why do you think Pope refers to this particular figure at this particular moment in the poem?
Find an image pattern in the poem (for example: water, clothing, animals, etc.) and create an argument about how that pattern works and what ideas it helps to develop.
Many of the lines in the poem have become famous for their use in popular culture. Choose one quotation that has been adapted or referred to in the modern or postmodern era and talk about how the use of it relates to its original meaning in An Essay on Criticism.
How does perspective figure in An Essay on Criticism? You might think about the relationship between the part and the whole, but also about historical perspective or the perspective of critic compared to poet or upper-class to lower-class writer or critic. You might also think about the perspective of reader compared to poetic narrator or poet.
How would you describe Pope’s tone in this poem? Where does he refer to himself, and why do you think he does so in those moments?
In the last lines of the poem, Pope claims that he will be content if “th’ unlearned their wants may view, / The learned reflect on what before they knew” (Lines 741-42). Does Pope’s poem principally address the “learned” or the “unlearned”? How can you tell?
Related Titles
By Alexander Pope
