An+Essay+on+Man


 * Some background**
 * Background:**
 * **heroic couplets**:
 * a survey of human nature, society, and morals.
 * Addressed and dedicated to Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke
 * Epistle I concerns itself with the nature of man and with his place in the universe.
 * Sets out to “vindicate the ways of God to man.” How does this compare to Milton?
 * What does Pope set out to demonstrate about the word?


 * Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Man” Study Questions**

1. Line 16 should sound familiar to you: of what earlier work is it an echo? Why is this significant? 2. What does Pope mean in lines 29-32 when he says, “But of this frame the bearings, and the ties, / The strong connections, nice dependencies, / Gradations just, has thy pervading soul / Looked through? or can a part contain the whole?” 3. In Section 1 (lines 17-34), Pope delineates a difference between the way man can understand the universe and the way God can. What is the difference? 4. Pope begins Section 2 by chiding man for something. What is it? 5. Does the imagery in Section 2 suggest that Pope sees the universe as a place of democratic equality? If not, what is his vision of the universe? 6. What does Pope mean when he says, “Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate, / All but the page prescribed, their present state?” (lines 77-78) 7. Explain Pope’s metaphor of the lamb in lines 81-84. 8. In Section 4, what does Pope claim our principal error is? What does this error lead us to do? 9. Pope begins Section 5 by mocking Man’s tendency to believe nature was created for him alone. What evidence does Pope give in lines 141-144 to contradict this belief? 10. Why does Pope mention the Borgias and Catiline in line 156? What are they an example of? What problem do they reveal?
 * Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Man” Study Questions, Part 2**

1. In lines 175-6, why is man grieved when he looks downwards? 2. In part 7, Po