Week 7 A.P. Literature and Composition Bell Ringers

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Week 7 A.P. Literature and Composition Bell Ringers

Due Thursday, October 19, 2017
Objective: SWBAT determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4

“On Man” Alexander Pope, 1734

Day 1: Read this poem several times. Annotate/Talk to the text using the two columns to distinguish literary and figurative meanings you derive as you read. (30 points)

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much;
Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus'd;
Still by himself, abus'd or disabus'd;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all,
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;
The glory, jest and riddle of the world.

Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;
Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,
Correct old time, and regulate the sun;
Go, soar with Plato to th’ empyreal sphere,
To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;
Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,
And quitting sense call imitating God;
As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,
And turn their heads to imitate the sun.
Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule—
Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!

Day 2 (1-4)

In line 1, “scan” means

(A) glance

(B) refer

(D) watch

The word “mazy” (line 25) is most likely which part of speech?

(A) an adverb

(B) an adjective

(D) a verb

(E) a pronoun

In the context of the entire poem, it is clear that “quitting sense” (line 26) expresses the speaker’s

(A) inability to understand God

(B) ultimate belief in mankind’s greatness

(D) indifference towards mankind’s achievements

(E) judgment on the arrogance of mankind

The first stanza conveys a sense of:

(A) mankind’s extraordinary power

(B) distrust of the doctrine of humanism

(D) mockery of mankind’s authority

(E) transience of man’s individual worth

(E)surpass

Day 3 (5-8)

5. The last line of the poem contrasts most directly with the line

(A) “Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule—” (line 29)

(B) “Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,” (line 19)

(D) “And quitting sense call imitating God;” (line 26)

(E) “The proper study of Mankind is Man.” (line 2)

6. The poem is best described as a(n)

reflective narrative

(A) atheoretical reverie

(B) pointed inquiry

(D) philosophical analysis

7. What is the subject of the word “teach” in line 29?

God

(A) man

(B) an Eastern priest

(D) it is unknown

8. Given the context of the poem, the first two lines of the poem are best understood to mean:

(A) man has no business examining God, but rather should look to himself

(B) God cannot tell man who he is, therefore he should not try to either

(D) mankind can only imagine God’s greatness, and is therefore inadequate

(E) it is only fitting for man to study God, not his own imperfect self

Day 4

The poem primarily takes the form of

(A) an elegy

(B) a pantoum

(D) heroic couplets

In the poem, man is presented as a(n)

(A) conundrum

(B) paradox

(D) deity

11. The poem relies on which of the following literary devices?

Anaphora
Litotes
Juxtaposition

(A) I only

(B) I and III only

12. The main purpose of the poem is to

(A) urge man to understand himself better

(B) encourage man to accept his own ignorance

(D) caution mankind of its own hubris

(E) ridicule the sorry state of mankind