Sr. English A – Mr.

McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18 th

Century
Table of Contents
The Restoration and the 18th Century 1660-1798 - Tradition and Reason ..................................... 4
The Restoration and the 18th Century: Historical Context .......................................................... 4
The Reign of Charles II........................................................................................................... 4
Royalty and the People ........................................................................................................... 5
Ideas of the Age .............................................................................................................................. 6
The Age of Reason...................................................................................................................... 6
The Scientific Method............................................................................................................. 6
Enlightened Philosophies ........................................................................................................ 6
Living Well ............................................................................................................................. 7
Literature of the Times.................................................................................................................... 7
Social Observers ......................................................................................................................... 7
Satirical Voices ........................................................................................................................... 7
The Age of Johnson .................................................................................................................... 8
Women Writers ........................................................................................................................... 8
Metaphysical Poetry........................................................................................................................ 9
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 9
John Donne ................................................................................................................................... 10
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 10
Literary Analysis: Metaphysical Conceit.............................................................................. 10
Reading Skill: Interpret Ideas ............................................................................................... 10
Background ............................................................................................................................... 10
Song .......................................................................................................................................... 12
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning ....................................................................................... 12
A Valediction Forbidding Mourning ........................................................................................ 12
Holy Sonnet 10 ......................................................................................................................... 14

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley
Meditation 17 ............................................................................................................................ 14
Andrew Marvell ............................................................................................................................ 15
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 15
To His Coy Mistress ................................................................................................................. 15
Robert Herrick .............................................................................................................................. 16
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 16
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time .................................................................................... 16
John Milton ................................................................................................................................... 17
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 17
Literary Analysis: Figurative Language ............................................................................... 17
Reading Strategy: Clarify Sentence Meaning ....................................................................... 18
John Milton ............................................................................................................................... 17
How Soon Hath Time (Sonnet VII) ........................................................................................... 18
How Soon Hath Time: .............................................................................................................. 18
When I consider How My Light is Spent (Sonnet XIX)............................................................ 19
When I Consider How My Light Is Spent ................................................................................ 19
Paradise Lost ............................................................................................................................. 19
Summary ............................................................................................................................... 19
Sir Francis Bacon .......................................................................................................................... 21
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 21
Literary Analysis: Essay ....................................................................................................... 21
Reading Skill: Evaluate Opinions ......................................................................................... 21
Sir Francis Bacon ...................................................................................................................... 21
Of Studies.................................................................................................................................. 23
Jonathan Swift............................................................................................................................... 24
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 24
Jonathan Swift....................................................................................................................... 24
Literary Analysis: Satire ....................................................................................................... 24
Reading Skill: Identify Proposition and Support .................................................................. 24
Vocabulary ............................................................................................................................ 25
Gulliver’s Travels ..................................................................................................................... 26

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley
Literary Analysis: Fantasy .................................................................................................... 26
Reading Skill: Understand Satire in Historical Context ....................................................... 26
Vocabulary ............................................................................................................................ 26
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 26
A Modest Proposal .................................................................................................................... 27
Alexander Pope ............................................................................................................................. 28
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 28
Poetic Form: Mock Epic ....................................................................................................... 28
Literary Analysis: Heroic Couplet ........................................................................................ 28
Reading Strategy: Understand Elevated Language............................................................... 28
From An Essay on Man ............................................................................................................ 29
The Rape of the Lock ................................................................................................................ 29
Thomas Gray................................................................................................................................. 30
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 30
Poetic Form: Elegy ............................................................................................................... 30
Reading Skill: Make Inferences ............................................................................................ 30
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard ................................................................................... 30
Anne Finch .................................................................................................................................... 31
About the Author ...................................................................................................................... 31
A Nocturnal Reverie ................................................................................................................. 31

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

The Restoration and the 18th

Century 1660-1798 - Tradition and
Reason
Pg. 462-478
 After years of tumult and upheaval,
England settled happily into a time of
peace, order, and prosperity.
 Behind the façade of tradition,
however, was a radical new way of
thinking – scientific, logical, and
“enlightened” – that would change the
face of Britain.
 The monarchy had been restored, but in
this era, reason ruled unchallenged.

The Restoration and the 18th Century:

Historical Context
 Writers of this era worked in a context
of relative political stability and
increasing rights under a more limited
monarchy.

The Reign of Charles II

 French sophistication
o England turned its back on the
grim era of the Puritan rule
o Charles spent much of his exile
in France
o He tried to emulate the French
king Louis XIV
 Patron of arts & sciences
o Charles re-established
Anglicanism as England’s state
religion
 Supported by Tories, limited by Whigs
o Support grew in Parliament as
Charles weathered the Great
Plague and the Great Fire of
London.
o Whigs – wanted to limit royal
authority and upperclassmen
o Tories – supporters of royal
authority. They consisted
mainly of land-owning
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Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley
aristocrats and conservative
Anglicans, who had little
tolerance for Protestant
dissenters and no desire for war
with France.

Royalty and the People

William and Mary

 Charles was succeeded by his catholic
brother James II.
 James wanted to restore Catholicism.
 As a result James was forced to
abdicate (give up) the throne to his
protestant daughter Mary.
 Glorious Revolution – Mary and her
husband William of Orange peacefully
took the throne.
o This was a triumph of
parliament over the kings
 English Bill of Rights – put specific
limit on royal authority
 William of Orange ruled after Mary
passed away.
o Because he was Dutch and a
protestant he was a natural
enemy of Catholic France.
o A second Hundred Year’s went
on because of the all the battles
between England and France.
o Act of Settlement was passed
which barred Catholics from the
throne.
 The throne then went to Mary’s sister
Anne. During her reign Scotland was
officially united with England to form
Great Britain.

The House of Hanover

 Anne was the last monarch in the house
of Stuart.
 After Anne passed the crown went to a
distant cousin, the ruler of Hanover in
Germany, George I, first ruler of the
House of Hanover.
 George I spoke no English and was

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viewed with contempt.
 George relied heavily on Whig
ministers.
 George I and his son George II relied
on capable prime Ministers.
 Seven Year’s War – Britain acquired
French Canada.
 George II’s grandson was the first
British born monarch from the House
of Hanover.
 George II led Britain into a series of
political blunders that resulted in the
loss of the American Colonies.

Ideas of the Age

 This period became known as the Age
of Reason, because people used reason,
not faith, to make sense of the World.

The Age of Reason

 The late 1600’s and the 1700’s
 The Enlightenment or Age of Reason
o People began to use scientific
reasoning to understand the
world.

The Scientific Method

 Sir Isaac Newton – Mathematical
Principles of Philosophy (1687)
 Scientific Method – consists of
analyzing facts, developing a
hypothesis, and testing that hypothesis
with experiments.
 Suggested that the universe operated by
logical principles that humans were
capable of understanding.
 Milky Way was discovered and
chemists discovered carbon dioxide.
 Animals were categorized

Enlightened Philosophies
 The discoveries of Newton also
inspired in government and other areas
other than science.
 John Locke encouraged people to use

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their intelligence to rid themselves of
unjust authorities.
 Locke provided a logical justification
for the Glorious Revolution and the
American Revolution.

Living Well
 The Enlightenment led to
improvements in living conditions.
o Inoculations and vaccinations
 British citizens lived well and
sumptuously.
 Many rich aristocrats had multiple
houses.
 Writers, artists, politicians, and other
members of society gathered daily in
London’s coffeehouses to exchange
ideas, conduct business, and gossip.
 Educated women held salons, or private
gatherings.

Literature of the Times

 In this time of prosperity and relative
stability, literature flourished, finding
new audiences, new forms, and new
voices.

Social Observers
 A growing middle class increased
demand for middlebrow literature.
 Journalism became popular, providing
opinions as well as facts.
 Novels were modeled on nonfiction
forms.
 Pepys’s diary captured Restorations
period.

Satirical Voices
 Neoclassicists emulated the rationality
of ancient Greek and Roman writers.
 The early 1700s were called the
Augustan Age, in reference to the times
of Roman emperor Augustus.
 Satire pointed out society’s problems;
Horatian satire was gentle, Juvenalian

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was dark.
 Restoration comedies satirized the
Stuart court.

The Age of Johnson

 The late 1700s were called the Age of
Johnson in tribute to Samuel Johnson,
an influential writer.
 Nonfiction flourished.
 Poetry entered a transitional period.

Women Writers
 Unable to participate in public
intellectual life, women formed salons.
 Intellectual women were known as
bluestockings.
 Women began publishing their work.
 Wollstonecraft called for women’s
rights.

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
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Metaphysical Poetry

Introduction
 During the late 1600’s writers rejected
the late-Elizabethan lyric poetry.
 They began to write metaphysical
poetry.
o Of to a reality beyond what is
perceptible.
o Abstract and theoretical
reasoning
o Primarily deovitional and often
mystical in content, even when
dealing with subjects such as
physical love and relationships.
 They used logic and intellect
 Can be difficult to understand
 They poets experimented with language
 Each had a unique style but they shared
common traits
o Simple, conversational
vocabulary, but complex
sentence patterns.
o Metaphysical conceits, a type of
extended metaphor comparing
very dissimilar things.
o Paradoxes or statements that
seem to contradict themselves.
o Disruptions of poetic meter.
o Witty and imaginative plays on
words.
 It is criticized for disrupting poetic
meter. “deliberate unevenness”

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John Donne
Pg. 480-493

About the Author Background

 Life and poetry contained startling  Donne has a wife who he really loves,
contrasts. he’s going to leave her for a long trip,
 Raised Roman Catholic but he became she doesn’t want him to leave.
a powerful Anglican priest.  To tell her not to be sad (a valediction
 Both worldly and spiritual is a hopeful request).
 Studied at Oxford and Cambridge but  Metaphysical poets love to use similes
never received a degree because he was & metaphors.
Catholic and would not pledge  Similes use like or as to compare two
allegiance to Elizabeth I dissimilar things.
 Brother died in prison sheltering a
Jesuit priest.
 Abandoned his church and became
Anglican priest from the urging of
James I
 Marriage also influenced him
 Married his wife in secret and when
they were found out he lost his job.
 From then on he battled poverty
 Death was also another theme
 People died frequently during the
renaissance because of lack of medical
knowledge.
 Wife died in childbirth with their 12th
child.
 2 children were stillborn and others
died at the ages of 3, 7, and 19.

Literary Analysis: Metaphysical Conceit

 Metaphysical Conceit – a type of
metaphor or simile in which the
comparison is unusually striking,
original, and elaborate.

Reading Skill: Interpret Ideas

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
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 Paradox – a statement that seems to
contradict itself but reveals some
element of truth.
 Interpret – explain the meaning of

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Song
John Donne
Pg. 482-83
 This poem expresses what it feels like
to be separated from the person one
loves.
 Donne’s argument is artfully presented
through a conceit that compares a
temporary absence to the permanent
absence of death.

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

John Donne  It is one of the greatest examples of a
Pg. 484-485 love poem.
 The speaker of this poem urges his wife  This is one of the most beautiful love
not to mourn his absence, for their love poems written.
is strong enough to endure the  First stanza - When a good guy is
separation. ready to die, his friends are not ready
 He compares their love to a compass, for him to go.
with one lover remaining stationary  Second Stanza – for us, Donne & his
while the other revolves around his or wife.
her stability, making a perfect circle.  No crying, we don’t need it.
 Profanation means to not show real
respect.
 When people on the outside see us
leaving, we don’t need to blow snot &
cry to prove to me that you love me.
 The laity (those who don’t understand
the ‘religion’ of love) doesn’t need to
know what we are.
 Stanza three – moving of the earth
brings harms & fears, men reckon what
it did & meant.
 But trepidations of the sphere… We
can be afraid of what’s coming, but it’s
harmless.
 I’ve got to go away, but don’t be sad.
 Our business has nothing to do with

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anyone else.
 Stanza four – dull sublunary lovers’
love, whose soul is sense can’t admit
absence because it doth remove the
thing that elemented it… everything
that relates to the five senses are
“physical”, then the stuff that relates
outside of those senses become “meta-
physical: Those whose love is the
body, when the body is gone – there’s
nothing to love.
 If you love because of the physical
body, then what is there to love when
the body is gone?
 Stanza five – but we so much of a love
so refined…care less of the eyes,
lips,…
 We (Donne & his wife) love of the
minds, we don’t need the eyes, lips, etc.
 Most people love the body & not of the
mind.
 That’s why most people blow snot,
because they love of the body.
 Stanza six – Our two souls (another
word for mind)…
 Gold, when you heat it up is still the
same gold.
 Just because we’re separated doesn’t
change our form, we are as gold.
 Stanza seven – My soul… To make a
perfect circle, one of the legs of the
compass has to move; the other leg of
the compass has to stay planted, but
when the circle has been mad – the
compass gets picked up & the two legs
come back together.
 True love is when two minds come
together.
 Stanza eight – Such wilt thou be to

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me…thy firmness makes my circle just.
 Observations – all kinds of sexual
connotations.
 Donne is playing a game with readers;
you’re staying in the physical & not
moving to the meta-physical

Holy Sonnet 10
John Donne
Pg. 486-487
 In this sonnet, the speaker warns Death
not to b e proud of its fearsome
reputation.
 He explains that those who die live on
eternally, while Death itself shall die.

Meditation 17
John Donne
Pg. 488-489
 In this prose meditation, Donne
explains that since humans are
interconnected, what affects one person
affects everyone.

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Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
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Andrew Marvell
Pg. 505-508

About the Author

 Known for lighthearted, musical verse.
 Regarded Ben Jonson as literary father.
“Sons of Ben”
 Combined cavalier style with
metaphysical.
 Known more for political activities than
writing poetry.
 Supported Parliament in the English
Civil War.
 Served in Parliament until his death.
 Poetry published after his death.
 Not recognized as a great poet until the
20th Century

To His Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvell
Pg. 506-508
 In this lyric poem, the speaker tells his
sweet-heart that since time is fleeting,
they should love one another now.
 Archaic Language – the word mistress
in the title has the archaic meaning of
“sweetheart” or “beloved female”; it
suggests that the lady in question owns
the speaker’s heart.

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Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
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Robert Herrick
Pg. 509-510

About the Author

 Anglican priest and admirer of Ben
Jonson.
 Assigned to a rural church in
Devonshire
 Deprived of a post because he was
loyal to the King during the
parliamentary government.
 Published during the civil war when
people had little interest in it.
 Only book of poems was Hesperides.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Robert Herrick
Pg. 510
 The speaker in this lyric poem urges
young women to marry and enjoy love
before their youth is gone and they are
left to face old age alone.

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

John Milton
Pg.516-539

About the Author John Milton

 Paradise Lost is considered the finest  Milton decided early to become an
epic poem in the English language. important writer and became one of
 Studied very hard as a young man and England’s most revered poets.
determined to become an important  Paradise Lost being his most famous
writer. work and widely accepted as the finest
 Went to Cambridge University for epic poem in the English language.
seven years.  When civil war erupted in 1642,
 Continued education independently. Milton, critic of the monarchy, allied
 Allied with the Puritan faction during himself with the Puritan faction who
the British Civil War. supported Parliament over the king.
 Wrote pamphlets to support the  Following the execution of Charles I in
republican government. 1649, a republic was established under
 Appointed as one of Cromwell’s the Puritan leadership of Oliver
secretaries. Cromwell, who appointed Milton to
 Wife died in childbirth and the infant post of secretary handling foreign
died a few weeks later. correspondence and defending Puritan
 Not long after he lost his eyesight. leadership.
 Shortly before the restoration of the  Milton started and completed “Paradise
monarchy he began working on and Lost” by dictating it to his daughters
epic Christian poem that he had since he had gone blind.
conceived when he was 19.  Paradise Lost was inspired by Milton’s
 The Fall of Men was basic source. faith & was based on the biblical
 Took five years to finish Paradise Lost. account of the Fall of Man, he wrote it
to “justify the ways of God to men.”
Literary Analysis: Figurative Language
 Figurative language – words that
communicate ideas beyond their literal
meaning.
 Personification – an expression in
which human qualities are attributed to
an object, an animal, or an idea.
 Metaphor – an expression that makes a
comparison between two seemingly
unlike things.

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Reading Strategy: Clarify Sentence

Meaning
 Clarify Meaning – by rereading and
restating difficult sentences.
 Archaic Language – words that were
once in common use but that are now
considered old-fashioned or out-of-
date.
 Inverted Syntax – sentence structure
in which the expected order of words is
reversed.

How Soon Hath Time (Sonnet VII) How Soon Hath Time:
Pg. 522  Milton voices disappointment that, at
John Milton the age of 23, he has not achieved great
 In this sonnet, Milton voices things. He concludes that achievement,
disappointment that, at the age of 23, he whenever it comes, is part of God’s
has not achieved great things. plan.
 He concludes that achievement, o What helps Milton cope
whenever it comes, is part of God’s w/disappointment? His faith in
plan. God.
o What human qualities does
Milton attribute to time? That
time steals & leads the way
o To what living creature does
Milton compare time? A bird.
o Lines 1-4 – Milton complains
that he has nothing great to
show for his 23 years of living.
o Conclusion – Milton concludes
that God is in control and is
guiding his destiny. If he acts
upon the opportunities that God
sends his way, he will achieve
God’s will, according to God’s
timing.

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When I consider How My Light is When I Consider How My Light Is

Spent (Sonnet XIX) Spent
John Milton  Milton expresses frustration at having
Pg. 523 his writing career curtailed by
 In this sonnet, Milton expresses blindness. He finally realizes that those
frustration at having his writing career who patiently accept God’s will also
curtailed by blindness. serve God.
 He finally realizes that those who o Lines 1-6 – Milton feels that his
patiently accept God’s will also serve blindness makes it seemingly
God. impossible for him to serve
God.
o Lines 8-14 – Milton’s own
response to his question of why
his talent has been made
“useless” is that “God doth not
need Either man’s work or his
own gifts…” and that he should
not question the ways of God;
hence Paradise Lost.
o Milton’s poems suggest that his
motives are to use his talent and
to celebrate God through his
writing.

Paradise Lost
Pg. 524-539

Literary Analysis: Allusion

 Allusion – is a brief reference to a
fictional or historical person, place, or
event, or to another literary work or
passage.

Reading Strategy: Reading Difficult Texts

 Syntax – word order
 Archaic expressions – words and
phrases we no longer use.

Summary
 This opening section of Milton’s epic

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focuses on Satan, once a glorious angel
in Heaven, who led other angels in an
unsuccessful rebellion against God and
who has been banished to the fiery pit
of Hell.
 Defeated but unrepentant, Stan tells
Beelzebub, his second in command,
that he would rather reign in Hell than
serve in Heaven.
 He refuses to seek God’s mercy;
instead, he begins to plot revenge.

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Sir Francis Bacon

About the Author Sir Francis Bacon

 Renaissance man – had many interests  Renaissance man. Father of the
including philosophy, science, law, and English essay.
public service.  Thomas Jefferson influenced by
 Thomas Jefferson was influenced by Bacon’s essays
Bacon.  Bacon born into a wealthy family, but
 Born to a wealthy family father left him no money upon his death
 Father served Elizabeth I  Bacon was ‘forced’ into public service
 Elizabeth referred to him as “my little as a lawyer to earn money
Lord Keeper.”  Awarded the highest judicial seat in
 Studied at Cambridge England, but 3 years later was stripped
 Diplomat to France but returned when of title due to accepting bribes.
his father died.  Bacon is interesting; Stanford created a
 Because of his financial situation he software program to find out who was
had to work as a public servant and the smartest person, Bacon was second
rose to royal service. – Phd by 13 & reads & writes 9
 He was knighted and given the highest languages. Considers himself a
judicial position in England. scientist, died stuffing chickens w/snow
 He was charged with accepting bribes checking the spoilage of meat. Bacon
and forced to resign his post. predicts that the world will change to
 Dedicated to writing his essays. include those that are educated will
 His interest in science led to his death. earn the money.
He died from bronchitis resulting from  Of Studies – considered one of his
an experiment. finest work
 Studies are broken into:
Literary Analysis: Essay o Reading – makes you full;
 Essay – is a relatively brief work of o Writing - say exactly what you
nonfiction that offers an opinion on a mean; having the words.
subject. Intellectual weakness is similar
 Aphorisms – brief statement that to what a doctor does for an ill
express general observations about life patient; the more practice you
in a witty, pointed way. have, the better you get.
o Communicate – makes you a
Reading Skill: Evaluate Opinions ready man, always able to
 Evaluate – determining whether you communicate; confidence
agree or disagree with the opinions.  Example of annotation from McGee:

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 Studies serve
o Delight – privateness and
retiring; alone & bedtime
reading
o Ornament – discourse;
conversation, talking & if your
educated & talented you can use
when you need. Knowledge is
power. If you have good
vocabulary, you can make
yourself like smarter.
o Ability – judgment &
disposition of business;
educated people make more
money and have power. There
are two kinds of people in the
world;
 Experts – know a lot
about a little.
 Learned – know how to
use what they’ve
learned.
 You can schooled and
not very educated, you
can be uneducated and
be very smart.
o The only education that is of
value is the one where you
make the most money
o Don’t go to college unless
you’re ready to use your
knowledge
 Crafty men contemn studies, simple
men admire them, and wise men use
them
o Crafty men – construction
workers who condemn
education
o Simple men – Oh my, he’s so
smart; I’ll never be as smart as

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him
o Wise men – come in all forms
& use their education to make
money

Of Studies
Sir Francis Bacon
 In this essay, Bacon explores the use
and abuse of studies.
 He advises readers to choose books that
will make them think, but he suggests
that books vary in their value in this
regard and that various subjects benefit
readers in distinct ways.
 Bacon concludes that reading,
discussion, and writing are profitable
forms of study and that appropriate
study can remedy many personal
shortcomings.

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Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

Jonathan Swift
Pg. 604-627

About the Author

Jonathan Swift
 Greatest satirist in the English
language.
 Politically and socially influential in the
18th century.
 Born in Ireland to English parents.
 Went to Trinity College.
 Became a secretary to a diplomat in
England.
 Ordained an Anglican priest.
 Clergyman and political writer for the
Whig party.
 Raged about arrogance and phoniness
in moral and intellectual life.
 When the Whig party lost power the
Tory party courted him to be on their
side, but he left politics on principle.
 Went back to Ireland to be the dean of
St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
 He became a hero to both Catholics and
Protestants alike.
 Anonymously published Gulliver’s
Travels.
 It was extremely popular and
controversial

Literary Analysis: Satire

 Satire – is a literary technique in which
people’s behaviors or society’s
institutions are ridiculed for the purpose
of bringing about social reform.
 Verbal Irony – what is said is the
opposite of what is meant.

Reading Skill: Identify Proposition and

Support
 Problem – identify
 Solution - how to solve the problem
 Proposition – how to implement the

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley
solution
 Support – provide in the form of
reasons and evidence.
 Other possible Solutions

Vocabulary
 Sustenance – a means of support or
nourishment
 Rudiments – a basic principle or
element
 Collateral – accompanying as a
parallel or subordinate factor; related
 Deference – a yielding or courteous
regard toward the opinion, judgment, or
wishes of others; respect
 Expedient – something useful in
achieving the desired effect; a
convenience; an advantage
 Encumbrance – a burden
 Famine – a period in which there is a
severe shortage of food.
 Propagation – the act of reproducing,
multiplying, or increasing

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift

Literary Analysis: Fantasy

 Fantasy – is literature in which the
limits of reality are purposely
disregarded.
 Satire

Reading Skill: Understand Satire in

Historical Context
 Historical Context – the conditions
and events that inspired or influenced
the work’s creation.

Vocabulary
 Conjecture – to infer based on
incomplete evidence; guess
 Submissive – tending to yield to the
will of others; docile; meek
 Dexterity – skill in manipulating one’s
hands or body
 Diminutive – very small
 Prodigious – of great size or power;
huge; impressive
 Animosities – ill feeling; hostility
 Foment – to stir up trouble; to incite
 Posterity – future generations

Summary
Pg. 624-641

 In these excerpts from Swift’s satirical

novel, Lemuel Gulliver, a British ship’s
doctor shipwrecked by a storm, finds
himself in Lilliput, whose tiny
inhabitants are obsessed with petty
conflicts that mirror the English politics
of Swift’s day.
 Gulliver’s next voyage takes him to
Brobdingnag, populated by giants.
 When the king of Brobdingnag hears of
the wars and vices of Gulliver’s
homeland, he concludes that most of
the English are a “pernicious race of

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley
little odious vermin.”

A Modest Proposal
Jonathan Swift
Pg. 617-627
 In this satire, Swift first identifies a
problem:
o Ireland’s poor are leading
wretched lives.
 He then offers a proposal for relieving
this burden, decreasing the population,
finding a new source of food, and
curbing begging.
 The solution is to breed a certain
portion of Irish children to be eaten.
 Swift provides statistics and detailed
reasons supporting the plan, which
serves as a harsh social critique of
England’s treatment of the Irish.

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

Alexander Pope
Pg. 628-645

About the Author

 Unrivaled poet and satirist in the 18th
century.
 Raised Roman Catholic when only
Protestants could obtain university
education or hold public office.
 Self-taught
 Critically recognized by age 17 for his
writing.
 Got tuberculosis from bad milk when
he was 12. (never grew taller than 4’6”)
 Neoclassicist writer translated Homer.
 Money from the translation made him
financially independent.
 Affiliated with the Tory political group.
 He was often attacked by less talented
writers.
 Died shortly after his 56th birthday.

Poetic Form: Mock Epic

 Mock Epic – uses the lofty style and
conventions of epic poetry to satirize a
trivial subject.

Literary Analysis: Heroic Couplet

 Heroic couplet – is a pair of rhymed
lines written in iambic pentameter.
 Iambic pentameter – a metrical
pattern of five feet (units, each which
consists of two syllables, the first
unstressed and the second stressed.

Reading Strategy: Understand Elevated

Language
 Side notes – to understand unfamiliar
words and historical allusions in the
text.
 Visualize – the action in the poem
 Paraphrase – restate sentences in your
own words.

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

From An Essay on Man

Alexander Pope
Pg. 630-631
 Pope’s heroic couplets are the perfect
vehicle to balance the contrary
attributes of mankind.
 The passage asks, “What is man?”
 Its answer is that man is a creature in
the middle.
 Both the glory and the jest of the world,
man is above all a riddle.

The Rape of the Lock

Alexander Pope
Pg. 632-645
 Theses excerpts from Pope’s mock epic
describe a quarrel between members of
the British aristocracy.
 A baron watches Belinda while she
wins a game of cars
 Then, despite attempted intervention by
supernatural powers, he snips off a
ringlet of her hair consent.
 Belinda is horrified and attacks the
baron.
 The stolen lock ascends to the heavens,
where it becomes a star that
immortalizes the fair lady.

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley

Thomas Gray
Pg. 678-679

About the Author

 Was a quiet private man who didn’t
like the business of the city
 He wrote poetry rather than satire
 Refused the poet laurite because of how
shy and introverted he was
 Born in London and of 12 brothers and
sisters was the only one who lived to
adulthood
 Went to Eton College
 Became friends with the son of the
Prime Minister who encouraged him to
publish his poems
 He lost his closest friend at 25 and
because of his sadness this was a theme
in his poetry
 Later poems were harder to understand
 An inheritance allowed him to be
private in his later life

Poetic Form: Elegy

 Elegy – an extended meditative poem
in which the speaker reflects on death –
often in tribute to a person who has
died recently – or on an equally serious
subject.

Reading Skill: Make Inferences

 Inferences – logical guesses

Elegy Written in a Country

Churchyard
Thomas Gray
Pg. 664-671
 As the elegy begins, the speaker
describes a rustic evening and then
reveals that he is in a churchyard.
 He reflects upon the humble but
meaningful lives of the peasants buried
there.
 He notes that although poverty has kept

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Sr. English A – Mr. McGee
Unit 3 – The Restoration and the 18th Century
By Sarah Staley
these people from realizing great
achievement, it also has kept them from
doing great harm.
 Finally, the speaker contemplates his
own death and suggests an epitaph for
his grave.

Anne Finch
Countess of Winchilsea
Pg. 672-675

About the Author

 Lived in an era that rejected female
intellectuals
 Parents died when she was an infant
 Raised by grandmother
 Separated from siblings
 Had a progressive education for girls
 Studied Greek and Roman literature,
French, Italian, history, poetry, and
drama
 Endured poverty when James II was
driven from power.
 Not famous in her time but had a large
impact on 19th century authors

A Nocturnal Reverie
By Anne Finch
Pg. 673-675
 In this meditative poem, Anne Finch
reflects how in the softness of twilight,
the sounds and sights of nature reveal
their beauty.
 The poem celebrates the restorative
power of this twilight world, where the
mind may roam freely, unfettered by
the confusion of the day.

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