Summary of Alexander Pope's Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot

Introduction

            Pope was born in the year 1688, a century where there was so much confusion in the society.  People were torn between the extremes of religion, society and politics.  Pope, as a poet, wrote many satires.  Pope and his friends were fondly named as scriblerians.  Dr. Arbuthnot, Pope’s friend, was hopelessly ill.  He wrote to Pope that he should be careful while attacking others.  Pope wrote this poem as a reply in 1734.  This poem attacks Pope’s detractors and defends Pope’s character and career.  This poem could be divided into 7 parts.

First Part (lines 1 - 68)

            The poem opens with Pope ordering John, a servant, to shut the door.  Pope is afraid of letting in the budding poets, who are like dogs.  He asks John to ties the knocker of the door.  He thinks that the mental institutions like Bedlam and Parnassus are let loose in the road.  He finds the poets with papers in their hands and fire in their eyes.  Pope is not left alone; wherever he goes he is followed by the budding poets.  They come into his house by climbing the wall and shrubs.  They get into his chariot and into his boat.  They do not even leave him pray.  Everyone blames Pope in some way or the other.  All people come to Twitnam, Pope’s house, to scold him.  Pope finally addresses Dr. Arbuthnot as “friend of my life”.  Pope finds his friend’s illness and the troublesome poets as a plague.  Pope is confused on what to do and what not to do.  If he appreciated their poetry they overflow with more poems, if he says something negative about their poetry, they feel hurt.  Pope gives the advice of Horace to the new poets.  He asks them to wait for nine years before publishing a poem.  The writers are unable to accept this advice.  They ask Pope to make some corrections in their poem.  They also try to bribe him.  Some poets blackmail him.

Second Part (lines 69 - 124)

            The second part of the poem talks about the dangers of being popular.  Pope elaborates on the comparison of Midas.  He ridicules the poetasters by using Midas image, which ultimately represents unreliability.  Pope scolds a few poets like Colley, Harley, Bavius, Bishop Philips and Sappho.  At this point Arbuthnot warns Pope not to use names in his poem.  He advises Pope to be prudent.  Arbuthnot ridicules Pope that he is twice as tall as Pope but he never uses any names.  Pope is angry again.  He is willing to be honest.  He claims that he would not be called as cruel when he calls a fool as a fool.  He then talks about how a few dramatists approach him to recommend scripts, which are rejected by the theatres and production companies.  They all try to flatter Pope.  Some say that Pope’s nose is like Ovid’s and they compare Pope with Hercules and Alexander the Great.  Pope does not listen to such flattery.  He calls himself as an ordinary man.

Third Part (lines 125 - 146)

            This part talks about Pope’s life as a writer.  He starts explaining why he writes.  He says that he wrote not out of any compulsion.  He found it hard to learn numbers but it is not hard for him to write poetry.  Nobody asked him to write poetry but he did it by himself.  He writes because his friends like Swift, Granville, Congreve and others enjoyed reading his poetry.  He did not write poem for his personal reasons like loving his wife.  Arbuthnot asks why Pope publishes his works.  Pope says that because his friends enjoyed reading his poetry.  They praised his works.  Even Dryden encourages Pope to write and publish poems so Pope published them.

Fourth Part (lines 147 - 260)

            Part IV of this poem discusses about why Pope attacks other poets through his satire.  Pope says that he does not care a little for those who find fault with him.  He calls them as donkeys and fools.  He sometimes tried to be friendly with them.  He tried to take them out for a dinner.  In spite of all these some cheap critics criticizes him.  Pope says that if their criticism is correct he would readily accept it.  Pope satirizes Ambrose Philips.  Ambrose is a plagiarist.  He copies works from Greek literature and earns money.  If he attempts to be original, he will not cross eight lines a year.  Pope then criticizes Addison.  Addison, according to Pope, is a genius.  He is a good writer.  His defect is that he wants to dominate the literary world.  He thinks that he is the greatest of all writers.  Pope calls Addison a coward, because Addison attacks many writers but he fears being attacked by them.  Lord Halifax is attacked next.  Lord Halifax loves being flattered.  He helps the poetasters who flatter him.

Fifth Part (lines 261 - 304)

            This part describes Pope’s current attitude towards life and career.  Pope asks the poetasters to let him leave live in a peaceful manner.  He says that he lives in debt.  He is someone normal who prays to god regularly.  He says that only liars will fear his satire and attacks.  A man of good intention and honest behavior need not fear him.

Sixth Part (lines 305 - 333)

            In this part, Pope attacks Lord Hervey in the name Sporus.  When Arbuthnot hears the name Sporus, he starts scolding him.  Sporus is a man who drinks the milk of a donkey.  He is capable only of killing a butterfly with his wheels.  He is such a senseless person that he is not able to distinguish satire and other kinds of poem.  If Pope is a paragon of independent judgment, Hervey is a man who will say anything to please the people at court and in government. He values glamour, sensual pleasure, and social climbing. Hervey was also homosexual. Hervey is not only a man-woman but an animal-demon, a shape-changer, like Satan

Seventh Part (lines 334 - 419)

            Part 7 is Pope’s final draft of his self-portrait, summing up the virtues he wants Arbuthnot to believe he has.  Pope says that he has never been a worshipper of fortune.  He is bold and courageous.  He has never flattered anyone for selfish reasons.  He attacks his enemies and critics.  He claims that he was brought up well by his parents.  His parents are peace loving.  They are good citizens of England.  They led a happy domestic life.  Pope also wants to live a similar life.  He concludes the poem by praying that Arbuthnot should lead a happy, peaceful and prosperous life.

Summary of Judith Writght's Nigger’s Leap, New England

Judith Wright is an Australian poet.  Most of her poems are about identity crisis and they talk about the lost identity of the aborigines, the native Australians.  Through this poem the poet subtly expresses the historic event of the fall of aborigines from the top of a mountain due to the compulsion of the English people.

Judith Wright begins the poem with beautiful description of Australian landscape through images and metaphors.  She describes the dusk at the Australian coast with spectacular language.  She describes the beach, the high cliff along the coastline which is enveloped by the dark clouds, representing the invasion of the English force.  The English people invaded the Australian coastline and compelled them to commit suicide by jumping from the edge of the cliff.  This is said by using the image of the dark cloud swallowing the spine and forming a quilt across the bone and the skull.  The fallen dead bodies of the native Australians are been lifted by the flies.

The poet declares, “Here is a symbol…” the symbol of death, the symbol of darkness and the symbol of ‘peace’ arousing from darkness and slavery.  The English people did not inform the aborigines of their arrival.  Even their ships failed to send them signals of dangers.  The present life of the native Australians is highly paradoxical in nature.  Their days are measured by the nights, their speech by silence and their love by its end.  They feel timid in the their home land.

Judith Wright contrasts the life of the native Australians with that of the English rulers by posing poignant questions.  She asks that all humans have the same qualities, though different in their skin.  We all eat the same food, we all have same blood and we are all same.  There is no one superior to another.  She questions why the English rulers do not understand this concept of equality.

The poem concludes that by no means the Australians could be severed from the native land.  They would be like the shadow of the young children, forever lingering in the barren lands of Australia and never could be driven away.

Summary of John Holt's Discipline is a Great Teacher

Introduction

            John Holt is a famous educationalist.  He has written many books on modern education.  He is a great thinker.  This prose is an extract from his famous book Freedom and Beyond.  In this prose, he talks about three disciplines that would help a child learning things as it grows.

Discipline of Nature or Reality

            Discipline of nature or reality is the most important teacher for a child.  If a child is doing something wrong or if it is not able to do something right nature would teach it perfectly.  For example, if a child is trying to built a block it cannot build in a slanting surface.  It should keep one block upon another.  If it does not do nature and reality would teach the child.  While learning through this discipline the child would get immediate feedback.  Nature is a good teacher, which will not be partial and indifferent.

Discipline of Culture or Society

            Culture and society teach a lot to the children.  Children, as they grow, look at their parents’ behavior in public places.  A child might be adamant in its house but when taken to a church it stays quiet.  It looks around the stillness and decent behavior of the people and it calms down.  If a child’s parents are courteous, the child will also be courteous.

Discipline of the Superior Force

            This is the last form of discipline.  A child learns from its superiors a lot.  Elders teach the child from their experiences.  They stop a child from doing something harmful.  They do some kind of threatening to make them understand wrong doings.  This is one way of protecting the child.  At the beginning, the child thinks of not doing the bad thing to avoid the punishment but later he understands nature.  However, superior force is not always good for a child’s character.

Conclusion

            The author concludes this essay by saying that these three disciplines overlap each other at some point or the other.   A child cannot learn things by one single discipline.  For example, a ballet dance teacher may teach about child the nuances of the dance but there could be no perfect teacher, because ballet had been there for a long time.  A child learns and it becomes an expert but not perfect.  Similarly, many football players could play well even without a good coach.

Britain's Colonization - A Short History

 Causes of Colonial Expansion

            In the end of 16^th century, the English people were dissatisfied with the religious problems in their country, they were in need of land and they were in need of adventure.  Therefore, they went around the world.  As a result, many colonies were established all around the world.  Thus by the early 18^th century there were 13 colonies on the east coast of America.

American Colonies

            The American colonies were of three groups, namely, New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies.  The first colony to be founded was Virginia.  Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to establish colonies during the Elizabethan period.  So the new colony in America was named as Virginia, after the virgin queen.  Later Sir Walter Raleigh sold his rights to two companies – the Plymouth Company and the London Company.  The London Company established a first permanent settlement in Jamestown, a place named after King James.  The colonists had to work hard, which was new to them so they purchased slaves from Africa.  In 1620 a group of puritans called as ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ landed in a place near Cape Cod; they named the place as New Plymouth.  A few years later, a group of puritans set a colony in Massachusetts.  Later colonies like Connecticut and New Hampshire were found.  In 1632 Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic, was given a land near Potomac River, which was named as Maryland, after the name of Queen Mary.  The Dutch occupied a few places near Hudson River, for which the English fought and the land was controlled by the Duke of York.  The place was named as New York.  Later on places like Pennsylvania and New Jersey were established.

Canadian and West Indian Colonies

            In 1670, Prince Rupert founded the Hudson Bay company which ruled a large province in Canada.  Apart from Canada, the English also occupied West Indian Islands, Jamaica and Barbados in 1605. 

African Colonies

            The British started to colonize Africa in the name of trade.  The slaves and gold in Africa attracted them.  In 1562, Sir John Hawkins managed to get 300 slaves from Guinea Coast of Africa.  Many centers and settlements were established all over Africa.  The Royal African Company was founded and it was there for a long time.

Indian Colonies

The East India Company was started in India in 1600 and it lasted until 1858.  It was in India for two hundred and eight years.  Thomas Stevens first visited India.  He became the head of Jesuit College in Goa in the year 1579.  He wrote letters to his father about India.  This made two English merchants, Ralph Fitch and William Leeds, to come to India.  They came to Fatehpur Sikri, the then capital of Akbar.

            The East India Company started with a humble beginning of 125 shareholders with 70,000 pounds.  At the beginning, the company earned a lot of profit but later it did not have more profit.  The average profit of the company for a year was about 6%.

            The company rented some land near San Thome, a Portuguese settlement, from the Raja of Chandragiri.  Here Francis Day built many buildings including Fort St. George.  Later the place was name the Presidency of Madras after the Portuguese name “Madre de Dios”, meaning “Mother of God”.  Later a center was established in marshy Bombay, which was given as a dowry to Charles II of England when he married Catherine of Braganza.  The king parted this place to the East India Company for 10 pounds a year.  Governor Gerald Augnier beautified Bombay and made use of its natural harbor.  In 1690, Fort William was built at Kalikata (Calcutta).

            Many complaints were lodged against East India Company.  In order to regularize this a Regulating Act was  passed in the British Parliament in 1773.  According to this act, the Governor of Bengal was made the Governor General.  A Supreme Court with three judges was appointed.  Even then the problems did not end so Pitt’s India Act was passed in the year 1784.

            The East India Company captured many places in India.  They had to fight against countries like Nepal, Burma and Afghanistan.  They also had tough time with kings like Hyder Ali, Tippu Sultan and other Maratha kings.  A few kings accepted the British power without fight.  They were asked to pay some amount to the British rulers.

            A few British rulers did good things to India and the Indians.  William Bentinck abolished ‘sati’ with the support of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.  He was also responsible for framing the Indian Penal Code. He along with Macaulay laid the foundations for English education in India.  After it was accepted University of Madras, University of Bombay and University of Calcutta were established.

            Lord Dalhousie introduced the first railway system in India.  The first train was run from Bombay to Thane in the year 1853.  He also introduced the Public Works Department in India.  He built and engineering college at Roorkee.  He laid water canals.  He introduced post and electric telegram.

            In the middle of the 19^th century there arose nationalist movement among people.  So Queen Victoria took charge of the country’s ruling and East India Company came to an end on 1^st May 1858.

            The East India Company popularized Indian goods like cotton cloth, silk, spices, pepper and tea in the English market.  Many poor men came from England to India returned with great wealth.  Robert Clive joined the company as a clerk but rose to the power of Governor General.  Many English scholars took interest in studying Indian religion and literature.  Charles Wilkins translated Bhagavat Gita into English.  Bible was also popularized in India.  Many Indian words like banian, jungle, bungalow, etc. were included into the English vocabulary.

Summary of Richard Steele's “Character of Will Wimble”

Introduction

            Sir Richard Steele was a famous English essayist, dramatist, journalist, and politician, best known as principal author (with Joseph Addison) of the periodicals The Tatler and The Spectator.

            Steele’s essay, “The Character of Will Wimble” is about a person called Will Wimble.  It traces his character.  Steele ends the prose by universalizing the problem of difference between two brothers – the younger and the elder.

Will’s Letter

            Richard Steele visits his friend Sir Roger de Coverley at his house.  He receives a man with a huge fish and a letter.  The messenger says that Will Wimble caught the fish.  He also informs that Will Wimble would dine with Roger.  Sir Roger reads the letter given by the messenger.  Will Wimble has written it.  It says that Will is willing to stay with him for a week.  Will promises to bring lash for his whip.  He also informs that he had been busy helping Sir John’s family.

Character of Will     

            Will is a younger brother of a baronet.  He is about forty and fifty.  He had no specific business to do.  He helps people with his handicraft skills.  He makes angle rods.  He always carries tulips, which he gifts to the family members.  He some times gifts puppies.  Many people love him.  He presents hand made clothes to women.

            He comes to Sir Roger’s house.  On his way, he cuts a few hazel twigs.  He is given a hearty welcome.  He loves Sir Roger.  He requests Roger to give a servant who would carry shuttle cocks to a lady nearby.  He then talks about adventurous stories, which attracts Steele.

Conclusion

            They eat the fish, during which time Will talks about the way he caught the fish.  After dinner Steele feels pity for Will.  He considers Will as a responsible man but he is without a job on his own.  It is been a practice in Europe that the elder brothers take care of the business and the younger ones are left for the family.  Steele does not like this.  If Will had been into the field of commerce, he would have shined.