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An Essay on Criticism Summary & Analysis by Alexander Pope

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism" seeks to lay down rules of good taste in poetry criticism, and in poetry itself. Structured as an essay in rhyming verse, it offers advice to the aspiring critic while satirizing amateurish criticism and poetry. The famous passage beginning "A little learning is a dangerous thing" advises would-be critics to learn their field in depth, warning that the arts demand much longer and more arduous study than beginners expect. The passage can also be read as a warning against shallow learning in general. Published in 1711, when Alexander Pope was just 23, the "Essay" brought its author fame and notoriety while he was still a young poet himself.

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The Full Text of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

1 A little learning is a dangerous thing;

2 Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

3 There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

4 And drinking largely sobers us again.

5 Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,

6 In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts,

7 While from the bounded level of our mind,

8 Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,

9 But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise

10 New, distant scenes of endless science rise!

11 So pleased at first, the towering Alps we try,

12 Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky;

13 The eternal snows appear already past,

14 And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;

15 But those attained, we tremble to survey

16 The growing labours of the lengthened way,

17 The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,

18 Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

“From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing” Summary

“from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” themes.

Shallow Learning vs. Deep Understanding

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.

Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts, While from the bounded level of our mind, Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,

But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise New, distant scenes of endless science rise!

Lines 11-14

So pleased at first, the towering Alps we try, Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky; The eternal snows appear already past, And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;

Lines 15-18

But those attained, we tremble to survey The growing labours of the lengthened way, The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes, Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

“From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing” Symbols

The Mountains/Alps

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Extended Metaphor

“from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• A little learning
• Pierian spring
• Bounded level
• Short views
• The lengthened way
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

Rhyme scheme, “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” speaker, “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” setting, literary and historical context of “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing”, more “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” resources, external resources.

The Poem Aloud — Listen to an audiobook of Pope's "Essay on Criticism" (the "A little learning" passage starts at 12:57).

The Poet's Life — Read a biography of Alexander Pope at the Poetry Foundation.

"Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius" — Watch a BBC documentary on Alexander Pope.

More on Pope's Life — A summary of Pope's life and work at Poets.org.

Pope at the British Library — More resources and articles on the poet.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Alexander Pope

Ode on Solitude

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from An Essay on Criticism

Join Alexander Pope on a metaphysical journey of discovery… that will last a lifetime.

“[It is] difficult to know which part to prefer, when all is equally beautiful and noble.” Weekly Miscellany comments on the poetry of Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope spent his childhood in Windsor forest and, from an early age, gained a keen appreciation for nature. Later in his life he lived in a property by the River Thames in London where he cultivated his own garden that he opened for visitors. In today’s poem, written in 1709, we can see this love of the natural world through his shaping of elements of the landscape into an extended metaphor for knowledge. This landscape is vast and mountainous: the Alps , Europe’s largest mountain range are a prominent feature, as are hills, vales , an endless sky and eternal snows . Compared to this vast landscape, people are almost insignificant. Their role in the poem is to act as explorers who set off on a journey of discovery, trying to conquer the highest mountains by ascending to the summit; we tempt the heights of Arts… the towering Alps we try… Finally, despite being almost exhausted by his efforts, the explorer realises that his journey has barely begun; the mountain vista stretches ahead, unbroken, into the distance:

A poem’s central idea, often developed into an extended metaphor, is known as a conceit . Unlocking the first couplet should provide you the key to Pope’s conceit in An Essay on Criticism . Pope begins with a warning that:

The Pierian Spring is an important place in Greek Mythology , the source of a river of knowledge that was associated with the nine ancient Muses, themselves a metaphor for artistic inspiration. In this poem, it’s part of the landscape that functions as an extended metaphor for learning. It might seem strange that Pope begins by giving his readers a warning to taste not the waters of this river. However, it’s important to realise that Pope isn’t saying not to drink from the well of knowledge at all. He tells us to drink deep , emphasising his instruction with both alliterative D and using the imperative tense (where the verb is placed at the beginning of the line or phrase). To Pope’s mind, learning is seductive and intoxicating . Once you set out on the journey of learning, or take even a tiny sip from the wellspring of knowledge, you won’t be able to resist the temptation to learn more. Therefore, he suggests that you either prepare to immerse yourself completely in the Pierian Spring , or don’t drink at all.

Once you’ve discovered the connotations of Pierian Spring , the rest of the poem can be read as a warning (or criticism ) of anyone who is rash enough not to follow Pope’s instruction. Should you venture unprepared into the unknown, you must be clear about your limitations. As a spring is the starting point of a river, so too is it the starting point of Pope’s extended metaphor . From here, the reader sets out on a journey into an imposing mountainous landscape that, while initially appearing it can be ‘climbed’ or conquered, actually keeps expanding into an endless vista. No matter how far the explorer climbs, the top of the mountain never gets any nearer. Heights, lengthening way, increasing prospect and, most telling of all, eternal snows conjure the visual image of the landscape metaphysically stretching out in front of our weary eyes. Individual people are tiny and easily lost in this ever-shifting world. Pope creates a contrast between the boundless landscape and the bounded limits of human perception. At the last, the human explorer is tired by his efforts to conquer these mountains of knowledge – but the poem ends by revealing that he’d barely even gotten started on his journey: Hills peep o’er hills; Alps upon Alps arise .

Before we get too much further into the discussion of Pope’s ‘essay’, it might be helpful to place these lines in context. Despite the way they seem to be a complete poem in themselves, they are actually part of a much longer poem which stretches to three parts and a total of 744 lines! The eighteen-line extract you’ve read constitutes the second verse of Part 2 and it may help you to know that, in the first verse, Pope singled out pride as the characteristic that would eventually lead to the downfall of his explorer. Here are four lines from earlier in the Essay:

In this short sample, you can see the names Pope calls people who rush off on foolhardy adventures without taking the time to properly prepare: blind man , weak head and fools ! Younger readers might not enjoy this interpretation, but Pope finds the overconfidence of young people most problematic, associating youth with a kind of recklessness that, in hindsight, is misplaced.

You may argue that qualities such as fearless and passionate (fired) seem like compliments; but I detect a note of criticism in Pope’s words; he suggests that young people confuse emotion with clear thinking and they are too eager to plunge into the unknown. There’s an emphasis on speed and rashness ( pleased at first; at first sight ) that cannot last, like a novice marathon runner who goes sprinting out of the blocks while older, more wily competitors know to save themselves for the challenges ahead. While the young explorer does encounter some early success (implied by words like mount , more advanced , attained and, more significantly by an image : tread the sky ), the race is longer than the runner thought and inevitably the pace must sag. Later in the poem, positive diction disappears and words like trembling , growing labours , and tired take over as the true scale of the challenge becomes apparent. Sharp-eyed readers will already have noticed that the image of ‘treading the sky’ was in fact a simile : seem to tread the sky. Subtly, Pope’s use of a simile implies that any success the explorer thought he’d achieved wasn’t actually real.

The implication that over-enthusiasm can cloud good judgment can be traced through diction to do with looking and seeing: a t first sight, short views, see, behold, appear, survey, eyes and peep pepper the poem and convey the poet’s belief that, to our detriment, we can be short-sighted and tunnel-visioned. The eighth line of the poem is entirely concerned with this idea: short views we take, nor see the lengths behind paints a picture of a young explorer who only looks in one direction – eyes fixed straight ahead – and so misses the bigger picture.

While the poem is certainly didactic (it’s trying to impart a lesson), Pope’s tone of voice is not too condescending or stand-offish because he includes himself in his criticism as well. Throughout the poem the words us, we and our soften his accusations so there’s never a ‘them-and-us’ divide between young and old. In fact, Pope was only 21 years old when he finished his Essay on Criticism , so use your mind’s ear to imagine him speaking ruefully from experience, rather than as a nagging or pestering adult complaining about ‘young people today.’ The line Fired at first sight by what the Muse imparts is revealing in this regard. Alluding to the nine Muses of Greek mythology , this line personifies poetic inspiration, so in one sense the extended metaphor of trying to conquer an unknowable landscape represents his own experiences of writing poetry. ‘Meta-poems’ (poems about the writing of poems) actually have a name: ars poetica . Pope implies that rushing off on a path of artistic endeavour without realising the true extent of the commitment that entails is a mistake that he himself has made in his own attempts at writing.

If you’re a student reading this who thinks you might be able to use Pope’s poem as an excuse not to do your homework or give up on your own writing: you shouldn’t be too rash. Pope’s not suggesting we should quit. Instead, he’s warning us that what might seem like a shallow pool is in fact a deep river of knowledge. Once you jump in, the current will sweep you away and there’s no going back. The poem is a criticism of unpreparedness and arrogance rather than an acknowledgement of futility. In fact, an element of form suggests that, for all the faults Pope has pointed out in young people who are too confident in their limited abilities, it is much more praiseworthy to try and fail to conquer the heights than never to try at all. The poem is written in iambic pentameter that is constant and regular as if, no matter how tough the going gets, the young explorer doesn’t give up. Compare these two lines, with iambic accents marked, from the beginning and end of the poem to see how the rhythm is unfailing:

More, the poem is arranged in rhyming couplets (the rhyme scheme is AA, BB, CC and so on). Rhyming couplets written in iambic pentameter are traditionally known by a more dramatic name: heroic couplets . Pope was widely considered to be the master of writing poetry in heroic couplets ; using them here implies that Pope ultimately believes any young person who’s brave – or foolhardy – enough to embark upon the lifelong journey of learning is worthy of praise.

The structure of Pope’s poetical essay matches the message he’s trying to convey – that, once you start learning, you won’t be able to stop. Look carefully at the punctuation marks, in particular his use of full stops . You’ll find the first one at the end of the fourth line, the second after the tenth and the third at the end of the poem (after eighteen lines). In other words, if the poem was arranged in verses, the first verse would be nice and short at only four lines, the second would stretch to six, but the final verse would have doubled in length to eight lines. Expanding sentences represent the conceit – a little learning is a dangerous thing – and match the images of the landscape expanding ( eternal snows , increasing prospect, lengthening way ) as you read further down the poem.

The end of the poem brings Pope’s criticism to its conclusion. We see the young explorer break through the eternal snows , climb above the clouds, and stand triumphantly on the mountain top, proudly surveying his achievements. Only now does he take a moment to look more deliberately at the mountains he’s trying to conquer:

Be alert to two words that might seem insignificant: appear and seem , words that signal the mistake the explorer made; he thought that he had already past the bulk of his journey. Read carefully to punctuation as well, and you’ll see the colon – a longer pause, which creates a caseura – representing the traveler pausing at the moment of his triumph… and it’s here that realisation finally dawns. Despite the difficulty of his climb thus far, the landscape ( increasing prospect ) stretches out endlessly in front of him: Hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise . Here, repetition mixes with all that increasing and lengthening diction to create a surreal image of an ever-expanding landscape stretching out ahead. You might also notice P sounds peppering the last two lines of the poem in the words p ee p , Al p s, Al p s, and p ros p ect . Coming from a category of alliteration called plosive , this sound is excellent at conveying a release of negative emotion, as it is formed by pushing air through closed lips. The sound helps us perceive the taste of victory turning to defeat as the weary traveler’s shoulders slump at the prospect of the endless climb still to come.

What does Pope offer as a solution? He already warned us at the start of the poem: drinking largely sobers us again . Suddenly, the importance of the word sober becomes clear. While the idea of heading off on this journey of discovery was intoxicating , firing up those with passion to learn, discover and explore – the reality is very different. That young, over-confident learner/explorer is gone, replaced by a wiser, but more world-weary traveler who can finally see the true scale of the task ahead. By now it’s too late, he’s stuck on the mountain top and there’s only one thing he can do – go onwards!

So drink deep and be prepared to encounter much more than you expected when you set out on your journey.

Suggested poems for comparison:

• from Essay on Man by Alexander Pope

An Essay on Criticism was not the only poetical essay written by Pope. French writer Voltaire so admired Pope’s Essay on Man that he arranged for its translation into French and from there it spread around Europe.

• Marrysong by Dennis Scott

As in Pope’s poem, Scott creates a metaphor of the landscape to represent his marriage. He is an explorer in a strange land – each time the explorer glances up from his map, the landscape has changed and he’s lost again.

• Through the Dark Sod – As Education by Emily Dickinson

Victorians brought many different associations to all kinds of plants and flowers. In this Emily Dickinson poem, the lily represents beauty, purity and rebirth. This link will also take you to a fantastic blog which aims to read and provide comment on all of Emily Dickinson’s poems. So that’s 1 down, and nearly 2000 more to go…

• In the Mountains by Wang Wei

Often spoken of with the same reverence as Li Bai and Du Fu, Wang Wei is a famous imagist poet in China. In these exquisite portrait poems, Wang Wei paints pictures of the impressive landscapes of his mountain home.

Additional Resources

If you are teaching or studying  An Essay on Criticism  at school or college, or if you simply enjoyed this analysis of the poem and would like to discover more, you might like to purchase our bespoke study bundle for this poem. It costs only £2 and includes: 

• Study Questions with guidance on how to answer in full paragraphs;
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• 4 practice Essay Questions – and one complete model Essay Plan.

And… discuss! 

Did you enjoy this analysis of Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism ? Do you agree that the poem somewhat singles out young people? Can you relate to Pope’s messages about the temptations of learning? Why not share your ideas, ask a question, or leave a comment for others to read below. For nuggets of analysis and all-new illustrations, find and follow Poetry Prof on Instagram.

One comment

I would like to have an explanation of the frontispiece appended to the 1711 edition of An Essay on Criticism. Is it related to Pierrian Spring and the Muse of Poetry referred to in the poem. I would like to know more on it.

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Comprehensive O/A Level notes

(from) An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope

Line-by-line ‘analysis’:.

This stanza is an excerpt from a much larger poem by Alexander Pope. The poem, as a whole, isn’t very open to interpretation – it is a (pretty straightforward) message to literary critics about the problems in their craft. That’s why there isn’t really much to analyse so a lot of what’s written below will just be explanations of the poem

Also, it’s incredibly boring and every fibre of my brain is crying tears of pain

A little learning is a dang’rous thing; / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: / There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, / And drinking largely sobers us again.

• ‘ L ittle l earning’ 
• ‘ D rink d eep’
• The first line is essentially just a statement about the Dunning-Kruger Effect . He warns critics that their shallow knowledge of literature may prove more destructive than constructive, because it gives them the confidence to criticise poems but blinds them to the fact that their criticism is bad. This is the message underlying the whole poem  
• The usage of ‘drink’ also has a double meaning – at first, it is easy to drink water, but as your stomach gets full, it becomes more and more nauseating to do so
• It is important to note, here, that Alexander Pope is not suggesting that it is impossible for these critics to have a well-rounded view of literature. He is simply putting forwards to them the responsibility to spend a long time dedicated to the craft before they claim mastery over it. 
• In the third line, the metaphor is extended – he says that ‘shallow draughts’ ie small steps into academics cloud our judgement, making us overestimate our abilities, while full mastery again humbles us into submission (that’s not the right word but I don’t know how to end the sentence)

Fir’d at first sight with what the Muse imparts, / In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts,

• Because of their influence, the youth are said, here, to become incredibly ambitious. This is why, in this context, the word ‘fearless’ is not a compliment but rather an indictment of rashness
• These collective pronouns are continued throughout the poem 
• The usage of ‘heights’ extends upon the natural imagery started by the reference to the springs

While from the bounded level of our mind, / Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,

• The comparison of delusion to tunnel vision highlights that it is a problem in the way the world is viewed – the angle via which the subject is approached – rather than the subject itself that is being highlighted here 
• The natural imagery is added to via the usage of ‘views’ and ‘lengths’ – it suggests someone climbing up a mountain, savouring what little views they can get from the middle and ignoring the travel already done from the base

But more advanc’d, behold with strange surprise / New, distant scenes of endless science rise! / So pleas’d at first, the tow’ring Alps we try, / Mount o’er the vales, and seem to tread the sky;

• Sibilance (the alliteration of “hissing” sounds) is common here – “ s trange s urprise” “di s tant s cene s of endle ss sc ien c e ri s e”. This could be in order to give the new knowledge beholden a ‘slithering’ effect, making it seem sinister, as a warning of its unending depth
• The usage of mountains as a metaphor emphasises the insignificance of individual actors by contrasting the size of the mountains with puny humans
• For the first time in the poem, a line ends with an exclamation mark rather than a comma/semicolon in order to highlight the excitement first felt during this revelation
• The use of a simile (“and seem to tread the sky”) rather than a metaphor highlights the delusion

Th’ eternal snows appear already past, / And the first clouds and mountains seem the last; / But those attain’d, we tremble to survey / The growing labours of the lengthen’d way,

• This is highlighted by the usage of binary oppositions “first” and “last”, “eternal” and “past”, and the usage of adjectives which emphasise a sense of delusion “appear”, “seem”. All of this makes apparent the contrast between false delusion and reality
• We see enjambment used in the next two lines, where, for the first time, a line is not ended with a punctuation mark. This creates a sense of continuation which highlights the lengthy journey that has been embarked on
• Again, the natural imagery has continued here: “snows”, “clouds”, “mountains”

Th’ increasing prospect tires our wand’ring eyes, / Hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

• This endless depth is highlighted by the repetition of “hills” and “Alps”, and the ending of the poem on an exclamation mark.
• The title is pretty straightforward – it is an essay on the practices and faults of literary critic’s work

Pursuit of Knowledge:

• He dislikes the attitude people new to a subject have wherein they, with their limited knowledge, declare themselves masters and thus go around criticising everything they see. As he believes this is ultimately harmful to the public’s view of a subject, he believes that, instead, learners should adopt a steady and humble approach to learning
• There is an emphasis on the fact that the fault lies within the beholder’s attitude, not their intellect or the subject in and of itself. For example, the fault is highlighted within the trekker’s tunnel vision, which means that the problem lies in the heuristic through which he views the world. 

Ars Poetica:

• Like ‘Nearing Forty’, this is a poem about writing poetry – a meta-poem, or ars poetica. He is attempting, in this poem, to tell readers how they should go about writing poetry and the faults new poets usually fall to
• During this message, he does not take a condescending role, however – he often tries to sympathise with the reader’s struggle via the usage of collective pronouns, suggesting that this was a message that Pope himself could benefit from, to

Literary Devices:

Extended metaphor:.

• This poem contains an extended metaphor wherein the passage of learning is compared to a trek in the mountains
• There is a lot of natural imagery due to the choice of the metaphor. Immerses the reader/highlights message blah blah blah

Enjambment:

• The lines “But those attain’d, we tremble to survey / The growing labours of the lengthen’d way,” are enjambed in order to highlight to lengthy nature of the road ahead

Alliteration:

• “ L ittle l earning”
• “ D rink d eeply” – dental alliteration here in order to highlight his message
• In lines 9-11, sibilance is found, which highlights how sinister and off putting the discovery of depth can seem

Repetition:

• Repetition is found in the last line to highlight the endless nature of the subject
• Most lines end with a comma/semicolon to indicate a slight pause
• Some lines end with an exclamation point to instill a sense of wonder
• In order to maintain this iambic pentameter, Pope often uses elisions (ommits) syllables by replacing letters with apostrophes. For example, in the first line, “dangerous”, which has three syllables (the first stressed, and the second two unstressed), is transformed into a word with two syllables (“dang’rous), the first of which is stressed and the second unstressed, via the omission of an e. 
• The usage of iambic pentameter may have been an attempt to legitimise his work in the eyes of critics by sticking to their established conventions in order to make them respect his opinion more
• The steady, constant iambic pentameter may also symbolise the steady, constant march he wants literary critics to take when advancing their education
• Rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter are called heroic couplets. Again, their usage lends legitimacy to his work and may also be a message about the heroic nature of someone who attempts to conquer a subject

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An Essay on Criticism

33 pages • 1 hour read

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Summary and Study Guide

Summary: “an essay on criticism: written in the year 1709”.

Alexander Pope was a prominent English poet and satirist who was born in 1688 and died in 1744. He published An Essay on Criticism in 1711, though the subtitle suggests that he wrote it earlier, and it is the work that made him famous and launched his career. The poem is largely written in heroic couplets and iambic pentameter and is a critique of the state of literary criticism in the early 18th century. It offers a satire of the authors of Pope’s era and a thesis about the best way to judge and write literature. Pope focuses on how to develop and define good taste and judgment, the rules of good literature as he sees them handed down from the ancient (classical Greek and Roman) poets, and what makes a good modern critic in his eyes. Other poems by Pope include " The Rape of Lock ", “ Eloisa to Abelard ”, and “ An Essay on Man ”.

This guide is based on the Oxford World’s Classics edition of An Essay on Literature , published in 2006 as part of The Major Works and edited by Pat Rogers. The edition is based on the William Bowyer quarto editions of 1744, which were edited with Pope’s help.

The argument of An Essay on Criticism is broken into three parts. The first focuses on what Pope sees as the over-abundance of literary critics in the early 18th century. Pope argues that it takes as much skill to be a critic as it does to be a writer but that people often venture beyond their natural talents; further, while many people do have the capacity for good taste, some have been “ spoiled by false education” (Line 17). For both writers and critics, Pope argues, aesthetic judgment should stem first and foremost from “nature.” According to Pope, the literary conventions that classical writers followed were not arbitrary but rather logically derived from the inherent order of things. However, writers must also rely on a natural sense of creativity. This may necessitate breaking certain artistic rules, but artistic rule-breaking must serve a broader function within the piece; otherwise, criticism of the work is justified. In this section, Pope also argues for a relationship between critic and poet that is complementary rather than one-sided or self-interested; the good critic’s praise will inspire more good poetry and vice versa.

In the second part, Pope goes into detail about what he sees as the barriers to good judgment. These include pride and a failure to recognize one’s own limitations, the above-mentioned false (particularly shallow) education, too much focus on the parts of a work of literature with not enough attention to the whole, excessive loyalty to one particular school of thought or kind of literature, and critics who are envious or unnecessarily severe. In his discussion of the inappropriate focus on the part over the whole, Pope singles out overly ornamental language and unnecessary reliance on extended metaphor or conceit . Likewise, he cautions against expecting strict adherence to acoustic elements like meter and rhyme . He puts forward the idea that poetic expression works best when the author balances techniques to achieve their aim. This section also discusses the tendency to single out one writer or group of writers for praise or criticism—e.g., only those from a particular country or era. For example, Pope suggests that a knowledge of classical literature is necessary to produce good modern literature, but he cautions against taking one side over the other simply out of loyalty or current fads. Pope also urges critics not to delay praising good work and so deprive writers of their already too-fleeting fame. This, he suggests, is a particular tendency among writers who have already achieved renown; they may disparage works that are, if not equal to their own, at least commendable.

The third segment of Pope’s begins by stressing that critics must not merely understand their subject but must also know how and when to praise or criticize. He then gives a literary and critical history from ancient times to the 18th century, including examples of philosophers and poets whom Pope believes should be honored and copied. In particular, he focuses on the ancients Aristotle, Horace , Dionysius, Petronius, Quintilian, and Longinus, arguing that aesthetic standards declined after the fall of the Roman Empire. Erasmus, Pope argues, partially revived classical learning, but France has heeded the knowledge of the ancients more carefully than England. Pope concludes with a personal message of thanks to William Walsh, who supported Pope’s earlier career and whom Pope refers to as “the Muse’s judge and friend” (Line 729).

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An Essay on Criticism

BY Alexander Pope

Introduction

Alexander Pope, a translator, poet, wit, amateur landscape gardener, and satirist, was born in London in 1688. He contracted tuberculosis of the bone when he was young, which disfigured his spine and purportedly only allowed him to grow to 4 feet, 6 inches. Pope grew up on his father’s property at Binfield in Windsor Forest, where he read avidly and gained an appreciation for the natural world. Though he remained in ill health throughout his life, he was able to support himself as a translator and writer. As a Catholic at that time in Britain, he was ineligible for patronage, public office, or a position at a university.   A sharp-penned satirist of public figures and their behavior, Pope had his supporters and detractors. He was friends with Jonathan Swift, Dr. John Arbuthnot, and John Gay. Pope’s poems include the “Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot” and the mock epic “The Rape of the Lock.” To read his work is to be exposed to the order and wit of the 18th century poetry that preceded the Romantic poets. Pope primarily used the heroic couplet, and his lines are immensely quotable; from “An Essay on Criticism” come famous phrases such as “To err is human; to forgive, divine,” “A little learning is a dang’rous thing,” and “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”   After 1718 Pope lived on his five-acre property at Twickenham by the Thames. He cultivated a much-visited garden that contained a grotto, and featured the formal characteristics of a French garden and the newer more natural “English” landscape style.   Pope wrote “An Essay on Criticism” when he was 23; he was influenced by Quintillian, Aristotle, Horace’s Ars Poetica , and Nicolas Boileau’s L’Art Poëtique . Written in heroic couplets, the tone is straight-forward and conversational. It is a discussion of what good critics should do; however, in reading it one gleans much wisdom on the qualities poets should strive for in their own work. In Part I of “An Essay on Criticism,” Pope notes the lack of “true taste” in critics, stating: “’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none / Go just alike, yet each believes his own.” Pope advocates knowing one’s own artistic limits: “Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet, / And mark that point where sense and dullness meet.” He stresses the order in nature and the value of the work of the “Ancients” of Greece, but also states that not all good work can be explained by rules: “Some beauties yet, no precepts can declare, / For there’s a happiness as well as care.”   In Part II, Pope lists the mistakes that critics make, as well as the defects in poems that some critics short-sightedly praise. He advocates looking at a whole piece of work, instead of being swayed by some of its showier or faulty parts: “As men of breeding, sometimes men of wit, / T’ avoid great errors, must the less commit.” He advises against too much ornamentation in writing, and against fancy style that communicates little of merit. In his description of versification, his lines enact the effects of clumsy writing: “And ten low words oft creep in one dull line,” and “A needless Alexandrine ends the song, / That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.” In Part III, Pope discusses what critics should do, holding up the “Ancients” as models, including Aristotle (the “Stagirite”) who was respected by the lawless poets: “Poets, a race long unconfin’d and free, / Still fond and proud of savage liberty, / Receiv’d his laws; and stood convinc’d ‘twas fit, / Who conquer’d nature, should preside o’er wit.”

'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill Appear in writing or in judging ill; But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' offence To tire our patience, than mislead our sense. Some few in that, but numbers err in this, Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss; A fool might once himself alone expose, Now one in verse makes many more in prose.        'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own. In poets as true genius is but rare, True taste as seldom is the critic's share; Both must alike from Heav'n derive their light, These born to judge, as well as those to write. Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely who have written well. Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true, But are not critics to their judgment too?        Yet if we look more closely we shall find Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind; Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light; The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right. But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd, Is by ill colouring but the more disgrac'd, So by false learning is good sense defac'd; Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools, And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools. In search of wit these lose their common sense, And then turn critics in their own defence: Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write, Or with a rival's, or an eunuch's spite. All fools have still an itching to deride, And fain would be upon the laughing side. If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spite, There are, who judge still worse than he can write.        Some have at first for wits, then poets pass'd, Turn'd critics next, and prov'd plain fools at last; Some neither can for wits nor critics pass, As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass. Those half-learn'd witlings, num'rous in our isle As half-form'd insects on the banks of Nile; Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call, Their generation's so equivocal: To tell 'em, would a hundred tongues require, Or one vain wit's, that might a hundred tire.        But you who seek to give and merit fame, And justly bear a critic's noble name, Be sure your self and your own reach to know, How far your genius, taste, and learning go; Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet, And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.        Nature to all things fix'd the limits fit, And wisely curb'd proud man's pretending wit: As on the land while here the ocean gains, In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains; Thus in the soul while memory prevails, The solid pow'r of understanding fails; Where beams of warm imagination play, The memory's soft figures melt away. One science only will one genius fit; So vast is art, so narrow human wit: Not only bounded to peculiar arts, But oft in those, confin'd to single parts. Like kings we lose the conquests gain'd before, By vain ambition still to make them more; Each might his sev'ral province well command, Would all but stoop to what they understand.        First follow NATURE, and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same: Unerring Nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchang'd, and universal light, Life, force, and beauty, must to all impart, At once the source, and end, and test of art. Art from that fund each just supply provides, Works without show, and without pomp presides: In some fair body thus th' informing soul With spirits feeds, with vigour fills the whole, Each motion guides, and ev'ry nerve sustains; Itself unseen, but in th' effects, remains. Some, to whom Heav'n in wit has been profuse, Want as much more, to turn it to its use; For wit and judgment often are at strife, Though meant each other's aid, like man and wife. 'Tis more to guide, than spur the Muse's steed; Restrain his fury, than provoke his speed; The winged courser, like a gen'rous horse, Shows most true mettle when you check his course.        Those RULES of old discover'd, not devis'd, Are Nature still, but Nature methodis'd; Nature, like liberty, is but restrain'd By the same laws which first herself ordain'd.        Hear how learn'd Greece her useful rules indites, When to repress, and when indulge our flights: High on Parnassus' top her sons she show'd, And pointed out those arduous paths they trod; Held from afar, aloft, th' immortal prize, And urg'd the rest by equal steps to rise. Just precepts thus from great examples giv'n, She drew from them what they deriv'd from Heav'n. The gen'rous critic fann'd the poet's fire, And taught the world with reason to admire. Then criticism the Muse's handmaid prov'd, To dress her charms, and make her more belov'd; But following wits from that intention stray'd; Who could not win the mistress, woo'd the maid; Against the poets their own arms they turn'd, Sure to hate most the men from whom they learn'd. So modern 'pothecaries, taught the art By doctor's bills to play the doctor's part, Bold in the practice of mistaken rules, Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools. Some on the leaves of ancient authors prey, Nor time nor moths e'er spoil'd so much as they: Some drily plain, without invention's aid, Write dull receipts how poems may be made: These leave the sense, their learning to display, And those explain the meaning quite away.        You then whose judgment the right course would steer, Know well each ANCIENT'S proper character; His fable, subject, scope in ev'ry page; Religion, country, genius of his age: Without all these at once before your eyes, Cavil you may, but never criticise. Be Homer's works your study and delight, Read them by day, and meditate by night; Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims bring, And trace the Muses upward to their spring; Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse; And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse.        When first young Maro in his boundless mind A work t' outlast immortal Rome design'd, Perhaps he seem'd above the critic's law, And but from Nature's fountains scorn'd to draw: But when t' examine ev'ry part he came, Nature and Homer were, he found, the same. Convinc'd, amaz'd, he checks the bold design, And rules as strict his labour'd work confine, As if the Stagirite o'erlook'd each line. Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem; To copy nature is to copy them.        Some beauties yet, no precepts can declare, For there's a happiness as well as care. Music resembles poetry, in each Are nameless graces which no methods teach, And which a master-hand alone can reach. If, where the rules not far enough extend, (Since rules were made but to promote their end) Some lucky LICENCE answers to the full Th' intent propos'd, that licence is a rule. Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take, May boldly deviate from the common track. Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend, And rise to faults true critics dare not mend; From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part, And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art, Which, without passing through the judgment, gains The heart, and all its end at once attains. In prospects, thus, some objects please our eyes, Which out of nature's common order rise, The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice. But tho' the ancients thus their rules invade, (As kings dispense with laws themselves have made) Moderns, beware! or if you must offend Against the precept, ne'er transgress its end; Let it be seldom, and compell'd by need, And have, at least, their precedent to plead. The critic else proceeds without remorse, Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force.        I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, seem faults. Some figures monstrous and misshap'd appear, Consider'd singly, or beheld too near, Which, but proportion'd to their light, or place, Due distance reconciles to form and grace. A prudent chief not always must display His pow'rs in equal ranks, and fair array, But with th' occasion and the place comply, Conceal his force, nay seem sometimes to fly. Those oft are stratagems which errors seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.        Still green with bays each ancient altar stands, Above the reach of sacrilegious hands, Secure from flames, from envy's fiercer rage, Destructive war, and all-involving age. See, from each clime the learn'd their incense bring! Hear, in all tongues consenting pæans ring! In praise so just let ev'ry voice be join'd, And fill the gen'ral chorus of mankind! Hail, bards triumphant! born in happier days; Immortal heirs of universal praise! Whose honours with increase of ages grow, As streams roll down, enlarging as they flow! Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound, And worlds applaud that must not yet be found! Oh may some spark of your celestial fire The last, the meanest of your sons inspire, (That on weak wings, from far, pursues your flights; Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes) To teach vain wits a science little known, T' admire superior sense, and doubt their own!

Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind, What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools. Whatever Nature has in worth denied, She gives in large recruits of needful pride; For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and spirits, swell'd with wind; Pride, where wit fails, steps in to our defence, And fills up all the mighty void of sense! If once right reason drives that cloud away, Truth breaks upon us with resistless day; Trust not yourself; but your defects to know, Make use of ev'ry friend—and ev'ry foe.        A little learning is a dang'rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. Fir'd at first sight with what the Muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts, While from the bounded level of our mind, Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind, But more advanc'd, behold with strange surprise New, distant scenes of endless science rise! So pleas'd at first, the tow'ring Alps we try, Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky; Th' eternal snows appear already past, And the first clouds and mountains seem the last; But those attain'd, we tremble to survey The growing labours of the lengthen'd way, Th' increasing prospect tires our wand'ring eyes, Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!        A perfect judge will read each work of wit With the same spirit that its author writ, Survey the whole, nor seek slight faults to find, Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind; Nor lose, for that malignant dull delight, The gen'rous pleasure to be charm'd with wit. But in such lays as neither ebb, nor flow, Correctly cold, and regularly low, That shunning faults, one quiet tenour keep; We cannot blame indeed—but we may sleep. In wit, as nature, what affects our hearts Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts; 'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call, But the joint force and full result of all. Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome, (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!' No single parts unequally surprise; All comes united to th' admiring eyes; No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear; The whole at once is bold, and regular.        Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. In ev'ry work regard the writer's end, Since none can compass more than they intend; And if the means be just, the conduct true, Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due. As men of breeding, sometimes men of wit, T' avoid great errors, must the less commit: Neglect the rules each verbal critic lays, For not to know such trifles, is a praise. Most critics, fond of some subservient art, Still make the whole depend upon a part: They talk of principles, but notions prize, And all to one lov'd folly sacrifice.        Once on a time, La Mancha's knight, they say, A certain bard encount'ring on the way, Discours'd in terms as just, with looks as sage, As e'er could Dennis of the Grecian stage; Concluding all were desp'rate sots and fools, Who durst depart from Aristotle's rules. Our author, happy in a judge so nice, Produc'd his play, and begg'd the knight's advice, Made him observe the subject and the plot, The manners, passions, unities, what not? All which, exact to rule, were brought about, Were but a combat in the lists left out. "What! leave the combat out?" exclaims the knight; "Yes, or we must renounce the Stagirite." "Not so by Heav'n" (he answers in a rage) "Knights, squires, and steeds, must enter on the stage." So vast a throng the stage can ne'er contain. "Then build a new, or act it in a plain."        Thus critics, of less judgment than caprice, Curious not knowing, not exact but nice, Form short ideas; and offend in arts (As most in manners) by a love to parts.        Some to conceit alone their taste confine, And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line; Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit; One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit. Poets, like painters, thus, unskill'd to trace The naked nature and the living grace, With gold and jewels cover ev'ry part, And hide with ornaments their want of art. True wit is nature to advantage dress'd, What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd, Something, whose truth convinc'd at sight we find, That gives us back the image of our mind. As shades more sweetly recommend the light, So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit. For works may have more wit than does 'em good, As bodies perish through excess of blood.        Others for language all their care express, And value books, as women men, for dress: Their praise is still—"the style is excellent": The sense, they humbly take upon content. Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found. False eloquence, like the prismatic glass, Its gaudy colours spreads on ev'ry place; The face of Nature we no more survey, All glares alike, without distinction gay: But true expression, like th' unchanging sun, Clears, and improves whate'er it shines upon, It gilds all objects, but it alters none. Expression is the dress of thought, and still Appears more decent, as more suitable; A vile conceit in pompous words express'd, Is like a clown in regal purple dress'd: For diff'rent styles with diff'rent subjects sort, As several garbs with country, town, and court. Some by old words to fame have made pretence, Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense; Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze th' unlearn'd, and make the learned smile. Unlucky, as Fungoso in the play, These sparks with awkward vanity display What the fine gentleman wore yesterday! And but so mimic ancient wits at best, As apes our grandsires, in their doublets dress'd. In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold; Alike fantastic, if too new, or old; Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Not yet the last to lay the old aside.        But most by numbers judge a poet's song; And smooth or rough, with them is right or wrong: In the bright Muse though thousand charms conspire, Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire, Who haunt Parnassus but to please their ear, Not mend their minds; as some to church repair, Not for the doctrine, but the music there. These equal syllables alone require, Tho' oft the ear the open vowels tire, While expletives their feeble aid do join, And ten low words oft creep in one dull line, While they ring round the same unvaried chimes, With sure returns of still expected rhymes. Where'er you find "the cooling western breeze", In the next line, it "whispers through the trees": If "crystal streams with pleasing murmurs creep", The reader's threaten'd (not in vain) with "sleep". Then, at the last and only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. Leave such to tune their own dull rhymes, and know What's roundly smooth, or languishingly slow; And praise the easy vigour of a line, Where Denham's strength, and Waller's sweetness join. True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance. 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, The sound must seem an echo to the sense. Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar. When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow; Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main. Hear how Timotheus' varied lays surprise, And bid alternate passions fall and rise! While, at each change, the son of Libyan Jove Now burns with glory, and then melts with love; Now his fierce eyes with sparkling fury glow, Now sighs steal out, and tears begin to flow: Persians and Greeks like turns of nature found, And the world's victor stood subdu'd by sound! The pow'r of music all our hearts allow, And what Timotheus was, is Dryden now.        Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of such, Who still are pleas'd too little or too much. At ev'ry trifle scorn to take offence, That always shows great pride, or little sense; Those heads, as stomachs, are not sure the best, Which nauseate all, and nothing can digest. Yet let not each gay turn thy rapture move, For fools admire, but men of sense approve; As things seem large which we through mists descry, Dulness is ever apt to magnify.        Some foreign writers, some our own despise; The ancients only, or the moderns prize. Thus wit, like faith, by each man is applied To one small sect, and all are damn'd beside. Meanly they seek the blessing to confine, And force that sun but on a part to shine; Which not alone the southern wit sublimes, But ripens spirits in cold northern climes; Which from the first has shone on ages past, Enlights the present, and shall warm the last; (Though each may feel increases and decays, And see now clearer and now darker days.) Regard not then if wit be old or new, But blame the false, and value still the true. Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own, But catch the spreading notion of the town; They reason and conclude by precedent, And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent. Some judge of authors' names, not works, and then Nor praise nor blame the writings, but the men. Of all this servile herd, the worst is he That in proud dulness joins with quality, A constant critic at the great man's board, To fetch and carry nonsense for my Lord. What woeful stuff this madrigal would be, In some starv'd hackney sonneteer, or me? But let a Lord once own the happy lines, How the wit brightens! how the style refines! Before his sacred name flies every fault, And each exalted stanza teems with thought!        The vulgar thus through imitation err; As oft the learn'd by being singular; So much they scorn the crowd, that if the throng By chance go right, they purposely go wrong: So Schismatics the plain believers quit, And are but damn'd for having too much wit.        Some praise at morning what they blame at night; But always think the last opinion right. A Muse by these is like a mistress us'd, This hour she's idoliz'd, the next abus'd; While their weak heads, like towns unfortified, Twixt sense and nonsense daily change their side. Ask them the cause; they're wiser still, they say; And still tomorrow's wiser than today. We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow; Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so. Once school divines this zealous isle o'erspread; Who knew most Sentences, was deepest read; Faith, Gospel, all, seem'd made to be disputed, And none had sense enough to be confuted: Scotists and Thomists, now, in peace remain, Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane. If Faith itself has different dresses worn, What wonder modes in wit should take their turn? Oft, leaving what is natural and fit, The current folly proves the ready wit; And authors think their reputation safe Which lives as long as fools are pleased to laugh.        Some valuing those of their own side or mind, Still make themselves the measure of mankind; Fondly we think we honour merit then, When we but praise ourselves in other men. Parties in wit attend on those of state, And public faction doubles private hate. Pride, Malice, Folly, against Dryden rose, In various shapes of Parsons, Critics, Beaus; But sense surviv'd, when merry jests were past; For rising merit will buoy up at last. Might he return, and bless once more our eyes, New Blackmores and new Milbourns must arise; Nay should great Homer lift his awful head, Zoilus again would start up from the dead. Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue, But like a shadow, proves the substance true; For envied wit, like Sol eclips'd, makes known Th' opposing body's grossness, not its own. When first that sun too powerful beams displays, It draws up vapours which obscure its rays; But ev'n those clouds at last adorn its way, Reflect new glories, and augment the day.        Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes, And 'tis but just to let 'em live betimes. No longer now that golden age appears, When patriarch wits surviv'd a thousand years: Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost, And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast; Our sons their fathers' failing language see, And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be. So when the faithful pencil has design'd Some bright idea of the master's mind, Where a new world leaps out at his command, And ready Nature waits upon his hand; When the ripe colours soften and unite, And sweetly melt into just shade and light; When mellowing years their full perfection give, And each bold figure just begins to live, The treacherous colours the fair art betray, And all the bright creation fades away!        Unhappy wit, like most mistaken things, Atones not for that envy which it brings. In youth alone its empty praise we boast, But soon the short-liv'd vanity is lost: Like some fair flow'r the early spring supplies, That gaily blooms, but ev'n in blooming dies. What is this wit, which must our cares employ? The owner's wife, that other men enjoy; Then most our trouble still when most admir'd, And still the more we give, the more requir'd; Whose fame with pains we guard, but lose with ease, Sure some to vex, but never all to please; 'Tis what the vicious fear, the virtuous shun; By fools 'tis hated, and by knaves undone!        If wit so much from ign'rance undergo, Ah let not learning too commence its foe! Of old, those met rewards who could excel, And such were prais'd who but endeavour'd well: Though triumphs were to gen'rals only due, Crowns were reserv'd to grace the soldiers too. Now, they who reach Parnassus' lofty crown, Employ their pains to spurn some others down;        And while self-love each jealous writer rules, Contending wits become the sport of fools: But still the worst with most regret commend, For each ill author is as bad a friend. To what base ends, and by what abject ways, Are mortals urg'd through sacred lust of praise! Ah ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast, Nor in the critic let the man be lost! Good nature and good sense must ever join; To err is human; to forgive, divine.        But if in noble minds some dregs remain, Not yet purg'd off, of spleen and sour disdain, Discharge that rage on more provoking crimes, Nor fear a dearth in these flagitious times. No pardon vile obscenity should find, Though wit and art conspire to move your mind; But dulness with obscenity must prove As shameful sure as impotence in love. In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease, Sprung the rank weed, and thriv'd with large increase: When love was all an easy monarch's care; Seldom at council, never in a war: Jilts ruled the state, and statesmen farces writ; Nay wits had pensions, and young Lords had wit: The fair sat panting at a courtier's play, And not a mask went unimprov'd away: The modest fan was lifted up no more, And virgins smil'd at what they blush'd before. The following licence of a foreign reign Did all the dregs of bold Socinus drain; Then unbelieving priests reform'd the nation, And taught more pleasant methods of salvation; Where Heav'n's free subjects might their rights dispute, Lest God himself should seem too absolute: Pulpits their sacred satire learned to spare, And Vice admired to find a flatt'rer there! Encourag'd thus, wit's Titans brav'd the skies, And the press groan'd with licenc'd blasphemies. These monsters, critics! with your darts engage, Here point your thunder, and exhaust your rage! Yet shun their fault, who, scandalously nice, Will needs mistake an author into vice; All seems infected that th' infected spy, As all looks yellow to the jaundic'd eye.

Learn then what morals critics ought to show, For 'tis but half a judge's task, to know. 'Tis not enough, taste, judgment, learning, join; In all you speak, let truth and candour shine: That not alone what to your sense is due, All may allow; but seek your friendship too.        Be silent always when you doubt your sense; And speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence: Some positive, persisting fops we know, Who, if once wrong, will needs be always so; But you, with pleasure own your errors past, And make each day a critic on the last.        'Tis not enough, your counsel still be true; Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do; Men must be taught as if you taught them not; And things unknown proposed as things forgot. Without good breeding, truth is disapprov'd; That only makes superior sense belov'd.        Be niggards of advice on no pretence; For the worst avarice is that of sense. With mean complacence ne'er betray your trust, Nor be so civil as to prove unjust. Fear not the anger of the wise to raise; Those best can bear reproof, who merit praise.        'Twere well might critics still this freedom take, But Appius reddens at each word you speak, And stares, Tremendous ! with a threatening eye, Like some fierce tyrant in old tapestry! Fear most to tax an honourable fool, Whose right it is, uncensur'd, to be dull; Such, without wit, are poets when they please, As without learning they can take degrees. Leave dangerous truths to unsuccessful satires, And flattery to fulsome dedicators, Whom, when they praise, the world believes no more, Than when they promise to give scribbling o'er. 'Tis best sometimes your censure to restrain, And charitably let the dull be vain: Your silence there is better than your spite, For who can rail so long as they can write? Still humming on, their drowsy course they keep, And lash'd so long, like tops, are lash'd asleep. False steps but help them to renew the race, As after stumbling, jades will mend their pace. What crowds of these, impenitently bold, In sounds and jingling syllables grown old, Still run on poets, in a raging vein, Even to the dregs and squeezings of the brain, Strain out the last, dull droppings of their sense, And rhyme with all the rage of impotence!        Such shameless bards we have; and yet 'tis true, There are as mad, abandon'd critics too. The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head, With his own tongue still edifies his ears, And always list'ning to himself appears. All books he reads, and all he reads assails, From Dryden's Fables down to Durfey's Tales. With him, most authors steal their works, or buy; Garth did not write his own Dispensary . Name a new play, and he's the poet's friend, Nay show'd his faults—but when would poets mend? No place so sacred from such fops is barr'd, Nor is Paul's church more safe than Paul's churchyard: Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead: For fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks; It still looks home, and short excursions makes; But rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks; And never shock'd, and never turn'd aside, Bursts out, resistless, with a thund'ring tide.        But where's the man, who counsel can bestow, Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know? Unbias'd, or by favour or by spite; Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right; Though learn'd, well-bred; and though well-bred, sincere; Modestly bold, and humanly severe? Who to a friend his faults can freely show, And gladly praise the merit of a foe? Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd; A knowledge both of books and human kind; Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride; And love to praise, with reason on his side?        Such once were critics; such the happy few, Athens and Rome in better ages knew. The mighty Stagirite first left the shore, Spread all his sails, and durst the deeps explore: He steer'd securely, and discover'd far, Led by the light of the Mæonian Star. Poets, a race long unconfin'd and free, Still fond and proud of savage liberty, Receiv'd his laws; and stood convinc'd 'twas fit, Who conquer'd nature, should preside o'er wit.        Horace still charms with graceful negligence, And without methods talks us into sense, Will, like a friend, familiarly convey The truest notions in the easiest way. He, who supreme in judgment, as in wit, Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ, Yet judg'd with coolness, though he sung with fire; His precepts teach but what his works inspire. Our critics take a contrary extreme, They judge with fury, but they write with fle'me: Nor suffers Horace more in wrong translations By wits, than critics in as wrong quotations.        See Dionysius Homer's thoughts refine, And call new beauties forth from ev'ry line!        Fancy and art in gay Petronius please, The scholar's learning, with the courtier's ease.        In grave Quintilian's copious work we find The justest rules, and clearest method join'd; Thus useful arms in magazines we place, All rang'd in order, and dispos'd with grace, But less to please the eye, than arm the hand, Still fit for use, and ready at command.        Thee, bold Longinus! all the Nine inspire, And bless their critic with a poet's fire. An ardent judge, who zealous in his trust, With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just; Whose own example strengthens all his laws; And is himself that great sublime he draws.        Thus long succeeding critics justly reign'd, Licence repress'd, and useful laws ordain'd; Learning and Rome alike in empire grew, And arts still follow'd where her eagles flew; From the same foes, at last, both felt their doom, And the same age saw learning fall, and Rome. With tyranny, then superstition join'd, As that the body, this enslav'd the mind; Much was believ'd, but little understood, And to be dull was constru'd to be good; A second deluge learning thus o'er-run, And the monks finish'd what the Goths begun.        At length Erasmus, that great, injur'd name, (The glory of the priesthood, and the shame!) Stemm'd the wild torrent of a barb'rous age, And drove those holy Vandals off the stage.        But see! each Muse, in Leo's golden days, Starts from her trance, and trims her wither'd bays! Rome's ancient genius, o'er its ruins spread, Shakes off the dust, and rears his rev'rend head! Then sculpture and her sister-arts revive; Stones leap'd to form, and rocks began to live; With sweeter notes each rising temple rung; A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung. Immortal Vida! on whose honour'd brow The poet's bays and critic's ivy grow: Cremona now shall ever boast thy name, As next in place to Mantua, next in fame!        But soon by impious arms from Latium chas'd, Their ancient bounds the banished Muses pass'd; Thence arts o'er all the northern world advance; But critic-learning flourish'd most in France. The rules a nation born to serve, obeys, And Boileau still in right of Horace sways. But we, brave Britons, foreign laws despis'd, And kept unconquer'd, and uncivilis'd, Fierce for the liberties of wit, and bold, We still defied the Romans, as of old. Yet some there were, among the sounder few Of those who less presum'd, and better knew, Who durst assert the juster ancient cause, And here restor'd wit's fundamental laws. Such was the Muse, whose rules and practice tell "Nature's chief master-piece is writing well." Such was Roscommon—not more learn'd than good, With manners gen'rous as his noble blood; To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And ev'ry author's merit, but his own. Such late was Walsh—the Muse's judge and friend, Who justly knew to blame or to commend; To failings mild, but zealous for desert; The clearest head, and the sincerest heart. This humble praise, lamented shade! receive, This praise at least a grateful Muse may give: The Muse, whose early voice you taught to sing, Prescrib'd her heights, and prun'd her tender wing, (Her guide now lost) no more attempts to rise, But in low numbers short excursions tries: Content, if hence th' unlearn'd their wants may view, The learn'd reflect on what before they knew: Careless of censure, nor too fond of fame, Still pleas'd to praise, yet not afraid to blame, Averse alike to flatter, or offend, Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend.

The acknowledged master of the heroic couplet and one of the primary tastemakers of the Augustan age, British writer Alexander Pope was a central figure in the Neoclassical movement of the early 18th century. He is known for having perfected the rhymed couplet form of his idol, John Dryden , and turned it to satiric and philosophical purposes. His mock epic The Rape of the Lock (1714) derides elite...

Poetry Anthologies from Educational Syllabuses

Cambridge igcse english literature 0475 2023-25.

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For those that are studying Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English 0475 course, here is a list of all poems from their syllabus analyzed for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 ( version 2 ). These are the poems that apply to exams that are to be taken in 2023, 2024, or 2025, with the poems below applicable to Paper 1: Poetry and Prose . If you are struggling to understand any of the terms used in our analysis, explore our literary term glossary .

Please feel free to skip to the poem most relevant to you and if you want a poem to be analyzed that you cannot find on the site, too, feel free to contact us .

We also welcome comments on all of our poetry analyses and articles. If you have any questions about any of the poems at all, including the aforementioned below, please feel free to comment, and you will be responded to by a poetry expert.

Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English 0475

Set texts for examination in 2022 – paper 1, from songs of ourselves volume 1, part 4, the following 15 poems:.

• Margaret Atwood, ‘The City Planners’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Boey Kim Cheng, ‘The Planners’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Thom Gunn, ‘The Man with Night Sweats’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Robert Lowell, ‘Night Sweat’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Edward Thomas, ‘Rain’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Anne Stevenson, ‘The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Tony Harrison, ‘From Long Distance’ (a.k.a ‘Long Distance II’) [ PDF Guide ]
• W. H. Auden, ‘Funeral Blues’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Thomas Hardy, ‘He Never Expected Much’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Fleur Adcock, ‘The Telephone Call’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Peter Porter, ‘A Consumer’s Report’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Judith Wright, ‘Request To A Year’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Charles Tennyson Turner, ‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘Ozymandias’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Stevie Smith, ‘Away, Melancholy’ [ PDF Guide ]

From Songs of Ourselves Volume 2, Part 4, the following 15 poems:

• Elizabeth Thomas (‘Corinna’), ‘The Forsaken Wife’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Philip Bourke Marston, ‘After’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Algernon Charles Swinburne, ‘A Leave-Taking’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Sir Thomas Wyatt, ‘I Find No Peace’ [ PDF Guide ]
• James Joyce, ‘I Hear an Army’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Charlotte Mew, ‘Rooms’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Robert Browning, ‘Love in a Life’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Lauris Edmond, ‘Waterfall’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Mary Monck (‘Marinda’), ‘Verses Written on Her Death-bed at Bath to Her Husband in London’ [ PDF Guide ]
• A. R. D. Fairburn, ‘Rhyme of the Dead Self’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘Stanzas Written in Dejection, Near Naples’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Derek Walcott, ‘Nearing Forty’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Elinor Morton Wylie, ‘Now Let No Charitable Hope’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Alexander Pope, ‘From An Essay on Criticism’ [ PDF Guide ]
• Henry Wotton, ‘The Character of a Happy Life’ [ PDF Guide ]

Ted Hughes, the following 15 poems:

• ‘ The Thought-Fox ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ The Harvest Moon ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ The Jaguar ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Football at Slack ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ The Horses ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Roe-Deer ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Wind ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘A Memory’ (still analysing)
• ‘ Relic ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Telegraph Wires ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Hawk Roosting ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Anniversary ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Cat and Mouse ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ The Other ‘ [ PDF Guide ]
• ‘ Snowdrop ‘ [ PDF Guide ]

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Home » Poetry Anthologies from Educational Syllabuses » Cambridge IGCSE English Literature 0475 2023-25

About William Green

We have updated this syllabus. The latest syllabus is version 2, published January 2021. What has changed? Detail Changes to syllabus content • ‘The Planners’ by Boey Kim Cheng has replaced ‘The Bay’ by James K Baxter in set texts for Paper 1: for examination in 2023 (page 8), 2024 (page 12) and 2025 (page 16). We have not updated the specimen materials for this syllabus. Please check the updated syllabus for further information. The syllabus has been updated. You are strongly advised to read the whole syllabus before planning your teaching programme.

CIE January 2021; your list is wrong for Volume 1, Part Four. Please amend.

Hello Dan, thank you for taking the time to spot that – we’ve corrected the issue, so the syllabus is updated. We’ll do our best to make sure all syllabuses are updated so they are as accurate as possible.

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Green, William. "Cambridge IGCSE English Literature 0475 2023-25". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/educational-syllabus/cambridge-igcse-english-literature-0475-2023-24-25/ . Accessed 25 September 2024.

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"An Essay on Criticism" (Alexander Pope) - TEACH + IGCSE EXAM PREP + ANSWERS

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Description

This is an advanced, detailed ready-to-teach unit for the poem From "An Essay on Criticism" (Part 2) by Alexander Pope . The poem is also on the IGCSE English Literature curriculum for exams 2022 ( Songs of Ourselves, Volume 2, Part 4: Love, Age , and Wisdom ), but the unit can be used independently of the exams, too!

This comprehensive unit includes:

1. Biography and introduction to the poet - Alexander Pope

2. The Poem in Context : This is a pre-reading activity that sheds crucial light on the context of composition of Pope's famous poem.

3. The poem text with, line numbers and explanatory notes to facilitate a close-reading, and to explain unusual or difficult vocabulary and concepts. Illustrations and images further help clarify the use of terminology and phrases in the specific context of the poem.

4. Comprehension, close reading , and analysis questions , with a particular focus on close reading and analysis of poetic devices, language, structure, and its effects (useful for iGCSE/A-Level exam prep or to teach the poem at a higher level and in more depth than you’ll find with other materials).

5. Practice IGCSE Exam Paper - This is an IGCSE Paper 1: Poetry & Prose Practice Exam Paper that I created which emulates the real IGCSE Paper 1 exam as closely as possible. Can be used with classes as exam practice, or independently, to emulate a mock exam.

6. Teacher’s Notes and Study Guide section, including model answers and analysis and a critical commentary of the poem, can be used as a teacher’s guide or to help students in their revision for the exam.

7. Perfect for Distance Learning & Independent Study: As a stand-alone, comprehensive teaching unit with ANSWERS and teaching guide, this is also perfect for DISTANCE LEARNING or homeschool settings.

Feedback is always appreciated!

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IGCSE Poetry Vol 1: "An Essay on Man" (Alexander Pope) TEACH + REVISE BUNDLE

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

19 September 2024

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This no-prep bundle of activities is designed to enable the in-depth teaching and preparation of the poem From “An Essay on Man” by Alexander Pope. The poem is also on the IGCSE English Literature curriculum for exams in 2026-2028.

The unit includes:

1) Short biography and introduction to the poet

2) The poem text with line numbers to facilitate a close-reading, including historical context and explanatory notes where necessary.

3) Pre-Teaching Activities & Follow-Up Activities to facilitate teaching the poem & exam prep in class. I’ve focused on Alexander Pope’s aphorisms and on his use of antithesis and oxymoron in the poem.

4) Close-reading & Analysis Questions , with a particular focus on poetic devices and the IGCSE English Literature exam criteria.

5) Exam Practice Questions , modeled after the IGCSE English Literature Assessment Criteria (AO1-AO4). These can be used as a mock exam with your students.

6) In-depth, detailed model answers for all activities , questions, as well as model answers for the practice exam questions, again based on IGCSE Exam Rubric (A01-AO4).

**Happy reading, teaching, studying, and revising!

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The Literary Companion

Discover the Artistry Within: Your Journey through Poems, Short Stories, and Novels

Christina Rossetti

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Dear Readers,

I hope you’re enjoying the content. Creating and maintaining this platform takes time, effort, and resources. If you find value in the articles, and insights shared here, please consider supporting with a donation.

Author: Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti was a renowned Victorian poet and author, known for works such as “ Goblin Market ” and “ The Prince’s Progress .”

The short story Nick was written in 1853 and is included in Commonplace and Other Stories.  Around this time, Christina Rossetti was tormented by the thought of accepting the second position in life. This theme is reflected in the short stories The Lost Titian and Hero as well as in the poem The Lowest Room:

I may be second, but not first; I cannot be the first of all This weighs on me, this wearies me, I stumble like to fall. The Lowest Room

Envy and Discontentment : In the story, Rossetti explores the human character, as manifested by the hero, Nick. Nick is described as ‘poor’ not because he lacks means, but because he cannot find joy in his life despite having all the means and abilities to do so. He spends his time envying other people’s possessions, considering their prosperity as his own poverty. The consequences of his envy and discontentment drive the narrative and highlight these feelings’ destructive nature.

Wishes and their consequences: His envy and discontentment culminate in his ill wishes, summoning the appearance of a “little rosy woman” who rebukes him and declares, “Henceforward you shall straightway become everything you wish; only mind, you must remain under one form for at least an hour.” The ill wishes lead to unfavorable consequences and after a series of misadventures, Nick comprehends the true nature and purpose of the blessing.

Fairy Tale elements: Christina Rossetti introduces the elements of a fairy tale right at the beginning of the story by noting that Nick lived in a village “not a thousand miles from Fairyland”. Thus, it seems only natural that Nick, caught in his idle moment of ill-wishing towards his neighbors, is rebuked by a fairy who grants his wish with a slap as a form of reprimand.

Self-analysis, and Growth: Nick, as portrayed by Christina Rossetti, emerges as a round character. The challenging circumstances in which he found himself contributed to his growth as he was able to self-analyse. He made it out of the harrowing situations safely and gleaned valuable lessons. He channeled his learning to rediscover himself and performed good deeds for every individual he had previously wished ill upon.

Nick: archetypal curmudgeon.

cherries: material possessions that are the objects of envy.

cottage: symbolizes contentment

corpse : represents the gravity and consequences of negative actions.

Fairyland : reference to a fairyland blurs the distinction between the real and the magical.

Fairy woman: Nick’s conscience or wisdom (guiding him towards wisdom)

metamorphosis/ change: symbolizes the potential for growth and transformation.

ill wishes and their effects: symbols of the evil power of envy, greed, and dissatisfaction.

money chest and documents: symbolize material possessions.

The fairytale narrative dodges being too didactic by employing humor. This balance allows the story to convey important lessons without becoming overly preachy or instructional. The story integrates allegorical elements as well to convey truths about human nature.

Instead of deriving satisfaction from his own prosperity and rejoicing in the success of his neighbors, Nick bemoans their fortunes as if their wealth were his downfall. One day, leaning over Giles Hodge’s gate, he covets his cherries, desiring to consume them as a flock of birds or eradicate the trees entirely. Before long, a diminutive rosy woman, no larger than a butterfly, appears and curses Nick, decreeing that he shall transform into whatever he wishes for a minimum of an hour.

Nick embodies the epitome of a curmudgeon, and his curse reflects the traditional motif found in Mother Goose tales. Initially morphing into a flock of sparrows, he ravages the coveted cherries, only to face a barrage of gunfire from Farmer Giles and a pursuit by a tabby cat. Evading capture, he transforms into a snarling bulldog and subsequently wishes to become a viper, a thorn, a man-trap, and even the despised cudgel. Each wish materializes, leading to events where the cudgel misses its mark and shatters, and Nick exacts revenge by setting fire to the house, citing provocation as justification.

The transformation from ravenous birds to bulldog, bludgeon, and flames is characterized by a sequence of violent encounters, each fiercely quashed in turn. The fire is eventually doused with buckets of water, reducing Nick’s malice to a smoldering flame amid dampened ashes, seething with suppressed fury. Eventually, he seeks retribution by transforming himself into the village miser, resulting in the burglary of the house and the miser being felled by a crowbar. In a gothic twist, Nick realizes his demise as he listens to his assailants ransack the house, feeling utterly disheartened.

The following day, he endeavors to atone for the havoc wrought by his rage and envy. Consequently, he is never heard again expressing a wish.

• The Second Coming
• Sarojini Naidu: The Bangle Sellers
• Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
• The Swami and Mother-Worship

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The ‘analysis’ is nothing more than summary. A poor example for students.

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Tried And Tested Techniques To Help Students Gain The Most Marks In Their GCSE Maths Resits

Christine Norledge

Every June, some students struggle to secure the all-important grade 4 pass mark in Maths. For these students, their first opportunity for another go is the November resits, or during the summer exam season.

Resitting any exam can feel daunting, and it is important to be mindful that many students who resit maths may not have had a positive experience during their time in Key Stage 4. However, with the right preparation and exam strategy, it’s possible to turn things around.

This blog guides you through the most effective techniques to maximise marks for your GCSE Maths students resitting Foundation Maths on the grade 3-4 boundary. We draw on our detailed analysis of past Edexcel exam papers to identify the key areas to focus on for the November and June exam seasons, giving you more time to focus on teaching and supporting your students. Many of the general techniques in this blog are useful for most Foundation or Higher resit students across all exam boards.

Analysis of Edexcel GCSE marks from 2017-2024

Over the last few years, we’ve spent a lot of time collating data and analysing all the Edexcel GCSE past papers from 2017 to 2024. Due to changes post-2017 which affected the difficulty level of the first few questions of the Foundation paper, 2017’s exam papers have been removed from the analysis in this blog.

Over these years, certain topic areas have consistently appeared at Foundation level. Number in particular dominates at Foundation – approximately 30% of all marks available are for content in this strand. Algebra, Ratio and Proportion and Geometry appear in more or less equal weightings on most series of 17-18%, with Probability and Statistics making up the remainder, again in almost equal weightings.

Edexcel, AQA and OCR Foundation and Higher Papers: Set 3 (2024)

These 2024 GCSE maths practice paper packs for students following the Edexcel, AQA and OCR exam boards each contain 3 foundation and 3 higher tier papers. Includes a ready to go RAG question analysis spreadsheet to help identify student’s areas of improvement

Accessibility of topics should also be considered. Although Algebra and Ratio & Proportion are similarly weighted, in our experience students generally find topics in Ratio & Proportion more accessible than Algebra, which can include higher-grade topics such as expanding quadratics or solving more complex equations. Ratio & Proportion is also more likely to be functionally applicable to students’ Post-16 studies, which may improve buy-in.

There is further detail on individual strands and topics later in the article; if you’re in a hurry, here are our main takeaways:

GCSE Maths resit students aiming for a grade 4 should focus on accessible topics that carry the most marks. The crucial skills are generally in the Number and Ratio and Proportion strands, with the heaviest hitters being:

• The four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division);
• Fractions, decimals and percentages;
• Proportion, ratio and scaling.

Remember, some students will only need a few extra marks to tip them over the boundary, so look for the easiest possible marks.

Don’t discount easy pickings in other strands which include:

• Simple algebraic manipulation (e.g. simplifying or expanding a single bracket);
• Solving simple equations, using function machines;
• Identifying shapes and their properties, simple angle problems;
• Perimeter and area, particularly in problem-solving;
• Simple probability problems, particularly when these link to work on fractions and decimals;
• Averages and range from a list of numbers;
• More straightforward statistical charts and graphs (bar chart, pictogram, simple scatter graphs).

How to use this analysis to help students focus maths resit revision

This analysis shows patterns and trends from previous years but there is no guarantee what may come up in the November or June resits. While we can identify topics which are missed in certain series or have not appeared recently, many of the key topics for grade 4 resit students appear multiple times across most exam series.

First Five and First Ten questions

Edexcel Foundation GCSE begins with a few one-mark questions designed to ease students into the paper. They are typically a right or wrong answer. The papers then ramp up slightly in terms of cognitive demand, including a broader mix of topics.

However, the topics for these first ten questions are fairly predictable. This section highlights lots of easy wins for your resit students.

The first thing to note is the overwhelming proportion of Number questions. 75% of the first five and nearly half of the first ten questions are Number-focused. When combined with Ratio and Proportion, these two strands account for almost 60% of the marks on the first ten questions.

There is potential for students to gain lots of marks in this early section of the paper. On average, approximately a quarter of the marks per paper are allocated in the first ten questions.

Students aiming for a grade 4 need to pick up between 40-50 marks per paper (depending on grade boundaries), so mastery of these basic topics could get them halfway towards this goal.

GCSE resit revision: Number

Within Number, the first job is to ensure that students can calculate accurately and fairly efficiently:

• Can they add, subtract, multiply and divide?
• Can they use the order of operations?
• Are they able to work fluently with fractions and percentages?

It’s worth investing the time to ensure students feel confident in these areas as questions on the four operations of arithmetic appear frequently on Foundation, including in wordier problems.

Make sure this is context-rich where possible, including contexts relevant to their Post-16 study.

Once learners have these skills under their belts, cherry-pick some easy wins based on students’ prior knowledge. Look at topics which tend to be assessed in more of a procedural manner such as:

• Place value
• Standard form
• Rounding and estimation
• Factors, multiples and prime factor trees

GCSE resit revision: Algebra

Algebra is typically a weaker point for students on the grade 3-4 boundary. Encourage students to attempt more straightforward problems, but don’t worry too much about typically higher-end Foundation topics such as factorising quadratics or solving equations with unknowns on both sides.

Look for more intuitive ways to solve problems. For example, students may be more comfortable using flowcharts to solve simple equations and linking this to accessible work on functions. There are better uses of limited teaching time than trying to get them all using formal algebra.

Students are generally more competent with procedural one or two-mark questions in Algebra, so things like expanding a single bracket, simplifying an expression or substituting into a formula are worth a recap.

GCSE resit revision: Ratio & Proportion

This strand is another one to focus on with your resit groups. Firstly, because ratio, proportion and percentage rates of change are so prevalent on the Foundation paper. Secondly, because Ratio and Proportion are functional skills, they are more relatable and useful for students’ other studies. Include lots of practice on context-rich problems involving ratio, proportion and percentage change.

Another topic easily overlooked is time, particularly addressing the misconceptions around fractions of an hour, and the use of a calculator for time problems.

Units of measurement and scale-topics that are functional and relatable to real-life contexts also fall under this strand. Metric conversions nearly always pop up in the first few questions, so ensure students are confident with these.

GCSE resit revision: Geometry

Like Algebra, Foundation resit students find Geometry challenging. Skip tricky topics like trigonometry and in-depth angle reasoning problems in favour of covering the basics:

• Recognising and naming shapes
• Identifying properties
• Using simple angle facts

It’s worth working on perimeter and area as these skills are often embedded in multi-step problems, such as calculating costs for turfing a lawn or painting a room.

GCSE resit revision: Probability

Simple Probability is fairly intuitive and links well to work on fractions, decimals and percentages. Therefore, these topics can be recapped together.

Also look out for frequency trees (an Edexcel Foundation favourite). Filling in missing branches is an easy procedural couple of marks.

GCSE resit revision: Statistics

Usually, there are many accessible marks in the Statistics strand at Foundation with more procedural questions where students are instructed to draw a graph or read simple information from a chart to solve a problem.

Students are usually fairly confident with bar charts and pictograms, but if not these are worth a recap. Depending on curriculum coverage in Year 11, students may also be able to answer questions on scatter graphs and frequency polygons.

It’s also worth recapping simple average and range calculations, such as finding an average from a short list of numbers.

How to help students pick up marks across the papers

Although mastery of key topics in Number and Ratio & Proportion are a good starting point for resit exams, students can still pick up valuable marks on less frequent topics and on higher-mark questions.

Here are some general tips which apply to the whole paper:

Don’t aim for perfection

For higher-mark questions, students don’t need to get the answer completely correct. Picking up a couple of marks on a five-mark question can be enough to push a student over the grade 4 boundary.

If students don’t know how to start a question, encourage them to write down anything relevant they know about the question while they are reading it. For example, if they are given a rectangle with 2 side lengths, could they fill in the missing sides? Could they mark any angles? Could they quickly work out the perimeter or the area? They may pick up marks for correct methods before even finishing reading the question.

Attempt every question

Questions left blank are guaranteed zero marks. Build confidence with students and encourage them to write something relevant for each problem.

Building student confidence for GCSE maths resits

One of the biggest hurdles for resit students is confidence; many of them will have struggled with “school” mathematics and failing to get their grade 4 at the end of Year 11 is particularly disheartening. Understandably, this also impacts motivation – some may already have the attitude that they will never pass maths.

Present resit exams as a chance for a fresh start. Building confidence is key to helping students to succeed. This comes from:

• Preparation
• Knowledge of the exam structure
• Effective time management of exam anxiety
• Management of exam anxiety

Be mindful that resit students have already had eleven years of mathematics teaching and not achieved a standard pass. Repeating the same processes and content is unlikely to achieve a different result. Where possible, vary content and methods, and make things relevant to students and their courses.

Remember that any method that works and gets a correct answer is valid. If you have a student who’s still using the grid method for multiplication but consistently gets correct answers, there’s no point spending time teaching the long multiplication algorithm – this time could be used more effectively elsewhere.

7 tried and tested techniques to build maths exam confidence

Here are seven tried-and-tested techniques to help students build their confidence ahead of their resit:

1. Review basic concepts

Ensure that students have a solid foundation in those key skills underlying most Foundation mathematics topics – four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio, proportion and scale.

• Start simple : Review the key skills listed above. If a student can master these, there is a good chance they can achieve a grade 4 without needing to do any trigonometry or more complex algebra.
• Use targeted resources : Third Space Learning offers a wide range of GCSE maths resources aimed specifically at helping students close gaps in their basic understanding ahead of their GCSE resits. Explore the hundreds of free GCSE maths revision resources in the Secondary Resource Library .

2. Practice frequently occurring topics

There are lots of straightforward marks up for grabs across various strands. Focusing revision on these topics can boost student confidence and can be a way to pick up easy marks.

• Targeted practice : Don’t try to cover the entire Foundation syllabus. Be selective and work on frequently occurring topics that yield a decent number of marks. Concentrate on the key skills we’ve identified, along with easier topics from Algebra, Geometry, Probability and Statistics.
• Spaced repetition : Revisit all taught topics regularly to embed knowledge over time. Spaced Repetition is proven to enhance long-term retention, making students more confident when tackling these questions in the exam.
• Master the first few questions : The easiest marks to gain on a Foundation exam paper are those in the first five or ten questions. Practise these skills to automaticity, working on exam technique with students to make sure they don’t make silly slips early on in the paper.

3. Practise past papers

Resit students are probably familiar with the format and structure of the GCSE exam papers. However, it is still important to include regular past paper practice in their revision.

• Boost exam technique : Use past exam questions and teacher modelling to demonstrate to students how to tackle multi-mark questions.
• Use mark schemes and examiner reports : Study mark schemes with students to show where marks are awarded, even for partial answers. Use examiner reports to identify common pitfalls.
• Past paper library : One issue for resit students is that they have often seen all of the available official past papers during revision in Year 11. Third Space Learning’s Library of past papers is freely available, with exam papers and mark schemes based on the three main exam boards (Edexcel, AQA and OCR).

4. Identify knowledge gaps

While students study for their resit exams, review and analyse mistakes to pinpoint any gaps in understanding. Students can make significant improvements when they focus on their weakest areas.

• Review past scripts : If possible, get a copy of each student’s paper from the summer series. Look for patterns in errors. Are there specific topics where mistakes are frequent and easy improvements could be made? Depending on the student, it may be useful to look through their papers with them. However, this should be judged on a case-by-case basis.
• Focus on knowledge gaps : Use past papers and additional evidence gathered to direct extra revision time to broad-reaching concepts that students struggle with most.
• Use specific GCSE revision resources : Third Space Learning’s free GCSE Maths Revision Guides contain step by step instructions, detailed examples, practice maths questions, GCSE exam style questions and free maths worksheets to help close students’ maths gaps.

5. Revision technique

For many students, revision can feel very overwhelming, especially after disappointing results in the summer. Students may even question whether they know how to revise for maths or how to revise effectively .

Adopt a clear and structured approach to make revision techniques less daunting and more productive.

• Use a revision timetable : Create a manageable revision timetable , balancing new learning and reviewing previously studied topics. This prevents last-minute cramming and reduces stress.
• Break down the workload : Chunk revision into smaller, manageable tasks. Tackling one topic at a time makes it easier to stay focused.

6. Reduce exam anxiety

Managing exam anxiety is a crucial step in building confidence for GCSE Maths resits. Feeling nervous is a natural bodily response and can even be helpful. But, excessive anxiety can negatively impact performance.

Work with students to develop a calm, methodical mindset as they approach their resit exams.

• Practice mindfulness : Simple breathing exercises and mindfulness techniques can help students manage stress before and during the exam.
• Promote self-care : Encourage students to look after themselves – exercise, eat a balanced diet, make space for hobbies and make sure they get enough sleep! Share the science behind the importance of self-care; it’s all about reducing cortisol and other stress hormones and increasing “happy” endorphins.

7. High-quality maths tutoring

Group revision sessions can be helpful, but sometimes students need more individualised support. Personalised one to one tutoring is highly effective in identifying and closing specific gaps in students’ knowledge.

Since 2013, Third Space Learning has provided personalised one to one online tuition to the students who need it most. Tutors focus on helping students build the skills and confidence necessary to succeed in GCSE Maths, especially for students aiming for grades 3-7.

Targeted, one to one maths tutoring sessions are available for GCSE students and those preparing for maths resists.

Final word on GCSE maths resit revision

Resitting GCSE maths doesn’t have to feel like an insurmountable challenge. With focused revision, practice of frequently occurring topics, and the right support, students can improve their performance and achieve the grade they need.

Confidence comes from preparation, and with the techniques outlined in this blog, students can approach their resit feeling equipped and ready to succeed.

DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS WHO NEED MORE SUPPORT IN MATHS?

Every week Third Space Learning’s specialist online GCSE maths tutors support thousands of students across hundreds of schools with weekly online 1 to 1 maths lessons designed to plug gaps and boost progress.

Since 2013 these personalised one to one lessons have helped over 169,000 primary and secondary students become more confident, able mathematicians.

Learn about the GCSE revision programme or request a personalised quote for your school to speak to us about your school’s needs and how we can help.

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FREE GCSE Maths Practice Papers (Edexcel, AQA & OCR)

8 sets of free exam papers written by maths teachers and examiners.

Each set of exam papers contains the three papers that your students will expect to find in their GCSE mathematics exam.

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