Read the passage from Gulliver's Travels.There was a man born blind, who had several apprentices in his own condition: their employment was to mix colours for painters, which their master taught them to distinguish by feeling and smelling. It was indeed my misfortune to find them at that time not very perfect in their lessons, and the professor himself happened to be generally mistaken. This artist is much encouraged and esteemed by the whole fraternity.
Read the passage from "An Essay on Man.”Sedate and quiet the comparing lies,Formed but to check, deliberate, and advise.Self-love still stronger, as its objects nigh;Reason’s at distance, and in prospect lie:
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Read the paragraph from the Declaration of Independence.When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.Now, read the paragraph from the Declaration of Sentiments.When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.
Read the passage from Of the Wisdom of the Ancients.For Venus excites the general appetite of conjunction and procreation; Cupid, her son, applies the appetite to an individual object. From Venus therefore comes the general disposition, from Cupid the more exact sympathy.
Read the passage from Of the Wisdom of the Ancients.Now the philosophy of the Greeks, which in investigating the material principles of things is careful and acute, in inquiring the principles of motion, wherein lies all vigour of operation, is negligent and languid; and on the point now in question seems to be altogether blind and babbling; for that opinion of the Peripatetics which refers the original impulse of matter to privation, is little more than words—a name for the thing rather than a description of it.
Read the two passages from Of the Wisdom of the Ancients.Passage 1:The fable relates to the cradle and infancy of nature, and pierces deep. This Love I understand to be the appetite or instinct of primal matter; or to speak more plainly, the natural motion of the atom; which is indeed the original and unique force that constitutes and fashions all things out of matter.Passage 2:Let us now consider his attributes. He is described with great elegance as a little child, and a child for ever; for things compounded are larger and are affected by age; whereas the primary seeds of things, or atoms, are minute and remain in perpetual infancy.
Read the excerpt from Thoughts and Sentiments.The longer that men continue in the practice of evil and wickedness, they grow the more abandoned; for nothing in history can equal the barbarity and cruelty of the tortures and murders committed under various pretences in modern slavery, except the annals of the Inquisition and the bloody edicts of Popish massacres.
Read the passage from Of the Wisdom of the Ancients.This Love is introduced without any parent at all; only, that some say he was an egg of Night. And himself out of Chaos begot all things, the gods included. The attributes which are assigned to him are in number four: he is always an infant; he is blind; he is naked; he is an archer. There was also another Love, the youngest of all the gods, son of Venus, to whom the attributes of the elder are transferred, and whom in a way they suit.
When Bacon changes the definition of love in Of the Wisdom of the Ancients, he is
Read the sentence from Of the Wisdom of the Ancients.They say then that Love was the most ancient of all the gods; the most ancient therefore of all things whatever, except Chaos, which is said to have been coeval with him; and Chaos is never distinguished by the ancients with divine honour or the name of a god.
To determine the central idea of An Essay on Man, what should the reader do first?
Read the passage from Gulliver's Travels.There was a most ingenious architect, who had contrived a new method for building houses, by beginning at the roof, and working downward to the foundation.
Read the sentence from a paper on Gulliver's Travels.Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels so he could humorously criticize the government.
Read the passage from "An Essay on Man.”Most strength the moving principle requires;Active its task, it prompts, impels, inspires.Sedate and quiet the comparing lies,Formed but to check, deliberate, and advise.
Read the passage from An Essay on Man.Self-love and reason to one end aspire,Pain their aversion, pleasure their desire;But greedy that, its object would devour,This taste the honey, and not wound the flow'r
Read the sentence from Samuel Johnson's preface to A Dictionary of the English Language.I have studiously endeavoured to collect examples and authorities from the writers before the restoration, whose works I regard as the wells of English undefiled, as the pure sources of genuine diction.
Read the excerpts from historical documents.From the Declaration of Independence:. . . That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.From the Declaration of Sentiments:Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
What must a reader consider to understand an author’s purpose for writing? Choose three answers.
Read the excerpt from Thoughts and Sentiments.It is therefore manifest, that something else ought yet to be done; and what is required, is evidently the incumbent duty of all men of enlightened understanding, and of every man that has any claim or affinity to the name of Christian, that the base treatment which the African Slaves undergo, ought to be abolished; and it is moreover evident, that the whole, or any part of that iniquitous traffic of slavery, can no where, or in any degree, be admitted, but among those who must eventually resign their own claim to any degree of sensibility and humanity, for that of barbarians.Read the excerpt from Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African.I am sure you will applaud me for beseeching you to give one half hour's attention to slavery, as it is at this day practised in our West Indies.—That subject, handled in your striking manner, would ease the yoke (perhaps) of many—but if only of one—Gracious God!—what a feast to a benevolent heart!—and, sure I am, you are an epicurean in acts of charity.—You, who are universally read, and as universally admired—you could not fail
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