Analyzing and Interpreting Literature / Unit 3 AIL 0225 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"Rude" Means Unpolished
Captions available
The idea
Sonnet eleven warns that the harsh and featureless should "barrenly perish", listing rude among them. Rude means rough or unrefined, describing workmanship and nature rather than manners. The modern sense of impolite is a narrowing of the same idea and will not carry these lines.
In practice
Rude is rough, not impolite.
Where people slip
The word describes texture, not manners.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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