English Literature / Unit 15 ENL 1442 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Reading a Victorian Prose Argument
The idea
Victorian nonfiction argues, so read it as argument. First, find the thesis: what the writer wants the reader to believe or do; Arnold wants culture, "the best which has been thought and said," to spread. Second, find the opponent: Carlyle answers political economy, Arnold the Philistines, Newman his accuser Kingsley, Mill the tyranny of the majority. Third, find the key terms the writer coins or redefines, such as "sweetness and light," "the dismal science" or "condition of England," because questions often test them. Fourth, notice the tone, prophetic in Carlyle, urbane and ironic in Arnold, personal in Newman, logical in Mill. Then state the claim, the opponent and the method together.
In practice
Thesis, opponent, key term, tone.
Where people slip
A coined phrase belongs to its author. Do not assign "sweetness and light" to Ruskin or "the dismal science" to Arnold.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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