McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXXXIV · Part 13: Washington, Wordsworth and Mont Blanc
140. Happiness (Alexander Pope)
Goal: Your student can explain Pope's claim that virtue alone brings true happiness.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
An extract from Pope's Essay on Man on the nature of happiness. The heading is at the top of the page.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Look over the notes and definitions printed at the end of the lesson before you start, so names and hard words don't trip up the reading.
Pope writes in rhymed couplets (pairs of rhyming lines). Each couplet is often a complete thought.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
The book says Pope (1688–1744) was the leading writer of Queen Anne's Augustan period, known for polished, elegant verse. He was the son of a retired linen-draper and was weak and deformed from illness all his life. It praises his devotion to his aged parents. His works include The Rape of the Lock, translations of Homer, The Dunciad and the Essay on Man.
Read aloud
Read it aloud, one couplet at a time, putting each into plain words.
Listen for these lines:
Oh, sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise,
By mountains piled on mountains, to the skies?
Talk about it
SayWhat are the 'sons of earth' trying to do by piling mountains? What does Pope think of it?
SayWhat things do people chase that Pope says do not bring happiness?
SayWhat does he say does bring it?
SayDo you agree that virtue alone is happiness? Give an example for or against.
Narration
Your student explains Pope's argument in their own words.
Memorize or copy
Learn this line:
Virtue alone is happiness below.
Writing (optional)
Write two rhymed couplets of your own about what makes people happy.