study questions

Some Questions for Arnold

(adapted from A. J. Drake's Teaching Resources)

Arnold, from The Function of Criticism at the Present Time (1864, 1875)

1. What, according to Arnold, are the elements with which literary genius works? What precisely is the "grand work" of literary genius? What is it not? To what extent is literary genius therefore dependent upon the age in which it works?

2. What relationship does Arnold posit between the "critical power" and the "creative power"? Why can't there be a truly great period of literary creation without criticism?

3. What claims does Arnold make about the relation between the artist and his or her culture? How far does the culture go in creating an environment conducive to the artist?

4. How does Arnold analyze the French Revolution? What was the Revolution's greatest strength, and what was its "greatest error"? How does this analysis of the Revolution relate to Arnold's claims about "the function of criticism at the present time"?

5. How is Edmund Burke's career, in Arnold's view, an example of "living by ideas" and therefore a counterbalance to the errors of the French Revolutionaries? How does Arnold explain his phrase "living by ideas"?

6. What notion "hardly enters into an Englishman's thoughts"? How is this missing notion essential to criticism? How does Arnold define criticism and its goals? For example, what one italicized word on 403 sums up the rule criticism ought to follow?

7. What forces in current British life, according to Arnold, are getting in the way of intellectual progress? Why does Arnold quote the short newspaper article on a “Wragg”? What does he use this article to show?

8. What objections does Arnold anticipate against his view of British society's need for critical activity? What social vision is he offering—who or what will be the agent of change, and when will that change come about?

9. What is Arnold's final definition of criticism? Does this definition seem convincing after all his elaboration and argumentation?

Arnold, from The Study of Poetry (1880)

1. What, according to Arnold, is “charlatanism” in criticism and poetry?

2. How does Arnold define the “best poetry”? What does he mean by the “historical estimate” and the “personal estimate”? Why do we need to be concerned about these “estimates”?

3. What is Arnold suggesting when he claims “there can be no more useful help for discovering what poetry belongs to the class of the truly excellent, and can therefore do us most good, than to have always in one’s mind lines and expressions of the great masters, and to apply them as a touchstone to other poetry” (415)?