The Rape of the Lock Test Study Guide

What is a mock epic?

Makes fun of an epic

Satirizes the trivial

What is a juxtaposition?

When you elevate the trivial to the same level as something important

What was the mean nickname given to Alexander Pope by his critics?

APE

What did they call Alexander Pope?

Wasp of Twikenham

Two examples of a Juxtaposition

1. lapdogs and husbands

2. bibles and billet douex

What are Heroic Couplets?

a pair (2) of rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter

What are Classical Allussions?

A reference to great works of literature, art, architecture, sculpture, or the Bible

What are the five elements of an Epic?

1. hero-heroine

2. weapons-passed down through the family

3. formal speeches

4. God/goddesses fight

5. sprites/fairies/muses-supernaturals

What is the 1st Canto?

Beauty of Women

subject of the poem

supernatural/dreams

What is the 2nd Canto?

Conflict-ritual sacrifice/bad guy gets involved

What is the 3rd Canto?

Hampton Court-big party/travel/card game/Baron steals the lock

What is the 4th Canto?

Depression of the Heroine-cave of spleen

What is the 5th Canto?

Battle-Belinda’s lock becomes a comet and she fights against Baron/weapons drawn

Who is Belinda symbolizing?

Arabella Fermer

What does Belinda wear and what does it symbolize?

a cross necklace

her virginity/chastity

What is the name of Belinda’s parrot and dog?

Shock

Poll

What are Belinda’s eyes like?

the sun

Who is Belinda’s maid?

Betty

What is the overall message of this writing?

Vanity/Pride/Pettiness

What are sylphs?

air fairies

caretakers of Belinda

Who is Ariel?

Head sylph and guardian of Shock

Which sylph is in charge of protecting the lock?

Crispissa

What are the three works this writing is modeled after?

1. Paradise Lost

2. The Odyssey

3. The Illiad

Who said and what does this line mean?

“Say what storage motive, Goddess? could compel a well-bred Lord to assault a gentle belle?”

Alexander Pope

What could have caused this incident?

Who said and what does this line mean?

“By force to ravish, or by fraud betray; for when success a lover’s toils attends. Few ask, if fraud or force attained his ends.'“

Alexander Pope

The Baron is willing to do anything. Society is immoral

What happens to Arabella Fermer?

Marries different man and has six children

What happens to the Baron in real life?

Dies of small pox a year into his marriage with a younger/richer women

What is a billet-doux?

a love letter

Who sends Belinda love letters?

the Baron

What does this juxtaposition mean?

“The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, and wretches hang that jurymen may dine.”

The wealthy people do not care at all for the poor people

Who is the Queen in this story? What three lands does she rule?

Queen Anne

1. Scotland

2. Ireland

3. England

Who says this and what does it mean?

“But when to mischief mortals bend their will, how soon they find fit instruments of ill!"

Alexander Pope

means if you want something bad you’ll find a way to get it done

When does Belinda wake up?

Noon

Who inspires Belinda’s dream in the first canto?

Ariel

To what do the four types of supernatural beings correspond?

Earth, Air, Fire, and Water

Who wins the hand of ombre?

Belinda

What beverage is served after the card game ends?

Coffee

Who arms the Baron with a pair of scissors?

Clarissa

Who gets accidentally cut by the scissors?

One of the Sylphs

Where does Umbriel journey?

The Cave of Spleen

What does Thalestris think the Baron will do with the lock?

Show it off to all their friends and have it set into a ring

What effect does Sir Plume’s speech have on the Baron?

It has not effect

What happens to the lock of hair at the end of the poem?

Turns into a comet/constellations

How does the coffee effect the Baron and Belinda?

Belinda gets distracted and the Baron gets bold