1、Francis Bacon,(1561-1626),born in London , English philosopher, statesman , scientist, jurist and author.founder of materialist philosophy .Father of Experimental science.,Bacons Essays,1597 10 essays1612 38 essays1625 58 esssaysHe is ofter credited with having invented the essay form in English lit
2、erature.,Characteristics of Bacons Essays,Bacons essays are famous for their brevity, compactness and powerfulness. The essays are well-arranged and enriched by Biblical allusions, metaphors and cadence.,Bacons Topics,ambition and anger beauty and building of garden death and deformity love, truth,
3、friendship,marriage parents and children studies youth and age riches religion health and honor,famous quotations,(Beauty) is as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt , and cannot last.(friendship) redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halves.(marriage) Wives are young mens mistress; compaions f
4、or middle ages; and old man nurses.,Bacon,Of Study Whats your definition of studies? What are they used for? What is your reading habit? What kind of reading habit do you think is the best? Do you believe “poets make men witty” as Bacon say? How and why? Cite examples to prove that different branche
5、s of studies really improve your character, and add more branches of studies to fully develop the idea. Give a presentation of its discussion, explaining the main ideas and the organization of the essay, and paraphrasing some important lines.,Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.
6、,Reading has three functions.It delights you;it beautifies you; and it strengthens your ability.,Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business.,The delight of reading lies in your private lif
7、e and retirement. The beautifying of reading lies in how you talk to others.The way reading strengthens your ablity lies in your act of judging, how you assess a person or situation or event and how you deal with it.,privateness: private life,solitude, retreat,discourse: conversation,For expert men
8、can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned.,for: although, despite,expert men: men of practical experience,Although men with great experience could judge the affairs from each si
9、tuation and accomplish them well,men who are learned always are the best one to have command of the general direction,the plan and the arrangement.,execute: carry through, accomplish,counsel: direction,plot: plan,marshal: arrangement,To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much f
10、or ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar.,sloth: laziness, inactivity,affectation: a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display,humor : mannerism, temperament,Spending too much time in reading makes you exhausted and lazy.Using reading as a tool to
11、 beautify yourself is pretending. Making decisions to your hearts content is too subjective and silly.,They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience; for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, e
12、xcept they be bounded in by experience.,(studies),Reading makes up for your natural disadvantages,and experience is needed to compensate for the disadvantages of reading.We read and know how to weed out the unwanted parts of plants. So does knowledge. We read and we delete what we dont need.It is re
13、ading that gives us detailed directions, except for some directions that are only guided by experience.,prune: weed out unwanted or unnecessary things,too much at large: in general,Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them, for they teach not their own use; but that i
14、s a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.,crafty men: craftsman=a person skilled in a job,contemn: look down on with disdain,Men skilled in a job look down on reading.Men who lack intelligence look up to reading.Men with wisdom apply reading to their life.However, books do not con
15、vince others by their usage.The wisdom of reading doesnt lie inside a book,but outside the book.You could just get it by observation.,Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.Dont disagree hostilely when you ar
16、e reading, dont believe it wholly. We should not only focus on the words and sentences, but also think about it back and forth.,superstition,Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested;,1. Taste -,To read in the way that you test the taste of food, to
17、read bits here and there,To read the whole book or story, but with little attention or without through understanding,2. Swallow -,To read carefully and slowly and then think about and understand the meaning or importance of ,3. Chew and digest -,that is some books are to be read only in parts; other
18、s to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be ready wholly, and with diligence and attention.,Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments , and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common
19、distilled waters, flashy things.flashy thing: brilliant but empty things.,Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. Reading fulfills a man, discussion makes a man witty, note makes a man clear,And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; i
20、f he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Present wit: quick wit. that he doth not: what he does not know.,parallelism,Therefore, men who dont take notes often should strengthen the memory, men who dont
21、 discuss often should be smarter, and men who dont often read should be more sophisticated.,Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep, moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.,witty: imaginative, inventive,subtle: able to make fine distinction
22、s,moral: concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior,grave: serious,Learning histories makes men clear-minded; learning poems makes men clever; learning mathematics makes men careful and cautious; learning natural philosophy, your mind will be broadened, your
23、principles will be regulated, and your way of thinking will be serious; learning logic and rhetoric, you will be able to argue with others clearly and effectively.,rhetoric: using language effectively to please or persuade,contend: have an argument about something,Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there
24、is no stond or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises.,Abeunt studia in mores: You may cultivate your own temperament while reading.,nay: not this merely but also; not only so but;,stond: difficulty;,impediment: any s
25、tructure that makes progress difficult;,wit: the ability to say or write things that are both clever and amusing,wrought: the past tense of WORK,You may cultivate your own temperament while reading. However, there may be obvious difficulty or disadvantages in your mind. You may solve this problem by
26、 proper reading. Just like doing physical exercises could get rid of the diseases. They are the same.,Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head, and the like.,Playing bowling strengthens your stone and kidney. Shoo
27、ting strengthens your lung and breast. Gentle walking strengthens your stomach. Riding strengthens your head and brain. They are in the same rule.,reins: gall bladder and kidneys,So if a mans wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so l
28、ittle, he must begin again.,wander: move about aimlessly or without any destination,demonstration: the act of presenting something to sight or view,Therefore, if a man cant concentrate his mind, let him study the mathematics. He should pay great attention during the process. Once his attention runs
29、miles away, hell have to restart.,If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen, for they are Cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers cases. So every defect of t
30、he mind may have a special receipt.,apt: proper,schoolmen: The schoolmen were philosophers and divines of the Middle Ages, who spent much time on points of nice and abstract speculation.,cymini sectores: splitters of hairs,beat over: investigate,defect: a failing or deficiency,If he is not proper to
31、 find out the differences, let him learn from the philosophers and divines of the Middle Ages, because they are splitters of hairs. If he is not proper to investigate matters, prove things, or make examples, let him dig into the lawyers cases. As a result, every disadvantages of mind can have an app
32、ropriate solution.,Appreciation,1. Parallelism and elliptical sentences,Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep, moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. With these two rhetorical devices, the sentences have become more simple and the import
33、ant points are highlighted. In such sentences, parallelism and ellipsis bring great help to express Bacons strong emotions.,Appreciation,2. Analogy,Nay, there is no stand or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises.In this example, he made an analogy with the solutions of diseases of the body and the disadvantages in mind. It contains the profound truth in the simple and common-sense examples, and this can help to reduce the difficulty of understanding and avoid being too dull.,
