Preview

A response to "Of Studies" - an Essay by Sir Francis Bacon

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
509 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A response to "Of Studies" - an Essay by Sir Francis Bacon
The topic of the essay 'Of Studies' by Sir Francis Bacon is clearly visible in the title itself. The main theme of the essay is to explain the use of studies as they serve for delight - in privateness and retiring, - in discourse, and for ability - in the judgment and disposition of business.

The author, by means of this essay, stresses the importance of studies in life. He supports the notion that study is an immensely important aspect of life, as he goes on to explain what type of study, books, reading and writing he considers essential and what type he regards dispensable. Sir Francis believes that expert men can execute and judge in a very orderly fashion, bearing in mind the details; but, general direction, planning and management of affairs come best from the learned. Also, he says that reading is important, but only to weigh and contemplate issues. Moreover, he states that while reading makes a full man and conference a ready man, but writing makes an exact man. According to Sir Francis, the ability to write is ever so important, and just as important is the ability to keep one's wits intact.

This being a rather philosophical essay portraying the author's personal standpoint in the issue, he does not make use of any evidence. Instead, he has proficiently employed various rhetorical devices. He uses parallelism to suggest correspondence between three scenarios of the one's intemperance in studies when he says, "To spend too much ... humor of a scholar." (Bacon). He again uses parallelism by drawing correspondence in what studies are to different types of people when he says, "Crafty men contemn studies ... wise men use them" (Bacon). He makes use of climax in two instances. One is when explains his view on how and what books should be read, and says, "Some books ... chewed and digested" (Bacon). The other is when he is emphasizing the importance of writing, saying, "Reading maketh ... an exact man." (Bacon). Furthermore, there are two occurrences of the use

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Even though the pope is sitting on a what viewers usually think is a sedia gestatoria, it does not appear that way. Bacon painted the sedia gestatoria slightly overlapping the pope which made the pope appear kind of hemmed in. The effect is greatly enhanced because it is thick lines of yellow. We associate yellow as light, which lead viewers to believe he is in an electric chair. And then on top of all that you've got these vertical stripes, almost very thinly painted, which seem to hold captive of the pope, similar to a prison. These parallel light and dark striation has feature in Bacon’s paintings many times. Propaganda imagery of the Nazi ‘cathedral of light’ is possible model Bacon has used as a reference for those vertical stripes.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bacon’s Rebellion was an uprising in Jamestown, Virginia in 1676 led by 29 year old planter Nathaniel Bacon. The uprising was caused by thousand of Virginians gathering all with the same resentment against the governor William Berkeley. Many were upset because of Berkeley's kind policies toward the American Indians. The Bacon’s Rebellion was a major turning point for America in many ways one being forced removal of Berkeley from office.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reading is a powerful tool that assists people in understanding the daily activities one is involved in. It is the catalyst for learning functions such as math, science, art, music, etc. When one develops consistent reading habits, his/her communication skills improve. Reading allows one to acquire knowledge and expand on his/her knowledge. With good communication skills and the ability to expand one’s knowledge by reading, an individual becomes more valuable within his/her chosen career field. The more valuable one feels the more confident he/she will have when executing his/her tasks. With the knowledge and confidence one achieves through reading, he/she will have the ability to open doors that otherwise may not have been opened for him/her. Both, Moody and Manguel, are passionate about reading because they know and understand what a powerful tool it is and where reading can lead an individual, to success.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Literature has played an important role in our attempt to understand reality, and it does this through portraying thinking patterns and social norms that are existent and important within a society. In this sense, literature is important because it portrays different stages that man encounters in life; some of the great literary work provides society with a certain level of guidance through life. Reading literature entails more than just acquiring knowledge which too is important but it goes further into giving us different contexts that help us in understanding life. There is a great variety of literary work that one can read in order to acquire a certain level of understanding life as we have mentioned before; in this essay though we have decided to focus on two very influential readings in the prism of literature. The first one being that by Confucius entitled Analects and the second reading by Machiavelli entitled The Prince. We will be trying to compare the two authors based on different themes and concepts; but before doing that we must acquire a certain level of background about both the two authors and the two readings.…

    • 2672 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    I haven’t learnt really much, in a narrow speaking definition, of studying in this book, as it most tells me about the attitude and things to do, concerning our whole lives but not just on studying. But Life Law Four ‘You cannot change what you do not acknowledge’ did help me to see that there are actually more I can do to improve my results and to achieve success. I came to know that I should have done much more. As it says in the book that ‘Life rewards action’ as Life Law five, I came to realize that I have much more that I want to achieve than I had even thought of. As I get to know that not until I do it, I would never know what is out there waiting for me. There are always greater possibilities than we could ever imagine for ourselves. We should always aim for more and higher, as long as you have the desire and is willing to do the things you want to do, you always can, in one way or the other.…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    much time in studies is sloth2; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation3;…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literature is so crucial for the preparedness of a job, business, or any profession, because that is what gets one to be successful and intellectual. By constantly reading novels, newspapers and any of the sorts, it helps expand one’s vocabulary with the exposure of words unheard of. Because of this, one would apply these words, if exercised, to their every day vocabulary and not become so repetitive with what they write, or say. With the routine of reading literature, this unhealthy habit would be broken that would also be beneficial for careers and such that are need for professionalism.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With each reading or writing assignment has come the anxious feelings of not doing well, but also the pleasure of finishing and finishing to the best of my ability. I not only have performed well in my mind, but new ideas about the culture around me and those past have arose, and this engages me to develop my own beliefs about ultimate reality, humanity, the world, morality, and society. High Scholars has challenged and pushed me further than I thought I was ever capable of stretching, but reflecting now, the personal gain is truly worth the…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In today’s day and age, quality of life is assured to be raised when one is able to read and write. Reading and writing are methods of personal expression of and the obtaining of emotion and desire, academic thought and intellectual discourse, and life in general (and that is a limitless “general”). Writers such as Daniel Coleman and Homi K. Bhabha effectively demonstrate the importance of reading and writing: They are paramount qualities to our everyday lives in our society. Whether we are reading and writing to better and to expand ourselves, our minds and our own potential, we also affect and influence others around us, and can thus help to change and/or be a positive, or even revolutionary influence within our society and our environment. Through the ability to read and write, we can see how much they truly do matter, as through our ever-deepening relationship with them, great changes will happen: transformation, transcendence, evolution and progression towards our highest potential in our lives. I read because it matters to me. It matters because it is how I will live the best life, where I can obtain the most wisdom from the world itself, and from other readers and writers before me, so that I may improve and better understand myself and the world around me.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The profound philosopher and scientist Aristotle know for his contributions to society and the study of humans proclaims “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet”. (Aristotle). Through Aristotle, one can understand that education is vital to the success of humans and education is an arduous task, that often enough discourages many people, but reaches an equilibrium point of benefit’s. The quest of education, is a journey that leads to the demise of many, as society advances the quest only than becomes more prominent in the survival of the human’s success in our world.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Education is always one of the most important parts of society, since it has close relationship with the development of the next generation and the future of the country. Along with the development of society and the improvement of technology, the meaning of education is becoming more and more important. Currently, the question of the purpose of higher education has drawn the public’s attention. A many people insist that higher education should teach students practical skills, the ability of problem-solving, and career oriented skills. They claim that those skills are necessary and useful for students to join society get use for their career. In contract, I hold the opposite opinion and I think the purpose of higher education is to develop students’ personality and spirit.…

    • 1315 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Biks

    • 3425 Words
    • 14 Pages

    This handbook consists of information taken from various sources, which are mentioned in the bibliography. One of the important sources we have made use of are ‘The Study Skills…

    • 3425 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Learning and Memory

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Education is the mean that dictates the way people think, feel, and act. An educated person is the person who thinks, acts, and feels according to the expectation of the community. An educated person has the knowledge on the expectations of the community and has the appropriate skills, values, and behaviors. In order for a person to be educated, he or she must undergo the process of learning. Learning is the process in which human beings acquire new or modify existing knowledge, skills, behaviors, and values. Learning involves the synthesis of different, types and pieces of information. A person can gather information needed for the learning process through many ways. To be educated, one can gather information through listening to other educated people, observation, or reading. Among the different ways to acquire knowledge and get educated, reading is the most important. Therefore, in order for a person to be educated, that person must be a reader. The aim of this essay is to argue that in order for a person to be educated, he or she must read.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Francis Bacon

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1620, Francis Bacon; the philosopher and creator of Empiricism made a great contribution in defining the course of modern science by a breakthrough in process of scientific reasoning and method. Bacon did not propose an actual philosophy of science rather a method of developing philosophy. He demanded science based on induction. While being the first in the philosophy of science, Bacon discovered that Aristotle methods taught scientists nothing about the universe. The contributions Bacon made to the philosophy of science impacted the involvement of psychology today.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The value of this maxim is also seen even in fields that do not demand the expenditure of money. Students neglect their studies when their classes are going on. They think that their examination is far-off, and so postpone their studies to a couple of weeks or months before the date. Such students find themselves in grave difficulties. We must use our precious time meaningfully.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays