TDD

The Digital
Dunciad
Website Proposal

Submitted by: Jack Andrews, Molly Carter, Kailey

Hynes, Jonathan Holland, Bridget OConnor, & Jessica
Wolfe

Contents
Overview:................................................................................................................... 2
Why Make a Website?.............................................................................................. 2
Who is our Target Audience?................................................................................... 3
Who Is the Dunce?................................................................................................ 4
Goals:................................................................................................................... 5
Who Is the Wit?..................................................................................................... 6
Goals.................................................................................................................... 6
How will the website meet the needs of both audience groups?...................7
Dunce Web Design................................................................................................... 10
The Dunce Primary Source.................................................................................... 10
Overview:........................................................................................................... 10
Goals.................................................................................................................. 11
Features:............................................................................................................ 12
The Dunce Section in a Secondary Source Format:...............................................16
Overview............................................................................................................ 17
Goals.................................................................................................................. 17
Features............................................................................................................. 18
How will our Website format help us create the desired experience for our user and help
them meet the goals we have laid out?................................................................22
Learning Objectives for Dunces..........................................................................22
Wit Web Design........................................................................................................ 26
Overview (Primary Source).................................................................................... 26
Goals.................................................................................................................. 26
Features............................................................................................................. 26
Overview (Secondary Source)...............................................................................28
Goals.................................................................................................................. 28
Features............................................................................................................. 28
Intellectual Engagement........................................................................................... 29
Religious and Moral Themes in Alexander Popes Mock Epic Poem, The Dunciad. 30
Popes Beefs: Publishers........................................................................................ 36
History of the 1700s as it Relates to The Dunciad.................................................39
The Outline of Dullness. An Interactive Gateway...................................................46
Digital Dunciad Movie Trailer.................................................................................51
Conclusion:............................................................................................................... 81

Overview:
Why Make a Website?
Bringing The Dunciad to the 21st Century:

In the Internet age, people use technology to participate in the literary community. Google and Wikipedia
allow instant access to general allusions and references, and while social media can be used to discuss
everything from the prices of artisan soaps to who Taylor Swift is dating, it is also used to discuss important
social issues and sometimes, even, literature. Likewise, the rise of the eBook, online library databases, and
digitized reproductions of public domain writings has made, at least for our generation, the study of
literature inextricable from the internet. Readers who have grown up with technology might even find
themselves more comfortable reading Digital humanities rather than traditional print.
With a website, we hope to make The Dunciad accessible to students of the digital age, as the web platform
offers freedom to present the information in the most effective layout possible. Additionally, a website gives
editors the ability to facilitate a basic understanding of plot, supplement contextual information, and present
information that promotes multiple interpretations. The Digital Dunciad offers an exciting opportunity to
add features to the original text which enhance the reading and studying experience for both first-time
readers and scholars. The Digital Dunciad can be used not only as a primary text, but also as an outlet for
viewers to converse about the material, including a messaging function, space where viewers can leave
comments, and even a Wiki-esque element where viewers can publish information directly to the page. The
site also allows scholars to compile and offer scholarly resources, artistic responses, and academic
engagement all in the same place. And because digital technology allows the freedom to use pictures,
symbols and video, the Digital Dunciad will cater to multiple learning styles.

W
ho is our Target Audience?
As you see above, Pope finds a presence even on the contemporary social media stage of Twitteran irony
thats likely left him rolling in his grave. When we saw these tweets, we felt a mutual companionship to each
of these readers. These attempts to use the Internet and social media as an outlet for a better understanding of
Pope show that there is a need to be met here. As these struggling Dunces reach out into the vast, endless,
darkness that is the internet, their search for clarity comes to no avail. Contemporary readers turn to Google
to search for resources and Twitter to express and relieve Pope-inspired grievances because the Internet and
social media are familiar. The web is essential for retaining, teaching, and understanding this wonderfully
confusing, dense masterpiece, and we must take advantage of this medium.
Our target audience is much like this group of Tweeters, and not unlike us, ourselves, the web designers: a
group of undergrads who need help decoding, deciphering, and detangling The Dunciad for a college class,
along with a scholar, who is capable of leading a discussion, but interested in looking at how Popes work
reflects contemporary issues in art and education1.
After mine and my classmates initial read, most of us were confused and tired. The heroic couplets use
cadence and rhyme to steal the show, propelling us through obscure references, action, and weird story.
When looking for answers, we realized very quickly that the footnotes made for more confusion, often
explaining things which brought only more questions or confusion. Aside from a few scatological jokes,
there was very little we actually understood about the poem, and without a classroom experience that
focused an entire semester on understanding The Dunciad, many of us would have left the poem closed on
our bookshelves, finding little relevance or similarities between the poem and our much progressed digital
society.
Reactions, as the tweets suggest, are polarized. Readers of The Dunciad are either frustrated first-timers or
those who have studied, or are trying to study, the text enough to appreciate it. What specific audience, then,
did we most see benefiting from our finished product? This preliminary decision is essential for guiding the
rest of the project, and we broke our audience into two categories.
1 Our resident scholar should feel free to jump in here and describe his own purpose more precisely.

We debuted the phrases Dunciad for Dunces and Dunciad for Wits, as the opposing, yet reflexive,
identities of these two potential audience groups. The Digital Dunciad, then, is two websites in one: a path
for the Dunce and a path for the Wit.
Who Is the Dunce?
Section 1: Defining the Dunce
From practice, we understand that reading Pope can be difficult; it is easy to lose track of who is speaking
and even what events are being described. Therefore, the first, undergraduates, a group we deemed the
dunces, would require a digital technology that would help them grasp the text on its more remedial literal
levels. Essentially, the Dunce is searching for the Who, What, Where, and When, of the poem. 2
Thus, a source for the Dunce would provide information on context, summary, biography, and topography,
solely to the degree that it assists in understanding surface meaning such as plot and the works basic themes
and social implications.
Section 2: The Dunces Needs
As self-proclaimed Dunces, we found that the best method for determining the needs of the Dunce was to
harness and analyze our own experiences with the poem. We asked ourselves, what information do we wish
we had at our disposal when we first read the poem? What tools
could help those who dont have the
luxury of extended class discussion to explain the text. How does the poems physical history and
presentation become yet another roadblock to comprehension? Often the information we found ourselves
wanting related to context about people, places, and things or simple information like who is talking here.
Our failed understanding was the direct result of the centuries of separation between ourselves and the
period in which the poem was published. While the form and many of the places, people, and phrases used
in The Dunciad would have been immediately recognized by Popes audience, they have lost meaning for
contemporary readers. Our hope is that in providing contextual information for new readers, we will bring
them to an equivocal capacity for understanding as the readers of Popes time. This information could
include, but is not limited to, a historical timeline, biographical information on Pope, information on the
Contemporaries and publishers he mentions, mapping of the 18th century London, information on culture of
the 1700s, and differences between the 1729 and 1742 publications.3 Each of these subjects represent
extensive research projects of their own, and while they will not all be covered as chapters in this proposal,
we envision future academics working on this website might bring each of these subjects to life. We also
believe this list is not exhaustive, and thus it should be added to as the project moves forward and new
insight is gained.

Goals:

Provide a comprehensive, authoritative primary source including all four editions

Establish contemporary relevance.
Enable readers to identify broad themes in The Dunciad by providing contextual information.
Emphasize importance of genre and craft to The Dunciads tone and subtext
Enable the reader to question why the poem matters.
Make the Dunciad more interesting for contemporary audiences.

2 While the Wit is seeking the Why.

3 Youll see these repeated in the Intellectual Engagement section. These are broad categories to house
useful, factual, objective material on the Dunce side. On the Wit side, they will deal more with multiple
views of scholarly interpretations.

Who Is the Wit?

Section 1: Defining the Wit
The Wit is someone who has returned to the text with an appreciation for The Dunciads relevance in
modern society as well as in the literary canon, and he or she wants to continue to explore one of the most
complex texts ever written. Or, our Wit is a grad student with a preexisting understanding that historical,
canonized literature has relevance in the modern classroom, thus understanding that The Dunciad is a
valuable text, even though he or she doesnt understand it. Or, our Wit could simply be trying to pass a
comprehensive examination. Regardless of the Wits intentions, they should be confident readers and
analysts of literature, and they should have at least a basic understanding of historical context, including
form, politics, literary culture, and 18th century moral and scientific philosophies.
The second audience group, the Wit, are scholars or researchers who have already developed a primary
understanding and reaction to the poem. With Professor Richard Nash, PhD, as our model and motivatio we
realized that our site should also serve as a source for these more intellectual advanced readers/users. These
Wits could be graduate or doctoral students who wish to engage with the themes of the poem more deeply.
Contextual information offered for a Dunce, for instance, might not be helpful to the Wit as they already
have knowledge on these concepts. Sources for the Wit may include scholarly publications on The
Dunciad itself, or essays on its relating themes, or interactive tools for research or connection to a greater
literary community.
Section 2: The Wits Needs
The Wit needs an authoritative and comprehensive text, a collection of secondary sources, and analytical and
discussion tools which allow them to further engage with the text and the literary community. For a greater
understanding, our Wits require instant access intellectual resources, all four versions of the text (in
facsimiles and HTML form), and other primary texts which Pope references, including Dunces Poems,
Critical commentary, and multiple translations of classical texts. Additionally, the Wit needs tools that allow
side-by-side comparisons and a wiki component that allows Wits to comment, ask questions, and get
feedback for anything from broader themes to close-readings of text.

Goals

Provide platform for comparative analysis of editions

Provide poems Pope refers to throughout (Cave of Poverty, Mackflecknoe, Aeniad, Illiad, etc.)
Good and bad. Poems he mocks and reveres
Provide platform/ Wiki component for readers to comment on issues within text
House Dunciad related scholarly research

Question the effect of bad art on society

Question the motivations of contemporary art
Emphasize the importance of complexity in literature

How will the website meet the needs of both audience groups?
The entrance into the site will provide the option to view material as either Wit or Dunce. Pope employs
these terms to describe the opposing levels of intellect in his society. Thus, not only would a Dunciad for
Dunces and Dunciad for Wits give users direct access to the information that best suits them, but it also
brings the thematic grouping of Dunce and Wit that Pope himself employed, into practice. A mockup of this
entrance page can be seen here:

In paralleling these terms with the modern phenomenon of making instructional manuals For Dummies, it
also brings a contemporary perspective to Popes ideas about these groups. In using the For Dummies
trope, we are hopeful that our audience will catch a hint of satire. Just as Pope believed that good poetry
does not come easy, it must be worked for, we realize that giving an Idiots Guide access to the poem
essentially goes against Popes strictest advisory and the poems most pivotal ambitions. We would like to
harness this tension, as we believe separating our website into a Wit and Dunce section helps to 1.) Guide
viewers to the information that best suits their needs, 2.) Bring Popes Dunce and Wit thematic
grouping into practice, and 3.) highlight Popes theme of Good Art allegorically.
While a reader must choose an option, the choice will not be limiting. Because a person clicks on the
Dunce section does not mean that they cannot view the Wit section as well. We hope that the Dunce
section will offer the opportunity for those reading the poem for the first few times to gain further insight
and feel confident enough to enter and explore the Wits section. Furthermore, if someone enters the Wit
section, this does not mean that the information offered in the Dunce section will not be an available and
possibly useful or entertaining resource.

After our viewer chooses between Wit and Dunce, they will choose to view information in a Primary
Source format or a Secondary Source format. We see this screen below:

A primary
source
You have chosen
would
contain the
entirety of
Dunce
the poem,
meaning
In what form would you like to view information:
teachers
could direct
The Full Text of The Dunciad (Primary)
their
students to
Or
the Digital
Dunciad
instead of
Webpage Format (Secondary)
having them
purchase and
read a
physical
text. A
secondary
source
would
provide
resources to
help viewers
understand
and analyze
their
reading, but each student would still need to attain their own copy of the text. Our website should serve as
both a primary source, containing authoritative text, and a secondary source, which allows the reader to step
away from the text and focus on specific aspects and themes. Essentially, the secondary source and primary
source will provide the same supplemental information, just displayed in different formats.The site will give
the reader the option to choose which path would best serve their needs. To avoid confusion, here is a
diagram of the sectors of The Digital Dunciad.

Dunce Web Design

The Dunce Primary Source
Overview:
The Dunciad is a challenging read because its a clash of allusion, content, form, and criticism within the
sardonic frame of satire. However, the physical text itself becomes cumbersome in print, directing the
readers eyes up and down, back and forth between pages, lines, really long quotes, and tiny text. Basically,
theres really no comfortable way to read the Dunciad. No matter what way you're sitting, youll likely end
up with a crook in your neck, and youll often find yourself turning back pages to figure out who is talking
or whom they are talking about. And the dramatic visual shift across the page from poem to footnote can
cause readers to lose track of line numbers and lose trace of poetic flow. These are just further obstacles
posed by the density of the Dunciad, many of which can be addressed in web design. The web offers the
scroll, but this also poses challenges with how footnotes translate to a scroll, one well address with filters
and marginal notes. The web will be useful to create visual cues, which help our users to identify readers,
speakers, plot, character, and timeline. Likewise, we can seamlessly incorporate supplemental resources, but
we must do so in a way that is not distracting from the text, drawing just enough attention and interest to
catch the readers eye, all while maintaining the integrity of the original text.
To make the poem more accessible to the undergraduate reader, we must tread a fine line between providing
additional information so that it helps understanding, and providing too much information so that distracts
from or oversimplifies the text. We observed this issue in the John Butts edited text. Sometimes the
footnotes would provide necessary information that corrected or elaborated upon Popes information, but
other times it merely distracted from the reading. Digital technology provides the opportunity to add optional
information in-line with the poem via clickable symbols, allowing access to information without cluttering
the screen with more text. But the information also appears in-line, so the reader could click and view
immediately without having to move his or her eyes down the page to find footnotes. These symbols also
help the reader to categorize important information like names and significant characters, which there are a
lot of.
The Digital Dunciad should allow readers to view texts in a variety of ways. Our Dunce readers will be able
to see the poem through multiple filters, which isolate the poem, adding Popes annotations, Popes critical
commentary, Scriblerus and Popes contemporaries commentaries, etc at the readers discretion. This digital
platform allows the reader, when he or she wants, to control the experience of the poem and understand the
subtleties and complexities the poem creates as it converses with each individual part.
The Digital Dunciad Primary Source section is meant to replace the text, but it is important to maintain the
integrity of the original (all four versions of it). The three-book Dunciad, the Dunciad Variorum, the New
Dunciad, and The Dunciad in Four books should appear in facsimile form on the website. PDFs of original
copies will ensure veracity of the sites text, as well as allow readers to see a version similar to one that
Popes original audience had seen. Additionally, each of the texts will be available in HTML format with
access to supplemental information within the text. To assist modern readers, who may not be used to
reading Popes couplets, the site will also contain an option to listen to the text.

Goals
Ultimately, the website layout (for Dunces) should:

Ease problems posed by a physical text;

Help the reader to identify plot, speaker, and character;
Provide supplemental information;
Highlight craft and genre;
Arouse contemporary interest
Provide as close to a classroom experience as possible
Address multiple learning styles

Features:
Filters:
The mere layout of the Dunciad is initially overwhelming because the work is literally split into two
sections: the poem and the critical apparatus. Both of these compete for space on the page, one often
distracting the reader from truly experiencing the other. It is important that this be maintained because Pope
sees good poetry and odds with criticism, particularly bad criticism, and Pope could be trying to overwhelm
the reader and distract him from the poem itself. He could be trying to inform lay readers that hes informed
by the classics, or he could be using just another tool to ridicule those he despises. Regardless, Pope makes
an aesthetic choice here, of which readers need to be aware and speculate. As a first time reader, however,
this aesthetic choice gives many readers headaches. Tracking up and down from the poem to the notes, back
and forth to footnotes that continued to the next page, then turning back and trying to find where they left off
in the poemthese are just further obstacles in even partially comprehending what is in front of readers, but
this one is physical and surmountable.
In the Dunce section, the poem will appear without footnotes, allowing the reader to first experience the
poem in isolation.

Readers will also have the option, and be prompted to, click a tab, overlaying Popes footnotes or critical
commentary as Marginal notes. The tabs will be divided into Poem (which never leaves the screen) and
Popes notes, Popes comments, Popes foes and Scriblerus criticisms, Contemporary Commentary, and a
link to the Wits Primary Source, 4allowing the reader total control over what appears on his or her screen.
Determining how to separate Popes comments from his foes and persona, Scriblerus, will pose a significant
challenge. Pope supposedly cites his contemporaries direct quotes throughout his footnotes, but it is difficult
to distinguish between his exact words and theirs. Some footnotes cite multiple authors but give little to no
indication of whose ideas are whose, or where the print initially appears. We will have to work toward
identifying who is speaking in these footnotes because an already overwhelmed audience will dismiss the
significance of the commentary.

4 Future developers should continue to develop filters that will facilitate a better understanding of
themes, form, content, plot, etc.

5 All tabs, font sizes, and layouts are subject to change. This is just a design example.

This radically changes the presentation of the Dunciad, asking the reader to understand first, the poem, and
second, the critical apparatus and how it relates to specific sections. All we can do as first-time readers is try
to understand each individual part, then connect them together as best as possible. As we are not the designer
of the confounding Dunciad universe, we will not be able to conceive fully of Popes master plan, satirical
purpose and cultural criticisms, but our readers will hopefully be able to work with individual parts to have
at least some idea of the themes Pope explores.
Tagline/ Section Summaries:
Popes Arguments for each book will provide a skeleton summary for the sections. For example, The
Proposition of the subject (Arguments to the Books: Book The First in Dunciad Variorum) would be the
header for the first verse paragraph:
BOOKS and the Man I sing, the first who brings
The Smithfield Muses to the Ear of Kings.
Say great Patricians! (since your selves inspire
These wond'rous works; so Jove and Fate require)
Say from what cause, in vain decry'd and curst,
Still Dunce the second reigns like Dunce the first
Websites work like scrolls allowing pages to house more text, but scrolling through an entire book of the
poem is too overwhelming, making it difficult to use spatial recognition when reviewing text or seeking
specific passages [is there a term for this?]. Well need to break the books into more manageable chunks of
text, and we can use the argument to structure the new pages. These Arguments will allow the website
builders to break the books into more manageable chunks of text. By summarizing the act of the section in
Popes own words, the section headings will also help our Dunce audience to keep track of what is

happening in the plot of each page. Some interpretation is necessary to determine how each section
corresponds to the arguments. However, allowing Popes own words to describe actions in the books lends a
sort of accuracy to the summaries because summarizing Pope could potentially tamper with his rhetorical
strategies.
Audio of the Poem:
Pope is the master of the couplets, but readers will only know this if they are good at dictating poems,
whether in their heads or aloud. Commas are half pauses; semi-colons slightly longer; periods, colons, emdashes are a full pause, and dont full stop at the line break unless the end-punctuation calls for it. Its helpful
to hear the poem read correctly (yes, correctly), as contemporary readers are particularly bad at reading
musicality in poetry; I think it has something to do with reading in chunks (reading words in groups or
phrases) rather than reading word by word and hearing the sound of each individual word. Hearing poems
read well while seeing them on the page will help teach our readers how to read Popes couplets. Along with
catering to auditory learners, listening is useful when trying to decipher tone, especially in 18th century
satire.
Search Bar:
The site has a search bar which allows the reader to jump to any verse, book, or version within the primary
text (all versions of the Dunciad, the front matter, and facsimiles of originals). The search bar will be more
expansive in the Wits section, as it contains more varieties of resources.
Art/ Pictures
The website offers more opportunity to house pictures and digital representations of scenes from the
Dunciad. Creating a graphic representations of the text will certainly arouse contemporary interest, deliver
the texts humor, and it will help our readers identify character and scene. Choosing which scenes to
illustrate and how to portray character and scene, however, is an interpretive act. Every choice the artist
makes will impact the way our reader interprets the text.
In-text Icons for supplemental information
Supplemental information will be added in the margins through links.

Additional features
Highlight/ color code speakers in Poem and critical apparatus
This could be a filter on the poem itselfan option to click a tab which color codes speakers. Keeping track
of speakers is very difficult for contemporary readers of epic poetry.
Character List
A spark page. This page should resemble a character list. It will not be a place that offers analysis and
information in order for students to write a paper without actually reading the poem. The spark page,
should list characters in the Dunciad with general descriptions of who they are. The list will make it easier
for students and other readers to understand the context and irony that is in the poem. This website should
help as a supplemental source for educators. Again, the website should make the Dunciad more available so
that teachers may be more likely to teach the poem because it is more approachable. By making it available
we hope to reach a fine balance between a resource and spark notes.

Mother Dullness- Main Character. Dullness is implemented in different forms and settings in this poem.
Cibber- Other main character, based off of a man named Tibbald, whom Pope did not like.
Etc.

The Dunce Section in a Secondary Source Format:

Overview
Structuring the website as a secondary source would include some of The Dunciads actual text, but not in its
all-encompassing form. To further understand The Dunciad, we must move the reader away from the actual
text, allowing him or her to look at the society and literary community with which Pope engages. This
version of the website would separate the different themes and contexts of the poem into their own

categories. Each category could then have its own page dedicated solely to it, and viewers could click on
objects or icons in a sidebar to navigate from one category to the next. This will be the same supplemental
information incorporated into the primary sources through clickable icons, just organized into one
comprehensive collection. Making the website a secondary source to The Dunciad would help to inspire
interest in the poem, elucidate its plot, and give hint and contemporary context to the message of Popes
work.

Goals
.
Ease problems posed by a physical text;
Help the reader to identify plot, speaker, and character;

Provide supplemental information;

Highlight craft and genre;

Arouse contemporary interest

Provide as close to a classroom experience as possible

Address multiple learning styles

Features
If our user chooses the Dunce option on the entrance screen, and then chose to view information as
Webpage Format, they would be reverted to a screen like this:
In addition to the creative elements of artistic interpretation such as the Website title and Owl icon, this
Homescreen exhibits several important elements for navigating the site:

1A.) Link to the Wit section

Readers have the option to easily move from the Dunce side to the Wit side.While the user may have
chosen Dunce at the entrance screen, he or she should not be limited by this. The corresponding Wit
homepage will also provide a bold link at the top that can be used to switch to the Dunce homepage as well.

2A) Menu of Clickable

Categories and Aspects
of the Website
While we wanted our
website to contain the text
itself as a Primary Source, we
also felt it important to
provide opportunities for users
to step away from the reading.
For some, if not many, an
understanding of the poem can
be built more effectively if
some distance is gained from
Popes complex and, at times,
cryptic writing style. A look at
contextual information will
often make Popes writing less
intimidating for users. For
instance, viewing the trailer
and gathering a basic
understanding of plot will,
hopefully, enable the reader to
view the text more
confidently. The links
presented in this menu
represent their own separate
sections of the website.
Clicking on this link will bring
a user to a page specific to that
particular aspect of The
Dunciad. The categories we
imagine being covered
include, but are not limited to:
Pope Biography:
This page will include
a general summary of
who Alexander Pope
was. It will include
facts on Popes

experiences and views that may have shaped his writing of the Dunciad. Information on or links to
his other Poetic or editorial work may also be included here. If there are lines in the Dunciad that
grant meaning only after a reader understands Popes history, then these lines will stated and
hyperlinked to the primary text6.
Topography of 1700s London:
This page will include a map of London during Popes time. It may also include the Map traced in
The Dunciad and include references to the lines where Pope mentions these places. Each of these
places mentioned in The Dunciad may also include attached biographies and relevant information so
the reader can understand what they were and begin to theorize about why Pope may have included
them in his poem.
What's the Beef?!:
Sections on each of the poets or publishers that Pope seems to have issue with. These sections could
include Biographies of these people and links to some of their relevant works. It could also include
excerpts of publications (these should be primary sources to which Pope refers) about why Pope
might have an issue with this person. If any confrontation took place, this evidence should be
documented here. Each section that focuses on Popes beef with a specific person should also include
references and links to exact lines in the primary text where that person is mentioned or alluded to in
The Dunciad.
Dullness Web:
This page is a way in which users can engage with the text and draw connections to the overarching
theme of Dullness. Readers will be able to form a connection from Mother Dulness, to Cibber and
his work, and then back to the theme of Dullness as a whole. Within this outline there will be close
readings that serve as an aid in understanding each of Dulness roles and their relation to the overall
theme.
Religious Context:
Religion was integral to 18th century life, fueling discrimination, political views, and moral
quandaries. This section should explore how religion influenced Popes writing and moral views.
Historical Info and Timeline:
This page may include a timeline of England with emphasis on events that relate to The Dunciad.
Themes such as religious wars and scuffles between the Torres and Wigs may be highlighted here.
This section may also include information on the popular culture during the time Pope was writing.
Information on art, entertainment, and education will be especially helpful in contributing to a deeper
understanding of The Dunciad.
Comparison Between Multiple Versions: This page will include factual information on the history
of these separate publications including, the reactions of the public and Popes declared reasons for
writing several versions of the poem. This section will also highlight some of the objective
differences we find in comparing both versions and provide information that enables the reader to
speculate why Pope might have made these changes.
Highlighting Crap: This section will include references to the lines where excrement is mentioned
and takes theme. This section may also include references to Scatological-related beliefs and
6 Its very important that these secondary sections link back to the primary text. Its
extremely dangerous cherry picking Pope quotes and trying to derive meaning because Pope
also ridicules perfectly sound ideas by placing them in the mouths of those he doesnt
respect. The website should dissuade students looking just to get quotes to close-read for
papers. Context is important for all close-reading, especially satire.

practices during the time, as well as references to Popes contemporaries that published works on the
same topic.
Another Link to the Poem Itself: (See 3A Below)
While we do believe that all of these categories intertwine, for simplicity and navigational purposes we have
decided to present them as separate categories. A challenge we faced in structuring this Menu was
determining the order of the categories. When presented as separate categories, they seem unrelated and
thus it is difficult to determine a hierarchy, or even a logical path from one category to the next. I have faith
that in the future some Digital Dunciad Project Manager might discover the most effective means of
ordering the menu, but I wanted to fully disclose, for the presentation of this Website Proposal, the menu
categories are ordered at random.

3A.) Link to the Primary Source of the The Dunciad Text itself
We include links to this source twice and plan on them being bold and obvious because we believe
the element of having the text itself contained within our website is one of its most important features. See
The Structuring of the Primary Source on Page 10 to view this feature in more detail.

4A. and 4B.) Subcategories of each Category

The mockup demonstrates that when a user puts their curser over any of the categories in the menu section
more options appear. These references to subcategories will enhance viewer experience as they allow the
user to be even more specific about what type of information they are looking for. This feature also presents
the bounds and influences involved in a specific category in an organized format.

5A.) Link to Audio version of The Dunciad

This link brings users to a page displaying the primary text, where they can listen to a
reading of The Dunciad.
6A.) Link to Chat 7with other Dunciad Enthusiasts Feature
This link brings users to a social media/instant messaging function where they can post messages for other
students and scholars of Pope.

7 This chat function might be a little difficult. Future editors may choose to call this a
messaging function, which doesnt infer an instant response.

How will our Website format help us create the desired experience for our user
and help them meet the goals we have laid out?
The Dunciad contains a lot of front matter that most of our readers will ignore, including an author's note,
editors note, and several comments and snippets of criticism from Popes despised contemporaries. As a
class, we were assigned to read the poem, but we were never assigned to read this front matter, which, after
reading, helped us to further understand Popes distaste for his contemporaries, as well as their immense
distaste for him. Instead, we were introduced to the Dunciad in the classroom setting, first discussing history,
politics, literary influences, biography and craft--background information necessary for an impactful firstread, but this is very different than the way the text was initially delivered. To read Popes introduction, The
Dunciad is a retort directed at all the authors who slighted, but we were introduced to the text as a potential
criticism on pop-culture. Any where we take readers or anything we change about the readers initial
experience with the text will shade their primary understandings.
When creating resources for the Dunce, each decision will push the reader toward a specific outcome. Other
literature study sites summarize the plot, simplify complications, and give quick-and-dirty thematic analyses.
These can be useful tools for students looking to review material theyve previously covered; however, these
analyses can be reductive when studied in isolation. Readers pick up on themes by reading and interpreting
the text based upon their own values, intellect, and experience. Sites that reduce literature to an easy
summary and a single, comprehensive analysis should stand as an example of what out Dunce site is trying
to avoid. The Digital Dunciad should provide a plethora of information that allows readers access to
multiple interpretations, thus allowing them to consider at multiple interesting or important elements of the
poems. While some of these strands of information may be considered themes, it is important that we do not
comment on theme in the Dunce portion of the website. Our job is to provide information, not to interpret it.
Supplemental information we include must only offer context for specific references, allusion, craft
elements, etc. It must not definitively state a single meaning, nor should it push the reader toward a specific
interpretation; this is a matter of phrasing within the supplemental resources. Although choosing what
information to choose is an interpretive process, the information our resources provide should be objective,
and the range of topics must provide access to multiple possible readings. We are helping our reader
understand plot, context, and connections to other people places or things; this site should empower our
reader to make an educated statement about an important issue in The Dunciad, not enable them to
regurgitate our possibly boneheaded analysis.

Learning Objectives for Dunces

1) Identify the events of the poem (Plot, Character, Setting etc.)
i) First of all, our target audience must understand the poem as the epic spectacle that it is. There is a lot going
on, and even the first page of most versions, excluding the first edition, contains only two lines of the actual
poem. This means that the layout of the text becomes distracting. As opposed to supplementing the poem,
Popes critical apparatus often diverts attention away from it, some describing literary or historical allusions,
others calling out authors for wrongs theyd committed. A speakers dialogue is often broken across several
pages, making it difficult to keep track of who is talking. And although Pope is the best practitioner of them,
the sing-songy, antiquated heroic couplet takes over the inner voice and drives the reader through the text
with little understanding. Comprehending the basic story will give the reader at least an allegorical
understanding of the poem, which is the first step toward questioning what Pope is saying about culture and
values. The critical apparatus will bring another set of challenges.
(a) Movie Trailer
(b) Highlight/color code speakers within text
(c) Provide Timeline
(d) Art to illustrate action in select verses (graphic novel)
(e) Audio of poem

(f)
(g)
2)
i)

break into manageable sections, and use argument to summarize what is happening.
Page layout
Recognize irony:
Pope spends a great deal of the Dunciad ridiculing publishers, contemporaries, critics, and anyone who may
misread his work, which in this case is invariably our reader. Popes irony is often indistinguishable without
an understanding his contemporary issues. Without a basic knowledge of the social, political, and artistic
landscape of the 18th century, tonal shifts and satirical judgments go unnoticed. Providing contextual
information on historical, geographical, literary, and pop-cultural allusions will hopefully bring our poor,
confused, almost sleeping audiences knowledge at least up to the dullest dullard to which Pope directs this
poem.
(a) Provide supplemental material in-text to provide context
(b) Audio of text
(c)
3) Explore Popes possible motivations
i) It is very easy, as a first time reader, to take Popes critique of society and contemporary poetry as Truth. The
Dunciad is an artifact holding its author intellectually superior to his competitors, and the notes, personas,
and source material (cherry-picked criticisms and quotations) all lend a sort of credibility to Pope as he
attempts to expose the filth of pop-culture and those who profit from it. Holding Popes views above
question, assuming his portrayal of his contemporaries as accurate, and accepting his viewpoints as valid is
passively reading. Even worse, its making us miss the joke. Pope is extremely biased, but his density is
intimidating, this intimidation sometimes inhibiting our understanding.
Furthermore, we are brought to the poem as though Popes pen seeps subtext. We think: We are
undergrads and we are told to read this. This has to have some literary value, so I need to be
looking for it. Half-way through the second book, I caught myself looking for symbolic or
metaphorical meanings of one of the games, missing the very humor and irony of a
straightforward pissing contest! The way our audience approaches the text as literature actually
negates the way Popes audience would have understood the text as vitriolic but containing,
potentially, a hidden moral or social statement. Popes audience wasnt reading the Dunciad as
something profound or revered; instead, they would see the joke first. We, as readers, are trying
to jump to the subtext before understanding the joke and the surface level conflict.
The potential that Popes motivations were impure, that this poem is a missile toward the people
he despised the most, makes the content of the poem comparable to contemporary rap battles or
ridiculous reality TV competitions. Further, satire brings tonal comparisons to popular shows like
The Daily Show, South Park, and The Colbert Report--shows whose largest viewer demographic
is that of our target audience, and we understand that our views are often under the creative
microscope of these shows writers. This comparison can help our readers to understand how
petty spats over theology, government, social issues, etc. were publicized for commerce, but it
also lets our readers know that Pope is ridiculing ideas, as well as the people who hold them. In
satire, the audience is often the unintentional butt of the authors joke. Sometimes we agree with
a poems speaker, and if the author later portrays the speaker as an idiot, then it is our views that
he is making fun of. While this could be reductive, considering the Dunciad a mere slander
directed toward Popes competitors, it is absolutely a perspective his audience would have at least
initially considered. We need to take care to include context that allows our reader access to
multiple perspectives, and conflict with his peers is as valid a perspective as looking at his model,
Drydens Mac Flecknoe, as an inspiration. Questioning Popes motivations in composing the
Dunciad will hopefully prompt readers to hold Popes literary and societal criticisms under a
microscope, weighing them against our own values and views of contemporary art and society,
rather than passively accepting his rationale.
(a) Popes Beefs
(b) Summarize the primary characters and their relationship to Pope

(c) Mackfleckno
(d)
4) Understand contextual information for allusions
i) Throughout the Dunciad, Pope uses a slew of allusions, dealing with geography, history, pop culture,
printing, contemporary writing, mythology, literature (classics and his own), science, and medicine. This is
not a comprehensive list, but knowledge of these references enriches the reading experience. Likewise, the
more our reader understands the history of specific objects and concepts in the 18th century, the more he or
she will hopefully question the significance and purpose of the Dunciad, and why this critique of
contemporary publishing and society is presented in a form that succumbs to the pressures of, what Pope
sees as, an inferior literary culture. Or, our reader may think that the piece was mere slander, yet we are still
studying it; so what makes this literature? Mastery of craft? Wit? Engagement of literary classics?
Supplemental information that provides context and helps our reader to understand these allusions will help
direct the reader to questions that lie beneath the poop and pee filled plot.
(1) Provide supplemental info for the following:
(a) historical
(b) social
(c) political
(d) scientific
(e) geographic
(f) literary
(g) cultural context
(h) classical
(i) intertextual connections
(j)
5) Illustrate Popes Mastery of Craft
i) Pope was the master of the couplets, and his appreciation of classics, genre, craft, and good poetry is buried
within the scatological humor and barbed criticisms. No one should read Alexander Pope without saying
aloud his couplets and recognizing the beauty and mastery of his skill. Likewise, Popes theory of Concordia
Discors is evident in the extremely messy plot, cultural critiques, and vitriolic attacks restrained by the wellconstructed couplets and a recognizable epic genre. Readers should leave Alexander Pope with an
understanding of his mastery of skill and a sense of the literary tradition that informs Popes every image,
action, and line.
(a) Mother Dullness and the Epic theme
(b) Animated craft videos at select parts
(c) Prefatory Material: The couplet, the mock epic, translation, and criticism.
(d) Concordia Discors

Wit Web Design

Overview (Primary Source)

Goals

Provide platform for comparative analysis of editions

Provide poems Pope refers to throughout (Cave of Poverty, Mackflecknoe, Aeniad, Illiad, etc.)
o Good and bad. Poems he mocks and reveres
Provide platform/ Wiki component for readers to comment on issues within text
House Dunciad related scholarly research

Question the effect of bad art on society

Question the motivations of contemporary art
Emphasize the importance of complexity in literature
Bad art is easy to get through

Features
Primary source
The Digital Dunciad is meant to replace the text, but it is important to maintain the integrity of the original
(all four versions of it). The three-book Dunciad, the Dunciad Variorum, the New Dunciad, and The Dunciad
in Four books should appear in facsimile form on the website. PDFs of original copies will ensure veracity
of the website, as well allow readers to see a version similar to one that Popes original audience had seen.
Additionally, each version of the text will be available in HTML format with access to supplemental
information within the text.
Academic Resource

The Digital Dunciad provides an exciting opportunity to engage with academic audiences. While most of
this report focuses on the Dunces, this site should collect and house intellectual resources, as well as a
wiki component that allows Wits to comment, ask questions, and get feedback for anything from broader
themes to close-readings of text. The Wits section will also provide links to secondary academic articles
and resources, full versions of poems and criticism which Pope references, maps, and tools to perform
comparative analysis between the multiple passages or versions of the poem.
Analytical tools
The Digital Dunciad should allow readers to view texts in a variety of ways. Our Dunce readers will be able
to see the poem through a variety of filters, which isolate the poem, adding Popes annotations, Popes
critical commentary, Scriblerus and Popes contemporaries commentaries, etc. This digital platform allows
the reader, when he or she wants, to control the experience of the poem and understand the subtleties and
complexities the poem creates as it converses with each individual part. Our Wits will be able to compare
multiple versions of the texts on the same screen; browse primary texts to which Pope refers; leave flags,
markers, and notes within the poem; compare geography and literary culture; and more.
Ekphrasis
We already have a student doing a movie trailer. It may be interesting to illustrate as much of the Dunciad as
possible. This could be interesting to include for both our Dunce and Wit audiences; the former could use the
help in visually interpreting scenes and the latter may enjoy analyzing and critiquing interpretive choices.

Overview (Secondary Source)

Structuring the website as a secondary source would include some of The Dunciads actual text, but not in its
all-encompassing form. To further understand the Dunciad, we must move the reader away from the actual
text, allowing him or her to look at the society and literary community with which Pope engages. This
version of the website would separate the different themes and contexts of the poem into their own
categories. Each category could then have its own page dedicated solely to it and viewers could click on
objects or icons in a sidebar to navigate from one category to the next. Making the website a secondary
source to The Dunciad would help to inspire interest in the poem, elucidate its plot, and give hint and
contemporary context to the message of Popes work

Goals
Features

Intellectual Engagement
The following section describes areas we see as relevant, significant, or at the very least interesting topics for
contemporary Dunciad readers. Ultimately, these resources will entertain, help Dunces and Wits grapple with the text,
or assist the reader in gaining a better understanding of the social, cultural, and historical context in which Pope wrote.
The following documents explore a theme or an idea, establish relevance within the text, and propose applications
which will work the idea into the website. As of now, the Learning Objectives lists several types of information that
helps to achieve the goals we set for the site. Each applications must help to achieve the sites primary goals. If future
editors choose to add to this list, they should make sure that new intellectual engagement is reflected in the Learning
Outcomes, and these additions must help to achieve one of the goals set forth.

Religious and Moral Themes in Alexander Popes Mock Epic Poem, The
Dunciad
It is important to consider the religious and moral themes in The Dunciad because, by analyzing the religious imagery
throughout the poem, one can better understand Popes own religious views and how these views influenced his
writing. Even though Pope considered himself a strong Catholic, Pope also had his own, unique views of religion,
which can be seen throughout The Dunciad, especially in the fourth book. By including religious and moral themes in
the website, undergraduate readers will be able to see the overarching morals of The Dunciad.
Before locating and analyzing the religiously affiliated passages in Popes The Dunciad, it is important to understand
Popes religious and moral background. According to David Codys article, The Religion of Alexander Pope,
[r]eligion played an important role in Popes personal life from its very outset: he came of a Roman Catholic family,
and he remained a Catholic ... when it was still decidedly disadvantageous and even dangerous to do so. Cody
further explains how Pope was born in the midst of the Glorious Revolution, during which it was often unsafe to be
Catholic, due to the Protestant hold on England. Catholics were perceived as being actively or potentially
treacherous (Cody). Even when Popes friends tried to convince him to convert to Protestantism, he refused, which
shows Popes dedication to his Catholic faith.
According to Chester Chapins article, Alexander Pope: Erasmian Catholic, Popes Catholic views are very apparent
in his early writings. Even as early as twelve years old, Pope wrote about saints legends, or satire on anti-Catholic
writers (Chapin 421). However, Chapin states that a tendency to think for himself in religious matters was very
soon apparent, with results not always pleasing to his coreligionists (Chapin 421). After writing Essay on Criticism
in 1711, his own people [Catholics] criticized him for allegedly heterodox opinions (Chapin 421). Chapin believes
that this is because Pope had simply assumed, without giving it much thought, that his own religious outlook was
shared by his contemporariesan assumption not uncommon among the youngand was accordingly dismayed to
discover what seemed to him obtuse, narrow, and outmoded views (Chapin 421). For example, when Pope was asked
on his deathbed if he would like a priest to give him the last sacraments, he replied, I do not suppose that is essential,
but it will be right, and I heartily thank you for putting me in mind of it (Chapin 429). Even when Pope questions
some aspects of the Catholic religion, he still maintains a highly religious and moral attitude.
According to Chapin, Pope was concerned with the unity of Christians and he was willing to spread the net of
salvation as wide as possible, however, Pope never appears to question the reality or eternity of Hell (Chapin 425).
In Popes An Essay on Man, he states:
Then Unbelieving Priests reformd the Nation,
And taught more Pleasant Methods of Salvation;
Where Heavns Free Subjects might their Rights dispute,
Lest God himself shoud seem too Absolute. (Pope 546-549)
In this passage, Pope is criticizing priests who make religion and Christianity seem easy and pleasant, which shows
Popes view that personal religion requires dedication and hard work. Overall, Chapin believes that Popes An Essay
Man and The Dunciad have a serious moral purpose (Chapin 429). Through these works, Chapin states that Pope
did not wish merely to appear a Catholic, he sincerely believed he was one (Chapin 430).
It is also important to consider Popes attitude towards John Milton, a Protestant Christian who was opposed to the
Catholic Church. B. W. Young, in his See Mystery to Mathematics fly!: Popes Dunciad and the Critique of
Religious Rationalism, states, Milton certainly did [have an influence over Pope]: his is the second major poetic
presence in the Dunciad, Paradise Lost entering into the poem alongside the Aeneid (Young 483). On several
occasions, Pope refers his readers to Miltons highly religious poem, Paradise Lost. Pope also mimics Miltons
unique poetic style throughout his poem. For example, in line 194 in book four, Pope uses brackets about the line,
and the note, [to] parody Bentleys editorial procedures in his edition of Paradise Lost (Young 362). This use of

Miltons style shows how Pope respects Miltons original works, not editorials. In book three of The Dunciad, Pope
displays his positive attitude towards Milton:
Yet oh, my sons! a fathers words attend:
(So may the fates preserve the ears you lend)
Tis yours, a Bacon or a Locke to blame,
A Newtons genius, or a Miltons flame:
But oh! with One, immortal one dispense,
The source of Newtons Light, of Bacons Sense!
Content, each Emanation of his fires
That beams on earth, each Virtue he inspires,
Each Art he prompts, each Charm he can create,
Whateer he gives, are givn for you to hate.
Persist, by all divine in Man unawd,
But, Learn, ye DUNCES! not to scorn your GOD. (Pope 213-224)
This invocation of the moderns, Bacon, Locke, Newton, and Milton, is positive, but their God-given achievements are
deduced by the simplifications of the dunces. Through this passage, Popes respect and admiration towards Milton is
seen. Even though Milton rebukes the Catholic Church throughout Paradise Lost, Pope remains fond of him, despite
his own Catholic beliefs.
Perhaps the most religious imagery and moral themes are located in book four of The Dunciad. By considering the
character traits in which Dulness praises, Popes own morals can be seen. For example, in book four, Dulness frees a
lazy, idle person from shame:
Then [Dulness] lookd, and saw a lazy, lolling sort,
Unseen at Church, at Senate, or at Court,
Of ever-listless Loitrers, that attend
No cause, no Trust, no Duty, and no Friend.
Thee too, my Paridel! she markd thee there,
Stretchd on the rack of a too easy chair,
And heard thy everlasting yawn confess
The Pains and Penalties of Idleness. (Pope IV.337-344)
Through this passage, one can see how Pope praises a busy, meaningful life, rather than an idle, meaningless life.
Furthermore, he believes it is important for one to attend church, rather to be [u]nseen at Church.
Along with the importance of living an actively religious and moral life, Pope also believes it is right to study the
whole nature of God, rather than to study only parts of creation or individual aspects of God. In book four, Dulness
speaks:
O! would the Sons of Men once think their Eyes
And Reason givn them but to study Flies!
See Nature in some partial narrow shape,
And let the Author of the Whole escape:
Learn but to trifle; or, who most observe,
To wonder at their Maker, not to serve. (Pope IV.453-458)
Dulness wants her followers to use fly-like vision that only allows men to see some partial narrow shape, instead of
a whole image. In taking on this vision, Dulness believes that men will become fascinated at God, or wonder at their
Maker, which will, in turn, make God disappear, or escape. The gloomy Clerk echoes Dulness views when he
states:
On plain Experience lay foundations low,
By common sense to common knowledge bred,
And last, to Natures Cause thro Nature led. . . .
And reason downward, till we doubt of God:
Make Nature still incroach upon his plan;

And shove him off as eer we can:

Thrust some Mechanic Cause into his place;
Or bind in Matter, or diffuse in Space.
Or, at one bound, oer-leaping all his laws,
Make God Mans Image, Man the final Cause. (Pope IV.466-468 and 472-478)
By studying only small parts of nature, the gloomy Clerk takes pride in doubting God and not obeying his laws.
Dulness, who is the anti-Pope, says almost the completely opposite statement that Pope states in his An Essay on
Man. In Epistle I, Pope states, Why has not Man a microscopic eyes? / For this pain reason, Man is not a Fly (Pope
I.193-194). Furthermore, in Epistle IV, Pope states, God loves form Whole to Parts: but human soul / Must rise from
individual to the Whole (Pope IV.361-362). Unlike Dulness, Pope considers it highly important for man to study the
wholeness of God, instead of just parts of Him. By comparing these passages in An Essay on Man to Dulness
statement in book four of The Dunciad, one can see Popes concern for the human soul to appreciate, study, and
wonder at the whole of God, or the Author of the Whole.
Popes view of self-love is also seen when comparing book four of The Dunciad to his An Essay on Man. In The
Dunciad, self-love, according to Popes own footnote, causes a total oblivion of the obligation of Friendship, or
Honour, and of the Service of God or our Country; all sacrificed to Vain-glory, Court-worship, or yet meaner
considerations of Lucre and brutal pleasures (IV, footnote for line 517). This view of self-love is seen in the gloomy
Clerks words:
Find Virtue local, all Relation scorn,
See all in Self, and but for self be born:
Of nought so certain as our Reason still,
Of nought so doubtful as of Soul and Will.
Oh hide the God still more! and make us see a God like Thee:
Wrapt up in Self, a God without a Thought. (IV.479-485).
According to the gloomy Clerk, self-love causes one to doubt ones own soul and will, which, in turn, causes God
to be hidden. This view of self-love is also seen when a Wizard Old his Cup extends; / Which whoso tastes, forgets
his former friends, Sire, Ancestors (Pope IV. 517-519). Pope explains in the footnote that this [c]up is The Cup of
Self-Love, and, as stated above, causes one to forget other duties and pleasures.
However, in his An Essay on Man, Pope describes self-love to be something positive and necessary to knowing,
understanding, and loving God. For example, in Epistle IV, Pope describes a virtuous man, who loves himself. He
states, Self-love thus pushd to social, to divine, / Gives thee to make thy neighbours blessing thine (Pope IV.353354). In other words, a virtuous man who loves himself first, can have the ability to love others and the divine, or
God. Pope goes on to state:
Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake;
The centre movd, a circle strait succeeds,
Another still, and still another spreads,
Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace,
His country next, and next all human race,
Wide and more wide, thoerflowings of the mind
Take evry creature in, of evry kind;
Earth smiles around, with boundless bounty blest,
And Heavn beholds its imagine in his breast. (IV.363-372)
In this image of a pebble creating ripples in a peaceful lake, Pope expresses his idea of how self-love positively
affects others, such as friends, parents, neighbors, which, in turn, positively affects ones country and all of mankind
and creation. Although Dulness views self-love as a negative thing that causes blindness towards others and God,
Pope views self-love as a vehicle to love others and God.

Application for the Dunce:

Bibliographical information video that includes Popes religious views and morals
In order to help the dunce, or the undergraduate reader, understand the overarching religious and moral themes in
The Dunciad, I believe that we should give the dunce access to bibliographic information concerning Popes own
religious views. This information would most likely be found in the section of the website that provides Popes
general background information before a reader approaches the text. Since the act of reading bibliographic
information can often be dry and non-stimulating for the undergraduate reader, we could include or create a video that
takes readers through the main events of the life of Pope. This video would include clips that show where Pope grew
up and pictures of Pope himself. By engaging readers through presenting stimulating bibliographic information,
dunces can gain a sort of empathy and appreciation for the author. As dunces learn about Popes own religious views,
they will better understand how his strong Catholic beliefs influence his writing The Dunciad.
According to David Codys article, The Religion of Alexander Pope, [r]eligion played an important
role in Popes personal life from its very outset: he came of a Roman Catholic family, and he
remained a Catholic ... when it was still decidedly disadvantageous and even dangerous to do so.
According to Chester Chapins article, Alexander Pope: Erasmian Catholic, Popes Catholic views
are very apparent in his early writings. Even as early as twelve years old, Pope wrote about saints
legends, or satire on anti-Catholic writers (Chapin 421).
Chapin states that a tendency to think for himself in religious matters was very soon apparent, with
results not always pleasing to his coreligionists (Chapin 421). After writing Essay on Criticism in
1711, his own people [Catholics] criticized him for allegedly heterodox opinions (Chapin 421).
According to Chapin, Pope was concerned with the unity of Christians and he was willing to spread
the net of salvation as wide as possible, however, Pope never appears to question the reality or
eternity of Hell (Chapin 425).
When Pope was asked on his deathbed if he would like a priest to give him the last sacraments, he
replied, I do not suppose that is essential, but it will be right, and I heartily thank you for putting me
in mind of it (Chapin 429)
Historical information about religion during the time of Pope
Perhaps in the timeline on page forty-five we could include historical information about the Glorious Revolution, into
which Pope was born. During this time, Catholics were perceived as being actively or potentially treacherous
(Cody), due to the Protestant hold on the English throne. Through this timeline, the dunce will be able to question
why Pope includes so much Catholic imagery in his poem.
Cody explains how Pope was born in the midst of the Glorious Revolution, during which it was often
unsafe to be Catholic, due to the Protestant hold on England. Catholics were perceived as being
actively or potentially treacherous (Cody). Even when Popes friends tried to convince him to
convert to Protestantism, he refused, which shows Popes dedication to his Catholic faith.
Cross symbol in online text
As the dunce reads through The Dunciad, especially the fourth book, he could be shown a symbol, like a cross, which
represents Catholicism, when Pope refers to religious material. Perhaps by clicking on this symbol, the dunce can
read a short blurb about why this passage is religious in nature.
Application for the Wit:
Access to scholarly texts on the religious themes
Perhaps one the strongest ways to engage wits further into The Dunciads themes is to provide easy access to
scholarly, peer-edited articles. We could go about this by inserting easy click-able hyperlinks to these texts. We could
also include a summary of the main arguments and points of the article to save wits time. Some of these articles
could be: Chester Chapins Alexander Pope: Erasmian Catholic and B. W. Youngs "'See Mystery to Mathematics
Fly!': Pope's Dunciad and the Critique of Religious Rationalism."

A wiki-like, open forum section

In order to produce new ideas and expand out website, it would be beneficial to allow wits to directly engage with our
site. Different wiki-pages would be dedicated to different themes in The Dunciad. Although there are many benefits
for incorporating a wiki-page into our website, there are also potential problems. One of these being the question of
who is allowed to post on these pages. Would only wits be able to edit and create? Or would dunces be allowed
access to these as well? Also, how would we be able to determine who a wit is and who a dunce is? Perhaps the
answer to these concerns is to simply allow anyone access to these wiki-pages. However, should be weary of letting
our website obtain a less-than-accurate reputation as Wikipedia often portrays.
Providing easy access to other (online?) works of Pope
In order to appreciate and get to know an authors writing style, it is often helpful to read other works by the author.
In this case, it would be beneficial for wits to gain further knowledge about Popes views on religion and Catholicism
by reading some of his works like An Essay on Man and The Rape of the Lock, as well as other works. Since Popes
works of poetry and prose are often difficult to locate online, an online library dedicated to Popes works would be
helpful for wits (and possibly dunces?).
Complex questions that require careful observation of the text, as well as historical knowledge
Although I think we should be careful not to spoon-feed the dunces or wits, it may be beneficial to provide the wits
with some questions that, to my (dunce-like) knowledge, have yet to be carefully answered by a scholarly individual.
Some of these questions would no doubt concern Popes view of religion or God. Perhaps this part of the website
could allow, as stated above, some sort of wiki-element, in through which wits could create new questions. It is
important to build a strong base for the wit section of our website, and I believe that questioning is fundamental to the
strength of our site.
Some of these questions concerning the religious elements of The Dunciad could include: What is
the significance of the religious elements in the fourth book, when darkness prevails and why might
the fourth book contain so many religious elements?, Why might Pope reference Milton and his
main work, Paradise Lost, so frequently, even though Milton inserts many anti-Catholic statements in
this work? (Young states that Milton is the second major poetic force in The Dunciad), How does
Popes An Essay on Man compare and contrast to the religious elements in The Dunciad?, and How
do Popes Catholic views differ from traditional Catholic views during his time?

Submitted by Molly Carter

Popes Beefs: Publishers

This section of this website would evaluate the importance behind Alexander Popes attacks and critiques of various
publishers within The Dunciad. Ultimately, this section of the website should help students understand the allusions
made to publishers, why Pope was making them, and why this still matters in the 21 st century. Although relevance does
not inform literary merit, this would serve as a way to get new readers to engage fully with the text. Being able to
illustrate relations between issues of Popes era to issues of the modern day will not only enable students to identify
with the poem, but it will also allow them to apply themes of The Dunciad to the world around them. As much of
Popes criticism of his contemporaries uses vehement and even volatile language, it is easy to suspect Popes motives
as personal. Additionally, learning the background information as to why Pope made these statements added interest
and motivation while reading the poem. Pope recognized the need for the protection of art and the rights of the artist.
Pope navigated the importance of the artist before the critic, and the complexities of this relationship. From big budget
Hollywood studios to Buzzfeed, one neednt look far to find the wasteland of poorly made content receiving the
blessing and backing of those under the influence of dullness.
One may study a work of literature from a purely historical perspective, harvesting the details of the temporal setting
in which the work was written in order to understand the intentions and motivations of the author with regard to plot,
character, and theme. One may also study a work strictly for how these literary elements work toward a higher more
universal goal, transcending the temporal setting in which they were written in order to achieve higher meanings for
readers of new generations with a new set of surroundings. This section of the website would work to effectively
achieve both of these levels of study. As stated, while relevance should not necessarily inform literary merit, with
regard to the learning of literature containing antiquated points of reference, cultural relevance can give readers a
sense of discovery as they continue to process the world around them through a lens of the poem. This is particularly
true of new readers, and true of a work as important as Alexander Popes The Dunciad. In the modern age, a website of
both primary and secondary sources would help readers understand the cultural relevance and importance of a work
like The Dunciad in a modern context as issues continue to surround subjects of art, copyright, and media literacy. In
many ways, The Dunciad has never mattered more. This section could additionally show users some of the parallels
between the world of Pope and the current epoch with regard to particulars of copyright and media literacy and how
these two subjects show themselves in The Dunciad and in everyday existence in the 21st century.
A reader today encountering The Dunciad for the first time most likely will be an avid user of the internet and a
participant in the fast paced click-bait culture it has produced, where all too often quantity wins out over quality. The
constant flow of information makes the concept of media literacy imperative to serving the learner in the most
effective way possible. Media literacy is a modern approach to education, providing tools that allow readers to analyze
and evaluate messages received from various forms of media. While this concept was not in existence at the time of
The Dunciad, Pope certainly did a great deal of foreshadowing through the concept of dullness and how it pervades
facets of our society. In a modern setting dullness could be supplemented with a phrase like misinformation. The
pervading dullness and misinformation surrounds modern readers in ways similar to the world of The Dunciad. With
these things in mind, it is important that this website examine the relationships and attitudes Pope held towards not
only contemporary artists, but publishers and other public figures who play a role in perpetuating dullness. While not
on such an exponential scale, Popes readers too would have experienced a vast flow of dullness and misinformation
not from anything like the Internet, but from financially driven and artistically unconcerned publishers.
Pope saw many publishers as a threat not only to the saturation of the market with poor quality material, but also as
vultures with the potential to steal his work if he left it unguarded. In a letter to Jonathan Swift from 1727 he stated,
My poem (which it grieves me that I dare not send you a copy of, for fear of the Curlls and Dennises of Ireland, and
still more for fear of the worst of traitors, our friends and admirers), my poem, I say, will show you what a
distinguishing age we live in, (Griffith 2). This passage to Swift contains both profundity and significance. Firstly, it
shows his underlying distrust of publishers with regard to his work, along with mentioning the publisher Curl, who is
featured frequently throughout The Dunciad. While Pope may have felt that his age was distinguished from prior
generations, the outpour of content has done nothing but grown exponentially. Some of Popes attitudes towards the
state of media concerning his distinguishing age could be seen as results of the changes in societys power
framework. This draws comparison to the work of media scholar Marshall McLuhan and his 1962 book The
Gutenberg Galaxy. This work explores the relationship between the changing human psyche with regard to the advent
of mass media as it came to be called, and inventions like Gutenbergs printing press. For the first time, moveable type
allowed the spread and creation of written words to happen rapidly. McLuhan believes, Competitive individualism
had become the scandal of a society long invested in corporate and collective values. The role played by print in
insinuating new patterns of culture is not unfamiliar, (McLuhan 11). The newfound technology made printing far

simpler which led to more writers becoming published. Gone were the days of the privileged few writers becoming
published, perhaps favored by a king. Todays age is witnessing this all over again in the years of a perpetually
growing internet. This is at the core of what spawned not only the publishing culture Pope experienced, but also the
mass media culture we live in today. In addition to growing notions of competitive individualism present in Popes
work, his overarching moral concern is for the public at large. McLuhan outlines the concept of mass media inventing
the concept of a public. The idea is that in the time of manuscript culture, audiences were localized and Popes idea of
the public and how it both relates and responds to media. McLuhan demonstrates that, Printing from movable types
created a quite unexpected new environment-it created the public. Manuscript technology did not have the intensity or
power of extension necessary to create publics on a national scale, (McLuhan 4). The creation of a public changed
not only changed the way audiences consumed art, it changed the way art was made and in turn shook the entire
process. We still see this concept playing out in our own world, as the public at large divides in lower levels leading to
the advent of hundreds of subcultures and niche genres within the world of literature. To put the importance of this
topic into perspective, an entire book was written about the effects of mass media in conjunction with the growing age
of technology in 1962. Popes age was much closer in relation to the advent of mass media, and thus would have been
experiencing a first wave of effects from this cultural shift in media consumption. This contributes to why The
Dunciad contains important messages that continue to resonate.
This section would manifest under both the Wits and the Dunces section of the website as described in the
overview. On the dunce side of the website, certain names would be highlighted or bolded throughout the text. While
this is particularly helpful for names of Popes contemporaries in the literary community, this could extend to other
elements of the poem including notable locations or historical events. When the user views the poem in the dunce
section, these things would be highlighted or bolded, so that upon hovering on this text information would appear. On
the dunce side this information would be surface level and help only in the basic understanding of the poem. This
could be as simple as highlighting the name Swift so that when the cursor hovers above it, a short description
appears like Eighteenth Century British poet and satirist, friend of Alexander Pope. These descriptions would not
provide detailed information on each figure, but rather place them quickly into context for the reader. This context
alone would make the text more bearable the first time around, and genuinely fascinating by the second. This would be
replicated to greater detail on the wit side of the website.
On the wit side of the website, these hover links would provide more of a paragraph. Building on the previous
example of Jonathan Swift, the wit side of the poem would include more biographical information on Jonathan Swift,
particularly detailing his friendship to Pope , including the fact that he typically saw drafts of Alexander Popes work.
This could also include things like his notable works, and how themes of his work could be seen as similar to those of
Alexander Pope. This feature would be helpful on both sides of the website, with passages like this one from Book II:
Heavn rings with laughter: Of the laughter vain,
Dulness, good Queen, repeats the jest again.
Three wicked imps of her own Grubstreet Choir
She deckd like Congreve, Addison, and Prior
Mears, Warner, Wilkins run: Delusive thought!
Breval, Besaleel, Bond, the Varlets caught.
Curl stretches after Gay, but Gay is gone,
He grasps an empty Joseph for a John!
Passages like this one would certainly benefit from a feature like the one described above. As discussed in our class,
Curl would publish authors work under different names in order to further capitalize on the intellectual property of
others. This could include both the physical location of Grubstreet and its significance to the publishing community of
the eighteenth century.
While this website may contain issues of interpretation, as any literary website is bound to have, the predominant
objective of this section would be to connect the text to the modern world as best as possible in order to foster interest.
Once students become invested and interested in a text, there is room for individual meaning and interpretation.
Submitted by Jack Andrews

History of the 1700s as it Relates to The Dunciad

Necessity of Historical Context
To approach an understanding of the content in Alexander Popes The Dunciad, it is important that one is
knowledgeable about the cultural and historical context of England in the 1700s. Pope makes numerous
references to objects, people and events that were very popular at the time The Dunciad was written, but
after over three hundred years, have become much less relevant. Reading this satire without a grasp on
historical culture and context is impractical, for so many of Popes remarks relate, in some way, to Englands
past.
Benefits of the Website
The Internet is a useful and often necessary resource in todays society. With the vast number of websites
and information that exists on the Web, it can be extremely overwhelming for an individual to search for
material that is required to develop an understanding of certain concepts and ideas. That is why the Digital
Dunciad will be valuable to readers and scholars of The Dunciad. There are thousands of websites that offer
brief and extensive histories of London, but the thought of sifting through all of those sites in order to
understand The Dunciad can be intimidating and incredibly time-consuming. We dont want readers to
spend their time looking for websites that provide the necessary background information before they start
the poem. It is our hope that the Digital Dunciad will provide essential historical context as it relates to The
Dunciad.
Application for Dunces
The Digital Dunciad will have a clickable link next to every historical reference that Pope makes in The
Dunciad. If a reader chooses, he or she can click on the link in order to gain an understanding of what is
taking place in the poem. The dunce will also be able to access all of the historical information in one page
on the website, in case they want to know the history before attempting to understand the poem.
Additionally, we will provide users with a brief timeline and historical maps.
Application for Wits
Wits will already know the main historical concepts of The Dunciad. There will be a timeline of the
history of England, and a separate timeline of Popes life, which can be added to and edited by wits that
may have a deeper knowledge of the concepts. I imagine that some scholars will have opinions on why
Pope did or didnt include certain events, places or people in The Dunciad. There will be a page on the
website where scholars can communicate those beliefs with each other and engage in academic debates on
why they do or do not have the same opinion.
Goals
Dunces will begin reading with a better understanding of Popes background and historical context in
The Dunciad.
Readers can easily access information to references made in the poem.
Scholars can provide more, in depth information on historical people, events, and concepts.
Scholars will acquire and entertain multiple perspectives from each other about the history in The
Dunciad.
General Historical Concepts

Some aspects of history are essential to The Dunciad. Without these general historical concepts, The
Dunciad would not be the same poem, because this information is woven throughout and lies at the core of
the poem. It is fundamentally necessary for a reader to be aware of these concepts while reading, in order to
develop an appropriate understanding of the events, characters and themes of the poem.
One of the critical concepts one must be familiar with in The Dunciad is that of the Tories and the Whigs.
These were two different political parties in eighteenth century England. Pope associated himself with the
Tories, however he had friends who identified with the Whigs. One of these friends was Jonathan Swift, to
whom Pope dedicated The Dunciad.
This division of the English people peaked in 1678, when it became clear that King Charles was not going to
have any legitimate children to succeed him, so his brother, James II, would take the throne. This was the
cause of controversy because James was a known Catholic, whereas Charles pretended to be Anglican (even
though he truly considered himself catholic). The Whigs were not in favor of a Catholic King, so the Rye
House Plot was born. The Rye House Plot was an initiative in which Protestants were going to kill King
Charles and the future King James. Although this plot was never followed through with, there was rising
tension between the Whigs and Tories. As opposed to the Whigs, the Tories were against the exclusion of a
Catholic monarch and supported the hereditary right of James.
In 1685, King Charles had a stroke and died, leaving James as the new King. Though it was believed that
Charles didnt have any legitimate children, one of his sons, the Duke of Monmouth, claimed that Charles
had been married to his mother so, in effect, he should be the next king. Monmouth was a protestant, so the
Whigs wanted him to be king instead of James, which divided the country. The tension between the Tories
and the Whigs is alluded to in The Dunciad, especially in the context of Popes beef with other poets. In the
first few lines of the poem, Pope makes a reference to his good friend Jonathon Swift, who was a Whig:
O thou! whatever Title please thine ear,
Dean, Drapier, Bickerstaff, or Gulliver!
Whether thou chuse Cervantes serious air,
Or laugh and shake in Rablais easy Chair,
Or praise the Court, or magnify mankind,
Or grievd Countrys copper chains unbind;
From thy Baeotia tho Her Powr retires,
Grieve not at ought our sister realm acquires:
Here pleasd behold her mighty wings out-spread,
To hatch a new Saturnian age of Lead.
Swift is mentioned in the lines above by his pseudonyms. Isaac Bickerstaff was a pseudonym that he used in
some of his works. In these lines, Pope dedicates The Dunciad to Swift. A reader may wonder why Pope
would choose to dedicate The Dunciad to someone who was in the opposing political party. Questions like
this come up a lot while reading this poem and make it difficult to comprehend the meaning. The Digital
Dunciad can provide readers with answers to these questions.
The Digital Dunciad will have a link that explains the relationship of Pope and Swift and reasons for why
Pope would dedicate The Dunciad to an opposing Whig. The answer is this:
Swift was a Whig before Pope wrote The Dunciad. He was born, raised and educated as a Whig, but was
also faithful to the Anglican Church. Swift tried to convince Whig political leaders to support a bill in favor
of the Church of Ireland. His aim was to provide The Church of Ireland with the same level of support that
The Church of England had by extending the support of the Whigs to Ireland. The Whig politicians did not
support Swift in this endeavor. Many of them were anti-Catholic and didnt trust any of the people of
Ireland. At this, Swift left the Whig party and joined a new Tory political party. Now a Tory, he considered
himself an Old Whig because he agreed with the original elements of the Whig party, but chose not to
stick around when these principles evolved into beliefs that didnt align with his own. This all happened
before Pope wrote The Dunciad, so they were not only political allies, but also good friends, which explains
why Pope would dedicate the poem to Swift.

 England invaded, Glorius Revolution begins

Dublin in political turmoil; Swift goes to England

1688
1688

Swift ordained as priest in Church of Ireland

1695
1695

Swift requests support for Church of Ireland from the

Whig party. They reject his requests.
Swift leaves the Whig party and associates himslef with
the Tories
Foundation of the Scriblerus Club- a group of prominent
authors
Pope was also a member of this club.
Visits Pope at Twickenham
Publishes Gulliver's Travels
5 volumes of Swift-Pope Miscellanies published

1707
1707
1710
1710
1714
1714
1726
1726
172717271736
1736

The Digital Dunciad will feature timelines such as the one above. These timelines can be specific to a
person (the one above represents the life of Swift) or general historical events.
Another goal of the Digital Dunciad is to make it relevant to todays society in order to foster a better
understanding in readers. We can do this by tying events and people of Popes time to those of today. In the
example of Tories and Whigs, we can use recent political parties and events to connect todays readers to a
different time period in history.
When learning about the tension between the Whigs and Tories, I couldnt help but think about the political
parties in America today. America is divided, just like England was in the 1700s, based on two opposing
beliefs about government. In the Digital Dunciad, we will make comparisons between the Whig/Tory
tension and the Democrat/Republican conflict. Much like Pope challenges certain Whig characters in The
Dunciad, politicians openly condemn each other through media. These denouncements come in the form of
social media, commercials and print advertisements. Here are some examples of these ads from the most
recent presidential election:

These pictures and associations will help our audience make connections and grasp the context in The
Dunciad.
Specific Historical Knowledge
Not only will users need an awareness of general historical concepts within The Dunciad, but they will also
need to know the historical context in specific passages. These concepts arent as critical to understanding
The Dunciad because they only appear once or twice in the poem. However, it can cause a lot of confusion,
especially if there are a lot of references throughout the poem that a reader is unfamiliar with. For instance,
a dunce might be confused when reading the following lines:
Close to those walls where Folly holds her throne,
And laughs to think Monroe would take her down,
Where oer the gates, by his famd fathers hand
Great Cibbers brazen, brainless brothers stand;
One Cell there is, conceald from vulgar eye,
The Cave of Poverty and Poetry.
The historical take away point from this passage is that of the aforementioned gates. Here, Pope is
referring to the Bethlem Royal Hospital, which was built on a site in London, which is now called Liverpool

Street Station. This was the first Psychiatric institution in Europe, dedicated to the treatment of mental
health. Bethlem accepted many patients from the poor and marginalized population, adding an element of
danger to an already unpleasant facility. It came to be known as Bedlam, which means chaos and
confusion. Those who suffered from depression, anxiety, epilepsy and learning disabilities were just as
likely to be found in Bedlam as vicious and murderous criminals. In the 1700s, the institution started to
become somewhat of a circus. People would pay to go see the freaks at the hospital. Although none of
them were truly freaks, the hospital just needed the money (Norman).
This is significant to The Dunciad because Cibbers father, Caius, built the statues on the gates outside of
the hospital. Caius was a sculptor and these two human statues, named Melancholy and Raving
Madness, were his greatest work. Pope relates these brazen and brainless statues to Cibber as his
brothers because they were birthed by the same man. Ironically, Cibbers fathers greatest
accomplishment happened to be put outside of what was considered an insane asylum. Pope doesnt
hesitate to ridicule Cibber for what the location of his brothers implies about Cibber himself.

Providing pictures of the historical places referred to, such as the ones of Bethlem Hospital and its gates
above, can be a useful tool to help the reader visualize the events in The Dunciad.

Conclusion
The purpose of the Digital Dunciad is to provide users, Dunces and Wits alike, with a tool that will assist
them in understanding and developing thoughts and opinions about Alexander Popes The Dunciad. By
taking the form of a website, the information will be easily accessible to users, through the popular and
relevant medium of technology. This website will serve as a resource for those studying the work of Pope
and our hope is that the ideas of this tool will be expanded upon with the help of the users.
The danger of expansion is that the users will turn the Digital Dunciad into something else altogether. The
new additions could take away from the elements that we found essential to the website. This is why I
propose a Digital Dunciad 2.0 as a tool to express the growth and development of the original website,
without changing it. With this idea, the possibilities for expansion are endless. Users will have the
instruction of the Digital Dunciad and the satisfaction that they can contribute their own knowledge and
beliefs.
Although the Digital Dunciad has the potential to be extremely effective and enlightening, it does present
several risks. One of these is that, in providing readers of The Dunciad with information, ideas and
understanding, they will be deprived of the opportunity to come to their own opinions and conclusions about
the poem. It is also possible that in constructing this website, we the creators have misinterpreted Pope in
some or many aspects. If this is the case, we will be passing down false explanations through generations.
In creating this website, we could unintentionally be altering the concepts in The Dunciad at a fundamental
level. In our attempt to produce a resource that conveys Popes message in a relevant and entertaining
manner, there is no way to know for sure if we are essentially molding Popes ideas to fit the elements of our
own society, and in effect, misrepresenting Popes beliefs entirely.
References
Cody, David. "A Chronology of Jonathan Swift's Life "The Dancing Girl" by John
Barlas." A Chronology of Jonathan Swift's Life "The Dancing Girl" by John Barlas. 1 July 2000.
Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
Norman, Abby. "Bedlam: The Real Horror Story Asylum." All That Is Interesting. 4 Mar.
2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Quintana, Ricardo. "Jonathan Swift | Anglo-Irish Author and Clergyman." Encyclopedia
Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May 2015. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.

Submitted by Bridget OConnor

The Outline of Dullness. An Interactive Gateway.

I proposed evaluating Mother Dulness in all the varying roles she takes and the purposes they serve. My intended
outcome would be to relate all of these roles to an overall theme of the poem. This is fundamentally important for the
readers to understand who is speaking and why Pope has chosen to portray Mother Dulness in this particular way
throughout. By historically contextualizing her forms it will help the readers not only understand the wide array of
forms that her character takes on, but also the history and science of the times.
In addition, this portion would be housed in either the Dunces or Wits section depending on what the reader would
need it for. If the reader simply intends to use this section in order to understand what Pope is talking about in lines
where he references Mother Dulness, they would refer to the portion of this located in the Dunces section. However, I
believe this portion would also fall under the Wits side by creating an ongoing conversation of the theme and
relevance of Mother Dulness in this poem. Dulness is the theme of the Dunciad and this aspect must be evaluated in
order for both Wits, and Dunces to engage in a conversation about this poem. Ideally, this section would be a place
where both Dunces and Wits could participate in an engaging conversation about the poem, Mother Dulness, other
characters connected to Mother Dulness, and Dullness as a whole.
By listing out names associated with Dullness users will be able to understand exactly how many different times
Dulness is brought up. Pope is obviously repeating this word on purpose to draw attention to the fact that he is
generally perturbed with the lack of knowledge and effort that others put forth when dealing with art. From this list
there be an interactive outline that offers opportunities to explore all the different proponents of Dulness, and how
those aspects relate to certain authors and then back to the overall theme of dullness. Names on this list could include,
but are not limited to: The Goddess of Madness, simply Dulness, Mother Dulness, The Cloud Compelling Queen, and
The Goddess of Chaos and Light. Under Mother Dulness, the names of all of the Dunces will be listed out with a
description of each of the Dunces. By connecting Mother Dulness to specific authors, like Cibber, it will allow the
outline users to form a connection from Mother Dulness, to Cibber and his work, and then back to the theme of
Dullness as a whole. Within this outline, there will be close readings that serve as an aid in understanding each of
Dulness roles and their relation to the overall theme.
Example #4: Close Reading
Daughter of Chaos and eternal Night;
Fate in their dotage this fair idiot gave,
Gross as her sire, and as her mother grave,
Laborious, heavy, busy, bold, and blind,
She ruld, in native Anarchy, the mind.
Still her old empire to confirm, she tries,
For born a Goddess, Dullness never dies.
These lines are taken from the Dunciad Variorum: Book I. These lines would be important because they are the lines
in which Dullness is first introduced to the readers. Dulness is first presented as the Daughter of rather bleak
parents. From the start it is apparent that Pope wants his readers to understand that this Daughter is not a positive
proponent of the society in which he is inventing. As the passage goes on, the readers get an even darker depiction of
Dulness origins. Pope relays that her father and mother were pretty grotesque creatures themselves, and what they
created in Dulness is no exception to this. The list of characteristics he implements to describe her, Laborious, heavy,
busy, bold, and blind, are not particularly positive images of the character (Pope). As Pope continues on with this
dark depiction of his leading character the last line in this loaded passage is both resounding and sentencing. Pope tells
his audience that Dulness (stupidity) has been around since the beginning of time, and it will always be this way.
Although this passage does not connect to any authors it is an important one to emphasize. This is Dulness story of
origin, if there is going to be any conversation about her on the website then these lines should be mentioned. If the
users wanted to click on these lines there will be descriptions, such as the one I have in example for, that could offer
commentary and an opportunity for others to share in the topic of Dulness and any other interpretations or insights that
they may have on this particular passage.
In the following passage there is a connection to Mother Dulness and Curl. This is where it would be interesting to
start to draw connections to The Great Mother, Cibber (Dunce), and how this relates to the overall theme of Dullness.
Users would be able to do this through interacting with the websites Outline of Dullness, which would allow for an
interactive gateway to a conversation between both Dunces and Wits.
Example #5:
This, the Great Mother, dearer held than all

The clubs of Quidnuncs, or her own Guild-hall.

Here stood her Opium, her she nurs her Owls,
And destind here th imperial seat of Fools.
Hence springs each weekly Muse, the living boast
Of Curls chaste press, and Lintots rubric post,
Hence hymning Tyburns elegiac lay,
Hence the soft sing-song on Cecilias day,
Sepulchral lyes our holy walls to grace,
And New-year Odes, and all the Grubstreet race.
In this passage Dulness transforms from the daughter of two dark forms into a renowned figure. It is under Dulness
eye that explicit works, such as Curls, are produced. Mother Dulness sits upon her throne as generation after
generation of fools continue to produce shallow forms of entertainment instead of real intellectual work. These lines
also allude to death and execution as readers see the scene unfold.
On the website users could again click on these lines to gain access to a conversation rather than simply gaining access
to a summary of what the lines mean. Again, by understanding both Daughter and Mother Dulness, users could use
this knowledge to better their understanding of dullness as a theme that Pope seems adamant to address in the poem.
This portion of the outline of this passage would go from The Great Mother, to Curl (over whom she presides), and
then back to the theme of dullness. Again, There is the outline which offers up connection to theme and character, as
well as the interactive potion below it, which allows for users to talk about this Dulness, Dunces, theme, and any other
concerns they may have regarding the work.
There is a lot to be added to this section, the design should be simple so that users do not feel overwhelmed with both
the text and commentary, this should be a resource for both Dunces and Wits. It is my hope that when reading over this
section, and participating in an engaging conversation about Dulness, that users will be able to relate the character to a
relevant author or work of the time, and then delve even deeper into an intellectual debate on Popes intention with this

theme of art and intellect in relation to the theme of Dullness.

The example above is of the proposed Outline of Dullness for the website. This outline is a way in which users can
engage with the text and draw connections to the overarching theme of Dullness. In the example above readers will
be able to form a connection from Mother Dulness, to Cibber and his work, and then back to the theme of Dullness as
a whole. Within this outline there will be close readings that serve as an aid in understanding each of Dulness roles
and their relation to the overall theme.
In the corners, Dulness is represented. In this particular example above Dulness is referred to as the Great Mother. In
the comments section readers will be able to talk about what this means to the theme of Dullness as a whole or any
questions they may have relating to this.
This is primarily an application for Dunces. Dunces will be able to look at certain passages and draw connections
between these passages from the theme of dullness, to specific historical figures, to Dulness, and then full circle back
to the theme of Dullness. Within this outline there should be information that will give the readers access to
understand Dulness and different historical figures of this time. The comments section will allow for a space of textual
engagement.
On the other hand, it is possible that this section will be an application for Wits as well. If wits wanted to use this
section to make commentary on the text provided or engage in intellectual conversation amongst other wits pertaining
to this text, they could do so. This will be helpful to both wits and dunces. Wits will be able to use this section to
engage in conversations with their peers about their thoughts and interpretations of The Dunciad, and dunces could use
information offered by the wits in order to further their experience and understand of the text.
Summary of Purpose: Why this matters?
In summation, the dunce accounts for anyone that is in a classroom environment that is in need of assistance in
understanding The Dunciad. The information in the dunce section will be helpful to teachers introducing this text for
the first time. It is our hope that this site offers access where it previously was not. With the distinction between the

dunce and the wit, we hope to create a space that offers a variety of different outlets for scholars that are experiencing
The Dunciad for the first time and for those who have many encounters with this text. By opening the text up to a wide
array of people, this will create a place to interact with the text and people experiencing this text at different levels.
The Dunciad is a relevant text, but time has made it particularly hard to understand and therefore derive meaning out
of. This website should offer access to dunces and be a tool for instructors attempting to teach The Dunciad.
The difference between the dunce and the wit is hard to define because this text is difficult to understand. The wit is
someone who regularly engages with this text and has studied it on a seemingly regular basis. They should understand
the subsequent themes of the text and be able to engage into a conversation about The Dunciad in a perceptive manner.
The Wit can offer productive and innovative insight into the text, through a messaging application available on the
website.
Benefits: Individual Portion
The outline matters because it allows for actual engagement with the text to occur in a medium that most of us are
familiar with, instant messaging. This outline has commentary at the bottom that enables the user to be interactive
with the text and with scholars of The Dunciad. If a dunce is having trouble understanding or is simply frustrated with
a certain portion of the text or the text in general, they will be able to express this here. The struggle with this text is
not something that is experienced individually. Many people, even perpetual scholars have trouble with The Dunciad.
By allowing for an instant messaging application, this may make readers feel more inclined to continue reading the
text. The may find content in the fact that others are experiencing the same struggles that they, themselves are feeling.
Besides acting as a way to talk about how the readers experience with the text, this application should also be a place
where dunces and wits can join into a conversation together about the text. Wits can act as yet another access to
information for the dunces, by answering any questions or concerns that they may about The Dunciad. In addition to
this, wits could feel free to converse openly about their thoughts on the work or their perceptions of the piece.
The web application should help the readers connect ideas about the theme of Dullness, by honing in on one portion of
the text. Users will read the excerpt and then there will be information provided on the authors or historical figures
that Pope is alluding to. This outline then continues on to include Dulness herself and then again comes back around to
the overall theme of Dullness, so that readers are able to draw overall connections and engage in conversations about
this outline of Dullnes in the instant messaging section provided below it.
Group Portion
It is our hope that this website will not turn into a replacement for the text, but rather offer access to The Dunciad.
This website should help the users along without holding their hands, like sparknotes tends to do. Although by
providing this resource there is also the dangerous possibility that this page may turn into this untended spark
page.
EXPANSION
Someday in the distant future there is the possibility of having the option to highlight the speaker, since this is
something that our class had a tremendous amount of trouble doing. Other ideas include implementing a historical
timeline to understand context that the footnotes may not provide. Also, it may be a good idea to start mapping The
Dunciad out, in order for the users to get a sense of the time and place in which the text occurs.

Digital Dunciad Movie Trailer

Meeting learning Outcomes and Enhancing User Experience for the Dunce:
1.) Present the Dunciad on a familiar Medium for Contemporary Readers:
We understand that in the age of film, the Internet, and other advanced technological forms, video is often the
most familiar outlet for storytelling. Thus, we would like to take advantage of this medium and bring The Dunciads
storyline into the 21st century.
2.) Help Dunce users understand plot
As we have stressed, this reading can be difficult, and I ask: if one cannot grasp the literal concept of what is going on
in the poem, what events are occurring, and who is involved, then how can one develop any deeper understanding of
the more figurative messages at play? For this reason, our website will feature a trailer-esque video that portrays the
sequential events of the poem.
3.) Help users understand tone and mood
Using creative cinematography work (lighting, music, camera angle, scene shifting, acting etc.) will help us portray
the tone of the play. I chose to sketch each scene separately and arrange them on Powerpoint so they can easily be
reordered. I imagine there are endless versions of trailers that could be put together for the Dunciad and in these early
stages of the production process I did not want to limit myself. With each new ordering and re-ordering, I believe a
different tone can be expressed.
Trailer Version #1: Chronological
One version would be to order things solely chronologically. This version would be for an audience of Dunces that are
struggling to understand plot. With this version we would not try to be artistic and reorder slides to gain effect or cut
certain scenes to ensure a specific mood. This version would be solely to tell the story, not express tone or mood or
hint at any of Popes greater themes.
Trailer Version #2: Humorous
The purpose of this version would be to make Popes satirical tendencies and tones forefront. A viewer watching this
trailer may think The Dunciad is a comedy. While we, of course, dont want our user walking away thinking Pope was
solely trying to make his reader laugh, it is important for our user to understand that there is a lot of purposeful humor
in this poem. A trailer devoted to the humor in the Dunciad would draw our audiences interest (everyone loves to
laugh) and bring to light Popes satirical tone (perhaps, our reader had misinterpreted tone in their first reading)
Trailer Version #3: Serious
While Pope is often being satirical, and The Dunciad is, after all, a Mock-heroic, it does bring several serious
anxieties to readers attention. Popes anxieties about the fate of good art and education is one of these major themes.
A trailer that capitalizes on the dark, damp, and mystical imagery of the poem may help develop the solemn tone that
Pope intended.
I imagine this trailer could begin with slow music and an aerial shot of London in the 1700s. The camera
would span slowly through the sky, moving through fog and an overcast sky. On the ground we see the more decrepit
areas of London, stray animals and lonely people wandering cramped alleyways, shattered windows, burnt buildings.
The camera finds one specific window where we see an unkempt, and tired looking young man resting against his
broken windowpane. An establishing shot brings us closer to him and through his window to a scene of scattered
books and crumpled papers
There is also a plethora of apocalyptic imagery throughout The Dunciad, especially in Book IV. Focusing on
these images will also help develop a serious tone. I imagine flashes of lighting could serve as the transitions from one
shot of global chaos to the next: comets crash to earth (Book IV Lines 633-634), personified truth, philosophy and
Casuistry scream, run and hide as mountains crumble around them (Book IV Lines 641-643)
Trailer Version #4: Action
There is a great deal of action packed imagery throughout the pages of The Dunciad. Using scenes that focus on these
aspects of the Poem, may help capture audience interest and highlight The Dunciads more Epic intentions. For
example, this action trailer version would focus most on Book II and Book IV. It would dramatize the competitive
tension between the poets aggressive quotes from the poem, and it would bring significant emphasis to the games of
Book II. Our main character would be painted as a hero, always appearing in a low angle shot to express authority.
Close-ups of mud-crusted grimaces as our hero perseveres through the mud race and leaves weaker competitors

sliding and skidding in the background. These scenes would also be framed by the deep booming voice of Dulness as
she commends our hero:
All hail! And hail again, My son! The promisd land expects thy reign (Book I lines 291-292)
Along with other lines that express power, might and action:
Ye Powrs! Whose Mysteries restord I sing, To whom Time bears me on his rapid wing, Suspend a while your force
inertly strong, Then take at once the Poet and the Song (Book IV Lines 5-9)
Trailer Version #5: All of the Above
As Pope successfully combined all of these various tones into his poem, I believe the trailer should do the same. This
trailer would begin with the opening scenes and tropes of the Serious Version. Lightning flashes to quick, choppy
shots of Dulness on her throne. She watches our struggling artist wallow in his room, the audience can sense the power
she exudes. It is not an aggressive power, but a nurturing, compassionate authority, like a mother.
He sets fire to his abandoned projects and whispers to himself, [I} hunger and [I] thirst for scribbling sake (Book I
Line 50) and for what? What is art? Is it even worth it? Or has it all just gone to (My own words)
The scene quickly cuts to a competitor erupting from beneath the waters of the sewage lake in Book II. He shouts
Aggghhhhhhh, feces dripping down his face. (I hope with this scene cut my viewer will hear Popes unstated
question of The Dunciad, Has art gone to sewage?. I also hope this scene cut and dramatic shift from a serious tone
to an action tone will come off as humorous. With this I hope to do justice to Popes craft of using humor, satire and
mock-epic to present what, in his eyes, is a serious subject/anxiety.
A quick digression to maintain the story line:
The trailer flashes back to Cibber in his room. Dullness brisks through with grace, speed, and determination. It
happens so fast we do not see any detail of her, it just looks as if a bird sweeps through, puts out the ablazed pile of
poems and whisks Cibber away. Perhaps the door slamming behind them, leaving us (the camera still inside the room)
alone briefly in his room, the camera focuses on the last trace of smoke and ember rising from the extinguished fire,
the room goes dark.
The scene cuts to an aerial shot of a large crowd gathering for the games, trumpets are playing, excitement is building.
(Scenes and Tropes of Action Version)
4.) Inspire interest for our Audience
Including the most exciting scenes and layering them one after another and with short cuts from one scene to the next
and with suspenseful/action music to help build an effect
Meeting learning Outcomes and Enhancing User Experience for the Wit:
6.) Demonstrate how Popes ideas about good/bad art are still applicable today
I hope that in making this trailer I am also bringing attention to how the themes of The Dunciad can apply to
contemporary society. I hope my ekphrasis as a whole will serve as an allegory for how our
The trailer can only really include quotations by Pope and sketches of scenes from my own artistic interpretation of his
words. Because it is a video, the finished product will not include any explanation for why I chose certain scenes and
left out others. I see this as a positive because it gives the audience an opportunity for further intellectual engagement.
They themselves can question why I made certain artistic choices and avoided others, and perhaps they will begin to
envision for themselves how they would have made their own version of my project.
Why I chose these Specific Scenes:
Opening Shot:
In the opening shots of my trailer I make a point never to fully reveal the image of Dulness. Only parts of her body are
shown at a time and never her face. I believe this will help build the mystery and authority surrounding her.
Additionally, the trailer begins with her, I believe this will also develop the aura of authority that surrounds her.
I wanted the opening shots to move slowly and portray a serious tone that would directly contrast the action/satirical
tone of the later scenes. I implemented what I hope will be interpreted as stereotypical tropes of the modern film
trailer---mist, clouds, soft music, grey filters over aerial shots of a city. The dramatic shift from a serious tone to a

humorous tone is also a typical trope of movie trailers. With using these movie trailer tropes I hope my audience will
see that I am mocking the conventions of the typical trailer, much like Pope did with the state of the art of his age. As
film is an art form of our age, I hope to expose it as bad art much like Pope did.
Middle:
I reread the poem several times before choosing the scenes I would draw. I chose some scenes because I felt they were
pivotal moments in the storyline (Cibber burning his work, The games of Book II, Images of apocalyptic chaos).
These scenes contained a great deal of action, and I new that including them in the trailer would draw the interest of
my audience. These scenes were also essential to the storyline and without them the audience would not see the plot
playing out.
I chose other scenes because they were reoccurring images throughout Popes poem. the owl, the wings, The Ivory
Gates; Pope uses these visions frequently in his descriptions. It is clear that these images are pivotal to his message,
they are visual representations of the words he refuses to directly state. To include these images in my project I did not
need to research their meanings and theorize Popes intentions with using them. But I am hopeful that in flashing these
images sporadically throughout the trailer (much like Pope does with his writing) it will inspire the Wit to do that
research.
Ending Shot:
*All of the apocalyptic imagery will build into an explosion into eternal darkness*
The final scene will be Cibber opening his eyes as he lay on Dulnesss lap
I hope this will portray that Cibber saw all this happening, and it may make the audience feel as if they are Cibber
(they were in his head) and seeing this movie (i.e reading the book) will allow all of this to be revealed to them as well
I use the word sequential loosely, because as I began experimenting with different versions of this trailer, I realized
that different experiences could be created depending on how I ordered my scenes. For this reason, as I began crafting
a story board for the trailer, I wanted to develop it in a way that did not limit me to one set chronology of scene
layouts. I decided to draw each scene on a separate sheet of paper along with the lines from the Dunciad that describe
it. Then the scenes can be mixed and matched and re-ordered to create new effects.
5.) Highlight Key Tropes
Why I did not Choose Other Scenes:
I would have liked to include a scene or two that emphasized the conflict and tension Pope had with his contemporary
poets. Unfortunately, Pope was so crafty with his insults, I could not find any one specific quotation that would make
sense on its own and out of the context of the rest of the poem.
I also would have liked to include a scene with the cave of Poetry and Poverty. Perhaps it can be used as one of the
images that flashes during the apocalyptic/high energy scenes of the end. However, I did not use it because I felt it
would pull away from the storyline too much, and if my ultimate goal with this was to convey plot then this would be
more of a distraction than useful.
Challenges:
How do you edit pope? How do you decide which scenes to include and which not to include? How do you decide
what quotations to use?
Draw London and characters, as they would have looked in the 1700s, or give them a contemporary look. One
maintains the integrity and authenticity of Popes time period as he intended, the other might help contemporary
readers relate to the poem and realize its contemporary relevance better.
Using Popes exact words from the poem, or rephrasing them into my own words. Maintain authenticity or paraphrase
his words so they will fit into my trailer where I want them (also may help confused reader understand Pope better)
Moving Forward:

Making the trailer

Making a Videoga

81

Conclusion:
A website offers an exciting new platform to present the Dunciad. The Digital Dunciad will be a
primary source, offering readers access to every version of the text. The site will provide
academic, scholarly sources and a wiki component on which scholars can comment and
converse. But the site will offer more than just text. It will include supplemental information to
provide context for readers, and more importantly, the site will provide analytical tools, including
multiple layering, side-by-side textual comparison, links to the Dunces referenced works, etc.
Access to digital technology enables the reader to search and find literature, along with providing
instant access to research and scholarly discussion, but this mediums potential is currently being
abused by websites offering cheap and easy interpretation to sell ad space. What begins in
intellectual possibility is, unfortunately, commercialized, closing many readers to the
possibilities of intently reading a quality text and engaging in stimulating conversation.
Alexander Popes The Dunciad confronts pop-culture and contemporary literature, and Pope
links bad art and commercialism through the mythical Queen Dulness and a glorified shitthrowing competition to honor her. Because of the poems density, poetic form, antiquated
language, and very precise allusions, however, The Dunciad is often reduced to a petty attack on
Popes contemporaries, instead of a social commentary still valid today.
Popes social, commercial, and artistic criticisms are often veiled by very specific social
references, dating all the way from Homer to Popes 18th century contemporaries. Its necessary
for any editor reproducing the Dunciad for a contemporary audience to provide context for the
reader; this is especially important for Pope, who ridicules logic thats often perfectly sound.
Tone is important to understanding satire, but Popes cadence often buries sarcasm and
sometimes even sincerity. The Digital Dunciad should help readers to at least understand what
Popes audiences would have understood pop cultural, political, medical, scientific, and 18th
century Londons geography. We must be careful, here, not to reduce Popes references to a
single meaning.
Challenges in transferring the Dunciad from a print format to a digital platform are very similar
to those editors and publishers face when printing, reformatting, and anthologizing texts. As
handlers of literature, we dont want to reduce a text down to a simple point or Walmart style
analysis offered by sites like Sparknotes and Shmoop. We do, however, want to use this new
medium to create a malleable layout and provide contextual information and existing knowledge
about the Dunciad to inform the reader as best as possible. Wed like to equip the contemporary
reader so that he or she can understand multiple layers of Popes motivations, social and pop
cultural criticisms, statements about art and poetry, and the effect of commercialism on art.
Issues in the Dunciad are playing out in our contemporary society. Rappers spew hateful rhymes
back and forth. First world citizens are oversaturated with media and pop culture dressed up as
art. Reality TV drags as much smut and taboo to the surface as possible to achieve ratings, and
sometimes they even organize games, making regular people do disgusting things for an
almighty payday. The Dunciad is all of these petty, gritty things, but at the same time, it is selfaware, possibly denouncing the very culture that would appreciate its humor. The Digital

81

Dunciad will allow readers access to multiple interpretations, irony, and discussion that will help
them unfold this difficult, rich, funny, confusing, and overall overwhelming text.
Our purpose is to provide at the very least enough information for our reader to understand the
reference, which, hopefully, will allow our reader access to multiple interpretations. These links
should include audio-visual and interactive resources and links, not just text. Pope is criticizing
the dumbed-down culture, and in some ways, the inclusion of videos, audio, art, and games as a
means to understand a complex text is what Pope despises. Our audience, however, experiences
entertainment and media different than Popes, and this poem is so rich in the classroom because
of a live, interactive, visual resource in the scholar leading discussions. Our Dunce crowds are
more likely to engage with supplemental material that is not more reading, and more reading
within a big confusing text makes an even bigger and more confusing text. The virtual platform
allows the Digital Dunciad to cater to varied learning styles, and we should take advantage of it.
Pope probably would not have been happy, but was Pope ever really happy?