Questions

• What is the tripartite division of studies

expressed by Bacon in the essay?
• What evils of excess studies he talks about in
the essay?
• According to Bacon, a book can be divided
into how many categories?
• He ascribes certain virtues to which individual
fields of study?
 Answers
1. For pleasure, self improvement, and business
2. laziness, affectation, and precocity
3. Three categories: books to be read in part,
cursorily, with care. Studies should include
reading, which gives depth; speaking which
adds readiness of thought and writing which
trains in peciseness
4. Wisdom to history, wit to poetry, subtlety to
maths, and depth to natural philosophy
 Glossary
• privateness - not being in public; seclusion; in the modern
context it means: “secluded from the sight, presence, or
intrusion of others.”
• retiring - retirement
• plots - plans
• pronying - its modern spelling is “pruning”. It means, “To cut
off or remove dead or living parts or branches of (a plant, for
example) to improve shape or growth.”
• too much at large - too vague
• crafty men - cunning people
• without - outside
• bowling - It is a game in which players attempt to score points
by rolling a ball along a flat surface in an attempt to knock
down objects called pins.
• reins - kidneys
• cymini sectores - splitters of hair. The philosophers during the
times of Bacon were called 'splitters of hair' because they
discussed questions like, 'Why fire is hot and water is wet;
how plants and animals grow, why men act and think as they
do?'
• beat over matters - attempt the same thing again and again
• receipt: Here it means “treatment”—it is an old-fashioned
meaning.
• Today it means, “A written acknowledgment that a specified
article, sum of money, or shipment of merchandise has been
received.”
• curiously - here it means “extremely carefully” -- it is an
archaic meaning. In modern usage it means, “eagerness to
learn more.”
• flashy - tasteless
• conference - conversation
• stond - defect
• impediment - hurdle; obstacle
• rhetoric - the art or study of using language effectively and
persuasively
• abuent studia in mores- studies pass into and influence
manners
• schoolmen - scholars in the universities of the Middle Ages; a
person who is skilled in academic disputation.
 Analysis of “of Studies”
• What is the main focus of Bacon’s essay?

• Explaining to the reader the importance of

study knowledge, its practical application
towards the individual and society

• First he talks about the purposes and uses that

different individuals can have by approaching
study………. “for delight, ornament and ability”
• Then he discusses how certain professions are
better served by individuals with study
knowledge

• He mentions the virtues as well as vices of

study….. “To spend too much time in study is
sloth…”
• He discusses how Study influences our
understanding of Nature, and in opposition,
how our experience of Nature bounds our
acquired knowledge.

After that, the Author presents the concept of how

different individuals with different mental abilities
and interests in life, approach the idea of studying
–“Crafty men contemn studies…”- and offers advice
on how study should be applied: –“…but to weight
and consider”
• Then Bacon goes into expressing his ideas in
how the means to acquire study knowledge,
books, can be categorized and read according
to their content and value to the individual.

• The benefits of studying are Bacon’s final

approach. Benefits in terms of defining a
“Man” by its ability to read, write or confer,
and in terms of being the medicine for any
“impediment in the wit” and by giving
“receipts” to “every defect of the mind”
 What is “of Studies” by Francis
Bacon about?
• Written by Sir Francis, "Of Studies" is an essay written to
inform us of the benefits of studying. Studying is applying the
mind to learning and understanding a subject, especially
through reading, which is perhaps why by 'studying', Sir
Francis Bacon mostly refers to reading. In his short essay, he
strives to persuade us to study, and tells us how to study if we
are to make the best of what we read. He does this by using
many rhetorical devices and gives examples to prove his
arguments. Sir Francis Bacon attempts to prove to us that
"studies serve for delight, for ornament and for discourse" by
showing us how education is used and can be used in our
lives.
 Bacon’s Writing Style
• His writing is direct and pointed.
• Francis gets to the point in his opening sentence, "Studies
serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability." He then
elaborates on how studies are useful in these three ways.
• And he wastes no words in detailing the uses of "studies" for
Renaissance gentlemen.
• One of the attractions of Bacon's essay is his skillful use of
parallel sentence structure, as exemplified in the opening
sentence and throughout "Of Studies."
• This stylistic technique lends clarity and order to the writing,
as in "crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them,
and wise men use them," which in its straightforward
assertiveness exhibits clarity and emphasis.
• This essay of Bacon is full of balanced
sentences. Balance means equal distribution
of weight. In the essays of Bacon we find two
or more parts that are grammatically
equivalent or coordinate -- balanced against
each other. Here is one such sentence:
• “To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to
use them too much for ornament is
affectation; to make judgment wholly by their
rules is the humour of a scholar.”
• Bacon's essays have been called Aphoristic. An
aphorism is a short witty remark, which
contains a general truth or wise observation
often in a clever way.
• Sometimes aphorisms rhyme, sometimes they
have repeated words or phrases, and
sometimes they have two parts that are of the
same grammatical structure. Some examples
are given here:
Here are given two statements. Locate the sentences in the essay, which
mean the same thing as these statements:

• It is mere laziness to spend too much time in

studies. It is affectation to show off
• learning. It is only a scholar who is wholly
guided by book learning.
• b. Read not to contradict, believe, nor find
talk; but to consider.
Answer the following questions in
one sentence each:
• What are the three chief uses of studies?
• What is affectation concerning books?
• Which types of people admire books?
• Which sorts of books can be studied through extracts made by
others?
• What makes a man ready?
• What is the use of books of moral philosophy?
• Which sport is proper for curing the diseases of lungs?
• What should a person, whose mind wanders, read to cure him
of this wandering?
• Why are Schoolmen called “hair splitters?”
• What sorts of people should study the Schoolmen?
Answer the following questions in
three-four sentences each.
• Write about the rules Bacon advocates
concerning study.
• 2. How can studies cure mental deficiencies?
• 3. Discuss the value of different types of
studies?
• 4. What does Bacon mean by, “Studies pass
into and influence manners”?
 Answer the following question in
a paragraph.
• Write a summary of the essay, “Of Studies” in
your own words.
• In this essay Bacon states his depiction of education and learning. He articulated
that, “studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.” Bacon felt that some
people gain knowledge for pure delight. People, who acquire knowledge for
delight, do so because they enjoy it. For instance, those who play sports practice
and learn about their sport because they want to, not because they have to. There
are, however, some people who gain knowledge for mere ornament. These people
only want to improve themselves in the eyes of others. These are the people who
try to better themselves by bragging about their achievements and
accomplishments in conversation with others. Then there are those who
gain knowledge for ability. They want to show that they are able to do something.
They learn for themselves in their free time. Ability is widely used in the area of
business, those who are well educated rather than those who are not better run a
company. Bacon also stated that “to spend too much time in studies also is
dangerous as it can make one lazy.”
• Bacon felt that there are three types of men.
He expressed, "crafty men contemn studies,
simple men admire them, and wise men use
them. " Education can be taken to extreme by
spending excessive time studying. Wise men
are those who are educated and apply what
they have learned to their lives. Simple men
are those who are uneducated, but have a
high regard for those who are. They put down
those who gain success through education.
Education is meant to be preparation for the
• For instance, in addition to reading the book, people may
need to read notes or watch the movie. Often there will be
more to parts of the books than some people are able to
grasp. These books are read at face value and their points are
not often questioned. Bacon feels people should read to
decide which books have information that will benefit them in
their life experiences. He thought that, "reading maketh a full
man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
People mustn't trust everything they read; they ought to filter
the information through their own experiences. Information
may not always be true; people need to ask questions and
decide whether their source is reliable or not.