1. a. What bell is Donne referring to at the beginning of “Meditation
b. 17”? What is the connection between the tolling of this bell and “the bell that rings to a sermon,” or the “bell that tolls for our evening prayer”?
2. Donne builds up very carefully to the famous sentence: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
a. What other images does he use in the Meditation to express the idea that human beings do not exist in isolation, that everyone is part of the common humanity?
b. How is this idea related to the theme of the tolling of the bell, summarized in “ . . never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”?
3. Discuss the meaning and effectiveness of the two main metaphors:
a. Man as a chapter in a book:
b. Man as a piece of a continent:
4. At the time Donne wrote “Meditation 17,” he was recovering from a serious illness, so in one sense the selection is autobiographical. How might that fact have influenced the entire Meditation?
b. 17”? What is the connection between the tolling of this bell and “the bell that rings to a sermon,” or the “bell that tolls for our evening prayer”?
2. Donne builds up very carefully to the famous sentence: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
a. What other images does he use in the Meditation to express the idea that human beings do not exist in isolation, that everyone is part of the common humanity?
b. How is this idea related to the theme of the tolling of the bell, summarized in “ . . never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”?
3. Discuss the meaning and effectiveness of the two main metaphors:
a. Man as a chapter in a book:
b. Man as a piece of a continent:
4. At the time Donne wrote “Meditation 17,” he was recovering from a serious illness, so in one sense the selection is autobiographical. How might that fact have influenced the entire Meditation?
