In “A Defense of Poetry,” Percy Shelley maintains that human beings possess an innate drive to ____________________?
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Answer: C. Reproduce rhythm and order
Explanation
Percy Shelley argues that humans possess an innate desire to replicate rhythm and order. This fundamental drive underlies all artistic creation and poetic expression. Poetry satisfies a deep psychological need for symmetry and aesthetic harmony. Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote A Defence of Poetry in eighteen hundred and twenty-one. The essay serves as a passionate manifesto for the social utility of the imagination. Romantic thinkers viewed poets as unacknowledged legislators of the human world.
Literary criticism often explores the psychological origins of artistic creation. Romantic philosophy elevated poetry to the highest form of human knowledge. Understanding creative impulses helps explain why art remains universal across cultures. Option A is too narrow because storytelling is only one aspect of poetic expression. Option B contradicts Shelley's argument that poetry is natural and essential to humanity. Option D focuses on love, but the core psychological drive discussed is formal order.
- Subject
- English
- Category
- English Literature
- Topic
- —
- Difficulty
- medium
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