Genre
A foundational essay for modern philosophical empiricism
Setting and Context
Set in the 16th century
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Informative and buoyant
Protagonist and Antagonist
Humanity is the central character in the essay.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is that the inborn ideas are already in place, forming an ultimate lucidity of Cartesian rationalism.
Climax
The climax is the protestation to the central reasoning of the reality of the unique ideas through coherent examination based on pragmatic substantiation.
Foreshadowing
The acquisition of knowledge at birth foreshadows the central symbolism in the essay.
Understatement
The systematic undoing of the code of non-experiential information by Locke is understated.
Allusions
The essay’s contents allude to empirical-based opinions against the traditions of rationalism.
Imagery
The images of human beings as animals dominate the essay. Through this imagery of sight, Locke clarifies that human beings are natural animals with advanced thinking capabilities.
Paradox
The paradox of knowledge dominates Locke’s essay. Locke argues that knowledge is not innate but acquired through human progress.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The author uses empirical evidence as a metonymy for actual proof.
Personification
Animals are incarnated as humans.
