English 122 - Winter, 2014

Milton

Class Information

Instructor: Ferguson, Margaret
Time: TR 9:00-10:20
Location: 207 Olson

Description

In this course, we will study Milton's most famous poem, _Paradise Lost_, along with samples of his early poetry, including his collaborative venture into drama, the _Maske Performed at Ludlow Castle_ and selections from his prose works on the subjects of marriage, divorce, freedom from press censorship, and the monarchical form of government, which Milton like other participants in the English Revolution of the mid-seventeenth century passionately believed in radically reforming. He supported the execution of King Charles I on the grounds that Charles was a tyrant. We will explore Milton's unconventional representations of sexuality and love; his also unconventional theories about and practices of interpreting the Bible; his attitudes toward his classical and Renaissance precursors (especially Shakespeare), and his representation of the Garden of Eden as a vegetarian utopia that can also look, from other perspectives, like a prison or a colonial territory ripe for conquest (by Satan). Some required readings on SmartSite in addition to the handbook of rhetorical terms listed under "texts" below. If you don't own a King James Version of the bible, the most influential translation in English, you should consider buying the optional text below; it is readily available on the Web and as a phone app.

Grading

Grading: Participation in weekly discussion sections; quizzes and short writing exercises (lowest grade to be dropped); 2 papers; contributions to 4 online forums; a midterm and a final examination.

Texts

The Complete Poetry of John Milton. Ed. by John Shawcross. Revised edition, 1971.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (King James Version), (optional)
Milton's Rhetoric, "a pdf on course SmartSite, under "Resources".