English 410/610 Milton
Henry Limouze
1:00-1:50 p.m. MWF
Spring 1999
Texts:
John Milton. Selected Poems. New York: Dover, 1993. (Referred to below as SP)
John Milton. Paradise Lost: A Norton Critical Edition, ed. Scott Elledge. 2nd
ed. New York: Norton, 1993.
(Referred to as Elledge).
Course Schedule--Readings, Assignments, etc.:
3/29 Introduction to the course; Who's Milton? Whose Milton?
3/31 Milton's sonnets, SP 13-15, 61-65; Rivers, "Political & Religious Issues" in Elledge, 307-313; excerpt from "Reason of Church Government" in Elledge 356-361
4/2 Milton's sonnets continued; issues in thought, structure, versification
Business meeting 1
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4/5 Shorter poems: "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso"SP 19-28; Masson, "A Brief Life," in Elledge 313-349; Reading response 1 due
4/7 "Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity" SP 4-12
4/9 Nativity Ode, continued
Business meeting 2
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4/12 The greatest 'short' poems: "A Mask" ("Comus") and "Lycidas"SP 28-56, 56-61; Prose selections from "Of Reformation" and "Areopagitica," in Elledge 353-355, 382-391; Reading response 2 due
4/14 "Comus" and "Lycidas" continued
4/16 From "Comus" to Paradise Lost
Business meeting 3
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4/19 Paradise Lost, Book I; Reading PL; "Selections from the Bible" in Elledge 429-460; Reading response 3 due
4/21 PL, I; "Important Concepts and Topics in PL" in Elledge, 461-474
4/23 PL, I Business meeting 4
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4/26 PL, I-II; Short paper due
4/28 PL, I-II
4/30 PL, I-II Business meeting 5
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5/3 PL, III-IV; Selections from Christian Doctrine in Elledge 396-428; Reading response 4 due
5/5 PL, III-IV
5/7 PL, III-IV Business meeting 6
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5/10 PL, V-VI; Reading response 5 due
5/12 PL, V-VI
5/14 PL, V-VI Business meeting 7
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5/17 PL, VII-VIII; Reading response 6 due
5/19 PL, VII-VIII
5/21 PL, VII-VIII Business meeting 8
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5/24 PL, IX-X; Reading response 7 due
5/26 PL, IX-X
5/28 PL, IX-X Business meeting 9
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5/31 NO CLASS--MEMORIAL DAY
6/2 PL, XI-XII
6/4 PL, XI-XII; FINAL PAPER DUE
??? Paradise Lost--the first annual WSU PL reading marathon
A page from the manuscript of Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 287-310
6/9 (Wednesday) FINAL EXAMINATIONS DUE AT 3:00 P.M.
Requirements for ENG 410:
Like all 400-level literature classes, this is a writing-intensive class
in the English major. That means that students in this class must write a minimum of
4500 words total and must do significant revising and editing in preparing all or part of
their graded writing. As a result, with the exception of the 4th hour project,
every assignment in this course requires writing. There will be no multiple choice exams
or short answer quizzes.
| Seven Reading Response Pieces | 20% |
| Short paper, a 2-3 pp. revision/expansion of one of the reading response pieces | 20% |
| Longer paper, a 5-6 pp. revision/expansion of one of the reading response pieces
or of the short paper |
25% |
| Take-home final essay exam | 20% |
| Leadership and participation in 4th-hour project: the PL Reading Marathon | 15% |
Requirements for ENG 610:
Same as for 410, except that the first paper should be 4-5 pages and the second longer paper should be 7-10 pages. It should incorporate significant reading in the critical literature on Milton.
Reading Response Assignments
Each Monday of weeks 2-4 and 6-9, every student must hand in one reading response piece. Each piece should be no more than about a page (200-350 words). Each should be focused on an aspect of the reading for that week or from the week immediately preceding. Select your topics from those suggested below (select only one topic per week from among those given). They will not be graded individually, although I will read and comment on them: if you take the assignment seriously and use the reading pieces to grapple with issues in the reading, you will receive full credit for each one. (I will give no credit to missing assignments and partial credit or no credit to those which do not seriously deal with the question.)
The suggested topics below become more challenging and specific over time. The last assignment leaves the topic up to you. If you would like to write on another topic for one of the earlier assignments, please talk to me. I am open to any thoughtful, promising topic.
These pieces may be handwritten, although I would vastly prefer that you prepare them using a word-processor and a good printer. Use parenthetical references for all citations. Cite Milton's poems by giving the title (the book number, if appropriate) and the line number(s) (e.g. PL, I, 227-229). Or if you are citing a poem from Selected Poems give the title and page number (e.g. "Lycidas," 60).
One of these pieces should be revised and expanded to form the first graded (short) paper, due April 26. The longer final paper, due June 4, should also be a revision/expansion of one of these pieces, or of the short paper. See "Papers" below.
Here are the topics for each week:
Monday 4/5 In "L'Allegro" ("the happy [one]") and "Il Penseroso" ("the serious or thoughtful [one]") Milton presents contrasting views of the world. Which is the more convincing to you, and why?
Some see a common theme or cluster of themes shared by Milton's sonnets. In the sonnets you have read, do you see common thematic concerns? If so, what are they?
If you are familiar with some Shakespeare sonnets, compare Milton's treatment of the sonnet form with Shakespeare's.
Monday 4/12 Comment on the final lines of the "Nativity Ode." Why do you think Milton chooses to end with this particular image?
"Comus" is a type of drama known as a "masque." How does it differ from conventional drama you may have read before (Shakespeare, for example)?
Look up "masque" or "Jacobean masque" in a literary reference book. If possible, take a look at one of Ben Jonson's masques (for example, "Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue"). How does "Comus" seem to differ from the typical form described in reference books and/or illustrated by Jonson?
Monday 4/19 Both "Comus" and PL Book I present striking portraits of evil yet interesting characters, Comus and Satan. How do they seem similar?
How do Milton's portraits of Comus and Satan differ?
Discuss in detail the meaning of one of Milton's "epic similes" or striking paradoxical phrases in PL Book I. (Example of simile: the comparison of Satan with a whale [200-208]; example of paradox: "darkness visible" [63])
Monday 4/26 Short paper due (revision and expansion of one of your first four response assignments)
Monday 5/3 How does Satan's soliloquy at the beginning of Book IV contribute to your impression of his character? Is this is the same Satan we've seen in Books I-III? How does he differ?
What is your impression of God when we finally see Him in Book III? Defend your view with specific citations.
Look closely at the first description of Adam and Eve in Book IV (288-311). How does Milton differentiate them? How do you feel about this passage?
Monday 5/10 Book V--an Angel comes to visit human beings and they talk about . . . digestion (404-505)! Why? What's the point?
Raphael begins by telling Adam and Eve about the first moment of time (that we ever hear about). What happens then? And what happens in reaction to it?
At the end of Book VI, Milton describes the fall from heaven of the rebel angels, an event also described at the beginning of Book I. How do the descriptions differ?
Monday 5/17 Discuss how Milton describes one particular aspect of creation in Book VII.
When Adam asks Raphael about the structure of the universe, how is he answered (VIII, 66-178)? Why?
Many critics feel that certain episodes in Book VIII foreshadow the fall. Find one episode or passage you think does this, and discuss how.
Monday 5/24 Discuss a passage in Books IX-XII--your choice.
Papers
There are two formal graded papers required for this course, a short paper (2-3 pages) due April 26, and a longer paper (5-6 pp.) due June 4. Both papers must be typed or word-processed. Whatever production format you choose should produce clear, readable copy (with typewriters and dot-matrix printers, make sure you have a new ribbon). Both must be printed on one side of 8½ by 11" white paper. Both must be carefully proofread and edited to remove grammatical and mechanical errors. Both must follow standard MLA format: double spacing throughout, one-inch margins on all sides, parenthetical references rather than footnotes, and so on. If you are unfamiliar with any aspect of the MLA format, you should purchase a copy of the latest MLA Guide, copies of which are available at the WSU Bookstore or at any large bookstore.
The first paper should be a revision and/or expansion of one of your first three reading response pieces. Typically I would encourage you to choose either your best piece for revision or the piece you are most interested in. If you have any questions about what you might do in revising your piece, please see me.
The second longer paper should also be an expansion and revision of an earlier piece of writing. In this case you may choose to revise and build on your first paper. Or you may decide to revise and expand one of your four later reading response pieces. In addition, the longer paper should incorporate some reading of the relevant critical literature on Milton.
Final Examination
I will hand out questions for a take-home final exam during the ninth or tenth week of class. All exams will be due on Wednesday, June 9 at 3:00 p.m.
Fourth Hour Project
All classes in the university which count for four hours of credit but which do not meet for four hours per week must make up the difference with an "innovative fourth hour," commonly known as a fourth-hour project. Many times such projects are an extra paper or an additional reading assignment. Ours will be somewhat different. We as a class will plan, advertise, sponsor, and lead the university's first public reading-aloud of Milton's Paradise Lost.
Yes, the whole thing. It is around 10,000 lines long, and takes between 8 and 10 hours to read aloud. (It's been done before, at a lot of schools.)
The class will first decide on the date and the general format for the reading during a short discussion on the first day of class. Then the class will subdivide into committees. Part of each Friday will be reserved for a "Business Meeting," either a time for the committees to meet or a time for the committees to report back to the class. Here are the committees we will need:
Everyone will have something to do. Those who take their responsibilities seriously will get full credit for this component; those who do not won't.
Other factors affecting grade
Although I have not specifically listed "Attendance" or "Participation" among the requirements for this course, they are both implied in several of the other requirements and attendance can count in a negative way. This MWF class meets only 29 times during this quarter. Thus, if you miss only three classes, you miss more than 10% of the course, including (probably) a business meeting. In any discussion class, your fellow students miss something when you are not there. In a class working on a special project, absence causes even more problems. Therefore, I will enforce the following policy on attendance:
One to three absences . . . . . . . . . . . .No penalty
Four to six absences . . . . . . . . . . . . . Final grade drops one letter grade
Seven or more absences . . . . . . . . . . F for course
Note that attendance means "attendance for the whole class." If you arrive or leave during class you disrupt it, and you will be marked absent.
Other policies
Late work will be accepted, but one point will be deducted from the grade for the work for each weekday it is late, up to a maximum of ten points. There will be no exceptions to this.
Academic honesty is likewise essential to the fair and successful conduct of class, and dishonesty will be punished. Dishonesty includes various kinds of cheating, "plagiarism" (defined as the use of the words or ideas of another as if they were your own), and the submission of a single assignment for credit in two classes without permission of both instructors. Penalties for academic dishonesty can be severe; in most cases the work will receive a grade of zero. To avoid plagiarism, be sure to document all uses of the words or ideas of another writer. If you are not sure about the status of what you are doing, ask.
INSTRUCTOR: Henry Limouze
Email hlimouze@wright.edu
Office: 438 Millett
Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 12-1
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-4 and by appointment
Phone 775-2093 (my desk); 775-3136 (office)
This syllabus will be on the web. The URL is http://hypatia.wright.edu/dept/eng/hl410s99.htm