ENG 313: Milton
Fall 2002
Dr. Lisa Berglund
Office: Ketchum 322; mailbox in KH 326; ext. 4049
Electronic
addresses: berglul@bscmail.buffalostate.edu;
www.lisaberglund.com
Office Hours: MWF 12:00-1:50 p.m.; Tuesdays by appointment. The best way to reach me is via email. I will respond immediately to email received during office hours and within 48 hours to other messages.
Course Objective: Attempting to become Milton's "fit audience," we will devote the semester to a rigorous reading of Paradise Lost. The course will begin to place Milton's poem and his politics in the context of both seventeenth and twenty-first century ethics, theology, aesthetics and morality.
Text: The
Riverside Milton, ed. Roy Flannagan. You must use this edition; other
editions do not have the same spelling and punctuation, and our reading
assignments will rely heavily on Flannagan's notes and bibliography.
You
will need a King James translation of the Bible. I recommend the version published by Thomas Nelson; it's
inexpensive and attractive and available at many Christian bookstores. You also may access the King James Bible
online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html.
Course Requirements: Three essays, one 750-1250 words (15%), one 1,000-1,250 words (15%),
and one 2,000-2,500 words (30%); three short paraphrases of passages from Paradise
Lost (grades averaged; 15%), participation in class discussion (20%); and a
brief presentation of your final paper to the class (5%). Material from the
second paper and the paraphrases may be incorporated into the longest essay.
You must complete all work assigned in order to pass.
Papers
must follow format guidelines that I will
distribute in class. Grades will be
based on the clarity of your thesis, the focus and persuasiveness of your
evidence, the accuracy of your interpretation of quotations, and your adherence
to rules of grammar, mechanics and documentation. You may hand in a partial or complete draft of any paper in advance
for my comments. I prefer to receive
such papers via email as a Word attachment; I will email my comments to you
within 48 hours. My comments generally
address the thesis, evidence and organization; I usually do not correct
grammatical, typographical or mechanical errors on drafts. However, you are responsible for correcting
any such errors before handing in a final version of the essay. Late papers
will be marked down 1/3 of a grade.
When
you are assigned a study question to answer during class discussion, prepare
3-5 minutes of organized comments. Use
the questions to guide your reading; all members of the class should
participate in discussion of all questions.
Depending on the size of the class, each student will be assigned 3 or 4
study questions over the course of the semester. You will receive a grade on
your answer to each question, which will be averaged together with your grade
for ad hoc contributions to discussion.
If you
miss class or are unprepared to answer when you are assigned a study question,
you will earn a "0." If you
miss more than one assigned question, your participation grade for the semester
will be "0." If you are
unable to be in class for your study question, and inform me in advance, we
can work out an arrangement so that you will not be penalized.
On
days you are not assigned a study question, attendance is not required, but
frequent absences will negatively affect your class participation grade. The
syllabus, paper format instructions and other assignments are available at my
website. Study questions will be
emailed to you.
Classroom
protocols: 1) Turn off all cell phones before entering the classroom. 2) Do not
leave the room during class except in an emergency. 3) Always bring the anthology with you to class.
If you
have or may have a disability that requires accommodation to fulfill the
requirements of the class, contact the Office of Special Services for Students
with Disabilities, at 878-4450.
Essential
reading:
1)
Finish
reading Paradise Lost by 23 October.
Your second and third papers require knowledge of the entire poem and
you will need to begin working on these papers before our discussion reaches
the later books.
2)
If
you are not familiar with the King James Bible, read the following books as
soon as possible: Genesis, Isaiah, Matthew, Luke, 1 Corinthians and
Revelation. I will assign specific
passages from these and other books to read in conjunction with Paradise
Lost and the prose works. You also
will find that the footnotes direct you to particular Biblical passages.
3)
If
you have not studied Greek and Roman mythology and poetry, read a summary of
famous myths. Prose versions written
for children are often quite good, though they may omit or sanitize the sex.
Monday,
26 August Introduction
Wednesday,
28 August "On the Morning
of Christ's Nativity"
Monday,
2 September Labor Day, no
class
Wednesday,
4 September "On the Morning
of Christ's Nativity"
Monday,
9 September "Lycidas"
Wednesday,
11 September "Lycidas"
Monday,
16 September paraphrase assignment with one or two
sonnets
Wednesday,
18September The Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce
Monday,
23 September Areopagitica;
first paper (close reading of
short poem) due
Wednesday,
25 September Areopagitica
Monday,
30 September "On Paradise Lost" (Marvell's poem); Paradise
Lost, Book 1
Wednesday,
2 October Paradise Lost, Book
1
Monday,
7 October Paradise
Lost, Books 1-2; first paraphrase due
Wednesday,
9 October Paradise Lost, Book
2
Monday,
14 October Columbus Day, no
class
Wednesday,
16 October Paradise Lost, Book
3
Monday,
21 October Paradise
Lost, Book 4
Wednesday,
23 October Paradise Lost, Book
4; second paraphrase due. By
this date, finish reading the poem.
Monday,
28 October Paradise
Lost, Book 5
Wednesday,
30 October Paradise Lost, Books 6-7
Monday,
4 November Paradise Lost, Book 8; long essay topic and thesis proposal due
Wednesday,
6 November Paradise Lost, Book 8
Monday,
11 November Veteran's Day, no class
Wednesday,
17 November Paradise Lost, Book 9; criticism
review due
Monday,
18 November Paradise Lost, Book 9
Wednesday,
20 November Paradise Lost, Book
9; third paraphrase due
Monday,
25 November Paradise Lost, Book
10
Wednesday,
27 November Thanksgiving Recess, no
class
Monday,
2 December Paradise Lost,
Book 10
Wednesday,
1 May Paradise Lost, Books
11-12
Monday,
9 December CEP: Final paper due – prepare to speak for five minutes
3:40-5:30
p.m.