ENGL 3835 John Milton: How to Think Big with Poetry

Milton makes us think with poetry. Paradise Lost is (arguably) the greatest epic poem ever written, in part because it invites us to consider such a vast array of topics: history, education, politics, religion, gender, and cosmology. What is the nature of God, the universe, heaven and hell, human beings and angels? For Milton, it is literature which gives us the stories and images to explore the biggest questions of all. His poetry doesn't offer packaged answers, but rather seduces, provokes, and argues us into forming our own imaginative vision. We will read a selection of the early poems and the controversial prose, all of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. Your grade will include a final research paper, a shorter midterm paper, an annotated bibliography, and a mini-lecture on a selected topic. Pre-1700