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|
45971
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Lecture-Discussion
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1G
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11:00AM
-12:15PM
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TR
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108 English Building
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Perry, C
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- Part of Term:
- 1
- Date Range:
- 01/14/13-05/01/13
- Credit:
- 4 hours
- Section Info:
- This course examines the life and work of the hugely influential and inarguably great poet John Milton (1608-1674). That is more complicated than it sounds, though, since in addition to the grand poems for which he is chiefly remembered, Milton wrote a wide variety of kinds of poetry and prose and was an active and engaged participant in an enormously turbulent stretch of British history. In addition to being a poet, he was at different times known to his contemporaries as a brilliant polemicist with an international audience, a government spokesman, a controversial religious thinker, a licentious divorcer, a heretic, and an old, blind outcast. And Milton himself saw life and poetry as inextricably interconnected, as is suggested by this remarkable assertion: ?he who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter in laudable things, ought himself to be a true poem, that is, a composition and pattern of the best and honourablest things; not presuming to sing high praises of heroic men or famous cities unless he have in himself the experience and practice of all that which is praiseworthy? (An Apology for Smectymnuus, 1642). It is the premise of this class, therefore, that understanding Milton?s writing requires attention to history and biography?to the controversies and contexts to which it responds and in which it took shape. We will spend approximately half the semester delving into the three late, major works of poetry that are the basis of Milton?s towering canonical status: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes. We will also read selections from his earlier poetry and from the polemical writings that were his main focus during the civil war and interregnum period in Britain. Only reliable, inexpensive editions of the primary texts will be required for purchase, though some modern biographical and/or critical writings may also be assigned in order to help bring out crucial interpretive questions. Classes will be conducted as a loose combination of lecture and discussion, as the material demands, and students can expect to be assessed on 2 short(ish) paper assignments, a midterm and a final exam, and some kind of regular in-class writing prompts designed to encourage thoughtful and consistent engagement with the primary texts in between class sessions. Milton, in all of his writings, grapples with a set of questions?about liberty, equality, patriotism, duty, marriage, gender, learning, faith, writing, aesthetics, citizenship, ethics etc.?that are powerfully interrelated for him and that are still of urgent concern in numerous ways today. Students who read his writing with care can expect to be challenged, enlightened, angered, and delighted by turns. Who could ask for anything more?
- Restriction(s):
-
Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
|
|
|
45972
|
Lecture-Discussion
|
1U
|
11:00AM
-12:15PM
|
TR
|
108 English Building
|
Perry, C
|
- Part of Term:
- 1
- Date Range:
- 01/14/13-05/01/13
- Credit:
- 3 hours
- Section Info:
- This course examines the life and work of the hugely influential and inarguably great poet John Milton (1608-1674). That is more complicated than it sounds, though, since in addition to the grand poems for which he is chiefly remembered, Milton wrote a wide variety of kinds of poetry and prose and was an active and engaged participant in an enormously turbulent stretch of British history. In addition to being a poet, he was at different times known to his contemporaries as a brilliant polemicist with an international audience, a government spokesman, a controversial religious thinker, a licentious divorcer, a heretic, and an old, blind outcast. And Milton himself saw life and poetry as inextricably interconnected, as is suggested by this remarkable assertion: ?he who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter in laudable things, ought himself to be a true poem, that is, a composition and pattern of the best and honourablest things; not presuming to sing high praises of heroic men or famous cities unless he have in himself the experience and practice of all that which is praiseworthy? (An Apology for Smectymnuus, 1642). It is the premise of this class, therefore, that understanding Milton?s writing requires attention to history and biography?to the controversies and contexts to which it responds and in which it took shape. We will spend approximately half the semester delving into the three late, major works of poetry that are the basis of Milton?s towering canonical status: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes. We will also read selections from his earlier poetry and from the polemical writings that were his main focus during the civil war and interregnum period in Britain. Only reliable, inexpensive editions of the primary texts will be required for purchase, though some modern biographical and/or critical writings may also be assigned in order to help bring out crucial interpretive questions. Classes will be conducted as a loose combination of lecture and discussion, as the material demands, and students can expect to be assessed on 2 short(ish) paper assignments, a midterm and a final exam, and some kind of regular in-class writing prompts designed to encourage thoughtful and consistent engagement with the primary texts in between class sessions. Milton, in all of his writings, grapples with a set of questions?about liberty, equality, patriotism, duty, marriage, gender, learning, faith, writing, aesthetics, citizenship, ethics etc.?that are powerfully interrelated for him and that are still of urgent concern in numerous ways today. Students who read his writing with care can expect to be challenged, enlightened, angered, and delighted by turns. Who could ask for anything more?
- Restriction(s):
-
Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
|