English 305: Milton
Fall 2004

Dr. Rosemary A. Allen
Office: Pawling Hall 115 or
Provost’s Office, Giddings Hall
Phone: 8131 (English) or 7995 (Provost’s Office)
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 3-4 and by appointment  (call 8146 for appointments)

Course Description (as printed in the Catalog):  “Critical study of Milton’s major and minor works to estimate his present day literary and political significance.  Prerequisite:  ENG 211 or 213.”

Course Objectives:  By the end of this course, I want you to have an in-depth knowledge of all of Milton’s major poems and selected prose works.  You should be able to demonstrate your understanding of the significance of Milton’s connection to his age, and you should be able to demonstrate that you understand Milton’s contributions to our views of literature, religion and politics.

Textbooks:  Roy Flannagan,  The Riverside Milton.

Course requirements:  You will write two papers (one on a topic of your choice, another on a topic assigned by me), take three tests, and keep a reading journal.  I will also expect you to participate actively in class discussion.

Papers:  You will have two papers, one worth 15% and the other worth 20% of your grade.  The first paper will be on an assigned topic that will involve integrating your reading of a work of criticism with a reading of one of Milton’s short poems.  The second paper will be on a topic of your choice.

• Assigned Topic paper: In order to develop your skill in reading Milton’s verse (and your skill in writing analytical papers using source material), I will assign you a paper on Milton’s short poems, “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso.” Draft conferences on the paper will begin September 20; it is due on September 29.
• Free choice topic:  You may write on any aspect of Milton’s poetry or prose, as long as I approve the topic in advance.  You must come talk to me about your paper topic by November 12 and you must hand in the paper by December 10. I will schedule draft conferences with each of you before the paper is due.

Draft conferences:  You will bring two copies of your paper to your draft conference. You will read the paper aloud to me, and we will go over it as you read it.  Because these conferences require a lot of time and there are 19 people in this class, you MUST have a complete draft for your conference, and I cannot allow you to reschedule conferences unless there are genuinely extraordinary circumstances.  There will be significant grade penalties if you come to your draft conference unprepared.

Reading  journal:  This is an informal journal; I will not read and grade the entire journal, but I will evaluate the journal as a whole at the end of the semester and give you extra credit (potentially up to a full grade’s worth).  I simply want you to write reading notes for the material assigned each class period.  Don't just summarize the material; try to react to it in some critical manner or talk about some idea that the reading provoked; most importantly, write down questions that you want our class discussion to answer. Ideally, you should take parallel notes in class so that you can compare your own responses to the conclusions we reach in class.

Evaluation:

15%     Assigned paper
20%     Free choice paper
15%     First exam (early poems and prose)
20%     Second exam (Paradise Lost)
15%     Third exam (Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, comprehensive question)
15%     Class participation, journal, quizzes

All grades are out of 100; 90-100 is an A; 80-89.99 is a B; 70-79.99 is a C; 60-69.99 is a D; 59.99 or lower is an F.

Schedule of Assignments

Bibliography