Friday, March 12, 2010

Paradise Lost Prompts

I hope you are enjoying Paradise Lost. It takes a while to get used to Milton's language and his rhythms, but the investment is worth it.

1. After reading Satan's argument in lines 249-270, what do you make of it? Our instinct may be to dismiss his argument because he is Satan (the fact that he has been cast out of heaven into a like of fire seems to suggest that he wasn't on the right side of things). But don't some of his arguments make sense? Or at least could one make the argument that he makes a pretty good case for himself? What do you think?

2. How does Milton's portrayal of Satan compare to the Beowulf poet's heroic depiction of Beowulf? Can you make any comparisons between the two epics? Can Satan be considered a heroic figure? Use examples from both poems in your response.

3. If you don't like either of those prompts, you can respond in another way. In fact, please consider this a standing invitation to ignore my prompts and write about something else. Every time I have left the responses open, I have been very pleased with what you have written. Maybe that should teach me something about my own prompts!

See you on Tuesday.

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