ENGL 306 - Milton

Institution:

University of Richmond

Subject:

Description:

Detailed study of the life and work of John Milton, with attention to cultural, political, and intellectual backgrounds. Selected major and minor poems and prose with emphasis on "Paradise Lost." Prerequisite(s): English 297 or 298 with a grade of C or better. Unit(s): 1 Additional Information: This is a course on the life and work of John Milton. Students read a selection of the "minor" poems, a few Latin ones in translation, Paradise Lost, and Samson Agonistes, as well as selections from some of the major prose works, including Areopagitica. In this course we pay close attention to the ways in which Milton conceived of and then reconceived of himself as an author (as a scholar, a polemicist, and a poet) in response to the sometimes rapidly changing personal and historical circumstances that he confronted in his life. We pay particular attention to the literary and intellectual backgrounds of his work as we examine the ways in which he absorbed and rethought, resisted and rewrote what he understood to be his cultural inheritance, and how he did so in accordance with a set of often highly idiosyncratic religious and political views. Because his achievement ultimately rests on his technical mastery of the craft of writing, we also pay a good deal of attention to the structure of his verse and of his pamphlets. Above all, our task is to establish a flexible, open-ended (and open-minded) relationship with this writer, whose work invites us to do so despite the "vast interrupt" that separates us from the time and place in which he wrote.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.richmond.edu

Phone Number:

(804) 289-8000

Regional Accreditation:

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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