Paradise Lost Syllabus

English II Linder

Syllabus: John Milton’s Paradise Lost

Wed 10/15 PSAT—no English class

Thu 10/16 William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18, Sonnet 130, and Sonnet 138 (Packet 34). Vocab: reek (find the most neutral—i.e. not negative— meaning your dictionary offers), belie. What claim do the last two lines of Sonnet 18 make? Do these three poems present compatible views of love, or do they contradict one another?

Fri 10/17 Book talks and independent reading.

Mon 10/20 Edna St. Vincent Millay, “I, Being Born a Woman,” “Love Is Not Blind,” “I Shall Forget You Presently, My Dear,” and “I Think I Should Have Loved You Presently” (Photocopies distributed in class). Vocab: propinquity, entreat, contrive, reticence. Consider these sonnets in comparison to Shakespeare’s. Are there similarities, differences, or both? Do the Millaysonnets seem more “modern”? If so, how? How do they compare to the carpe diem poems (Marvell, Herrick) we read a few weeks ago?
Sonnet assigned in class

Tue 10/21 Read Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord,” and Peter Meineke, “The Poet, Trying to Surprise His God” (Packet 36). Vocab: sot, eunuch. Characterize each speaker’s tone and attitude toward the figure of “God.” Do they seem to be addressing the same God?

Wed 10/22 Introduction to John Milton and Paradise Lost. For every reading assignment in Milton: Mark spoken lines with quotation marks; mark simple subject(s) and verb(s) in each sentence (circle subject and double-underline verb)
Peer-edit workshop sonnet

Thu 10/23 Read Book I (1-191; incl. “The Verse” and “The Argument”) vocab: invoke (13), confound (53), obdurate (58), suppliant (112), impetuous (175). How does Milton describe his intentions in the invocation (ll. 1-26)? Look closely at Milton’s descriptions of Satan; underline all significant descriptive phrases, and look up any unfamiliar words.

Fri 10/24 Book talks and independent reading.
Sonnet due in class

Mon 10/27 Book I (615-end)—Satan addresses the other fallen angels: vocab: repute (639), guile (646), impious (686), zenith (745), jocund (787) How does Satan describe the rebellion in heaven? What does he propose they do now? What is Satan’s main complaint against God? Underline significant descriptive phrases and look up any unfamiliar words.

Tue 10/28 Book II (Argument), Book III (Argument, 1-55), Book IV (Argument, 1-113, 358-92) vocab: suffusion (III.26), tumultuous (IV.16), vain (IV.87), innocence (IV.388). How does Milton describe sight, vision, and poetic inspiration in the invocation to Book III? How does Satan react upon first seeing Eden? How does he justify his destructive intentions? How does Satan describe Adam and Eve? Underline all significant descriptive phrases and look up any unfamiliar words.

Wed 10/29 Book IV (689-775), Books V-VIII (Arguments), Book IX (Argument, 1-191) vocab: ween (IV.741), venial (IX.5), harbinger (13), imp (89), bane (123), redound (128) In what form does Satan choose to enter the Garden and why does he choose this? How does Satan describe himself and his predicament as he contemplates God’s creation? Underline all significant descriptive phrases and look up any unfamiliar words.
Choral readings assigned.

Thu 10/30 Book IX (192-384) vocab: ply (201), affront (328). Why does Eve insist that she be allowed to work alone? What arguments does she use to support her claim? Why does Adam object? What counterarguments does he use? Why does he finally submit? Look closely at Adam’s descriptions of Eve and Eve’s descriptions of Adam. Underline all significant descriptive phrases and look up any unfamiliar words.

Fri 11/2 Book talks and independent reading.

Mon 11/3 Book IX (385-493) vocab: rancour (409), sapient (442), pent (445). Why is Satan so pleased to see Eve working alone? What effect does the sight of her have on him? What do you make of his reaction?

Tues 11/4 Book IX (494-779)—In-class group reading/no reading assigment, but look up vocabulary before class. vocab: organic (530), insatiate (535), demur (558), capacious (603), credulous (644), elocution (748).

Wed 11/5 Book IX (780-1066) vocab: ignorance (809; cf. innocence [1054]), distemper (887), fondly (999) How does Milton depict the immediate effects of the forbidden fruit on Eve? How does Adam react to her? How does she persuade him to eat it too?

Thurs 11/6 Book IX (1067-end), Book X-XII (Arguments) vocab: concupiscence (1078), impute (1145), facile (1158). What further effects of the forbidden fruit are evident here? How do Adam and Eve talk to each other, compared to earlier examples of their conversation?

Fri 11/7 Book talks and independent reading.

Mon 11/10 No school—parent-teacher conferences

Tue 11/11 Wrap up discussion of Paradise Lost. Prepare for choral readings.

Wed 11/12 Choral readings of Paradise Lost

Thu 11/13 Explication essay assigned in class. Class will meet in computer labs TBA

Fri 11/14 Book talks and independent reading

Vocabulary Pictures

Check out the wiki for some excellent vocabulary pictures that will help you review for your exam! Here are a couple of my favorites...



inconstant--adj: changeable, fickle, variable. Not constant.


affront--n. a show of disrespect

foreboding--n. a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, et cetera.









Thanks to Lisa, Serena and Fiona for getting the ball rolling!

Letter of Introduction: Your Field Observers

Hi! My name is Meghan Williams and I’m a senior in English and Secondary Education at U of I. I’m an Air Force brat and have lived in a lot of different places because of that, but my family currently lives in Gurnee, IL. I’ve wanted to be an English teacher for most of my life and I’m really excited to be almost done with school and get started in my own classroom. I love reading all types of books but I really love British Literature. The Harry Potter series and anything by Jane Austen are probably my favorites. I have quite a bit of teaching experience both in conjunction with the teaching program here on campus but also on my own. I’ve tutored privately for some time and I volunteered in schools for several years. I was in Mahomet-Seymour Junior High and Urbana High School the last two semesters so I’m excited to experience something new here at University High School.

Hey there! My name is Allison Clark and I’m also a senior in English and Secondary Education at U of I. Ironically, Meghan and I both live in Gurnee, although I’ve lived there my entire life. The greatest skill I’ve learned from my degree and from my University courses has been how to write about literature, which is a skill I began to learn in high school. As a soon-to-be English teacher, I find it interesting that students think of writing as a generally subjective process, but I want students to see their writing as meaningful and significant to an audience other than the teacher. I love reading contemporary short stories and 21st Century fiction, like my favorite author Flannery O’Connor, but I also have a weakness for Harry Potter or anything considered a memoir. I have heard so many wonderful things about your school and I’m so excited to experience it for myself!

English II Goes All 21st Century Literacies

There are several new technologies kicking in English II. If you haven't been participating in the discussions going on in the Sophomore English forum, you are missing out on some very interesting conversations about race and beauty in Midsummer Night's Dream and other Shakespearian plays. If you are a student in English II, you will need to log in to Uni Forums before you will be able to see the Sophomore English forum. Uni Forums are here.

I've been working on a Sophomore English wiki which will be debuting in class tomorrow. I am going to ask you to publish your revised book reviews (the files you emailed me) on the wiki. The anchor page for book reviews already exists, once you create an account on wikispaces, you will be able to add a link to your book review on the anchor page. I would like to keep the anchor page arranged by book titles that link to a new page with the book review on it.

I've also created a page called Vocabulary Pictures that I'm hoping will help you to study for your first quarter exam. To assist in learning vocabulary for their final exam, the class of 2010 created visual tableaus of their vocabulary words. The picture at the top of this entry is the tableau for prodigious (adj. Impressively great in size, force, or extent; enormous). As you prepare for your first quarter exam, I would encourage you to create your own visual tableaus for the vocabulary and post your pictures on corresponding pages on the wiki. I will feature the best tableaus here on the blog. Be sure that you caption your photos with the word, part of speech and definition in context. Thanks to Sinda, Gabe, Loic and Stephanie for their creative idea--last year's English II students got the highest vocab grades on their finals EVER!

Feel free to create your wikispaces account now and explore the Sophomore English wiki. I will be demonstrating how to create an account and post images and text in class tomorrow.

Oedipus Rex-Midsummer Night's Dream Exam Review

Your quarterly exam over Oedipus Rex-Midsummer Night's Dream is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14. We will have review time in class on Thursday, October 9. I will talk through the format of the exam and the kind of answers I will be looking for next week in class (in particular I will explain my expectations for the quotation identification section). If you would like to get a jump start on reviewing for the exam, here is your review sheet. The terms, vocabulary, passages, and essay questions on the review sheet are all fair game. Only some of them will appear on the exam and in the quotation identification section you will have some choice of which questions you answer.

From Oedipus Rex:

Vocabulary:
carrion, parry, incarnate, foreboding, affront, bane

Terms:
-Tragedy
-Tragic flaw (or “fatal” flaw)
-Dramatic irony
-Greek chorus


Passages/Quotations:
• Page 8 – “Then once more must I bring what is dark to light … I act for the murdered king in my own interest”
• Page 12 – “Listen to me. You mock my blindness … Will bring you to yourself among your children”
• Page 16 – “Set your mind at rest … His son, born of his flesh and mine!”
• Page 20 – “Why should anyone in this world be afraid … No reasonable man is troubled by such things”
• Page 21 – “Let it come! … How could I not be glad to know my birth?”

Poetry:
Be able to identify and briefly discuss the following poems:

-Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”
-Raleigh, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”
-Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”
-Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”

Vocabulary: transpire, wanton

Terms: carpe diem poetry, pastoral

From A Midsummer Night’s Dream


Vocabulary:
extenuate feigning
yoke filch
dote flout
inconstant dissemble
beguile enmity
progeny surfeit
fawn (v.) enamored

Terms:
Blank Verse
Stock characters
Subtext
Malapropism

Passages/Quotations:
1.1.61-66: “I know not by what power I am made bold… The worst that may befall me in this
case,/ If I refuse to wed Demetrius.”
1.2.68-71: “Let me play the lion too…. Let him roar again’”
2.1.66-75: “Then I must be thy lady. But I know/ When thou hast stolen away… and you come
to bring their bed joy and prosperity.”
2.1.125-42: “Set your heart at rest./ The fairyland buys not the child of me…. And for her sake
I will not part with him.”
2.1.165-74: “A certain aim he took…. And maidens call it ‘love-in-idleness.’”
2.2.62-66: “But, gentle friend, for love and modesty… and good night, sweet friend.”
2.2.122-23: “The will of man is by his reason swayed,/ And reason says you are the worthier
maid.”
2.2.144-49: “For as a surfeit of the sweetest things/ The deepest loathing… So thou, my surfeit
and my heresy,/ Of all be hated, but the most of me!”
3.1.145-48: “…to say the truth, reason and love keep little company nowadays. The more the
pity that some honest neighbors will not make them friends. Nay, I can gleek upon
occasion.”
3.2.241-45: “Ay, do … This sport, well carried, shall be chronicled.”
3.2.490-93: “Jack shall have Jill… all will be well.”
4.1.171-75: “…I wot not by what power--/ But some power it is… an idle gaud/ Which in my
childhood I did dote upon.”
4.1.220-26: “the eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen… what my dream
was… It shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream,’ because it hath no bottom.”
5.1.7-11: “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet … sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.”
5.1.155-56: “Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade,/ He bravely broached his boiling
bloody breast.”
5.1.224-25: “The best in this kind are but shadows, and/ the worst are no worse, if imagination
amend them.”

Essay questions:

1. Evaluate the happy ending of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Puck reassures us that “Jack shall have Jill;/ Naught shall go ill” (3.2.490-491). Is this indeed the case? Do you find the triple-wedding resolution of the farcical events of this play believable? Consider especially the role that the forest plays in the transformation of characters and the role of the magical herbs in making the various loves requited. What does this play seem to say about love, and/or about perception and its relation to reality? Is this reassuring or troubling?

2. Examine Shakespeare’s portrayal of different social classes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Do you think the “rude mechanicals” end up looking worse than the play’s more socially lofty characters? If so, how and in what way? If not, why not? Compare the different groups of characters using whatever set of criteria you think makes sense, but be specific about the particular qualities you’re comparing.