Approaches to Teaching Milton's Paradise Lost: second edition

by Peter C. Herman (Editor), Regina Schwartz (Contribution by), Achsah Guibbory (Contribution by), Jessica Wolfe (Contribution by), Abraham Stoll (Contribution by)

Overview

This second edition of Approaches to Teaching Milton's Paradise Lost addresses Milton in the light of the digital age, new critical approaches to his poem, and his continued presence in contemporary culture. It aims to help instructors enliven the teaching of Paradise Lost and address the challenges presented to students by the poem—the early modern syntax and vocabulary, the political and theological contexts, and the abounding classical references.

The first part of the volume, "Materials," evaluates the many available editions of the poem, points to relevant reference works, recommends additional reading, and outlines useful audiovisual and online aids for teaching Milton's epic poem. The essays in the second part, "Approaches," are grouped by several themes: literary and historical contexts, characters, poetics, critical approaches, classrooms, and performance. The essays cover epic conventions and literary and biblical allusions, new approaches such as ecocriticism and masculinity studies, and reading Milton on the Web, among other topics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603291637
Publisher:	Modern Language Association
Publication date:	12/01/2012
Series:	Approaches to Teaching World Literature , #122
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Peter C. Herman is the author of Royal Poetrie: Monarchic Verse and the Political Imaginary of Early Modern England; A Short History of Early Modern England;and Destabilizing Milton: "Paradise Lost" and the Poetics of Incertitude. He also edited Approaches to Teaching Milton's Shorter Poetry and Proseand co-edited, with Elizabeth Sauer, The New Milton Criticism(under submission). He teaches at San Diego State University.

Table of Contents

Preface

PART ONE: MATERIALS

Editions and Texts

Reference Works and Biographies

AV and Online Aids

Required and Recommended Reading For Undergraduates

The Instructor's Library

PART TWO: APPROACHES

Introduction

Peter C. Herman

Literary and Historical Contexts

Teaching Paradise Lost and the Bible

Regina Schwartz

Paradise Lost and the Jews

Achsah Guibbory

Teaching Paradise Lost and the Epic Tradition

Jessica Wolfe

Clues to the Classical Tradition

Abraham Stoll

Paradise Lost and Milton's Revolutionary Prose and Poetry

Thomas Fulton

Radical Politics in Paradise Lost?

David Loewenstein

Characters

The Problem of God

Michael Bryson

The Problem of Satan: Or How to Teach Satan on His Own Terms

Gregory M. Colon Semenza

Teaching Eve: The Grammar of Eden

Julia Walker

Milton's Adam

Richard Rambuss

Paradise Lost and Milton's Biography

John Shawcross

Poetics

Narrators

Elizabeth Sauer

Approaches to Teaching Paradise Lost Allegorically

Catherine G. Martin

Fit Quantity of Syllables

John Leonard

Critical Approaches

The Analogical Approach to Paradise Lost and Milton's Prose: Uses and Abuses

Feisal G. Mohammed

Editing Milton with Richard Bentley

Anthony Welch

Visualizing Paradise Lost: Artists Teaching Milton

Wendy Furman-Adams

Imitating Milton in the Classroom

Sean Keilen

Teaching Paradise Lost Through Adaptation (Or, Books Promiscuously Read)

Lauren Shohet

Teaching Paradise Lost through the New Milton Criticism

Peter C. Herman

Dieting in Paradise: Angelic Eating, Metaphysics and Poetry in Paradise Lost

William Kolbrener

Ecocritical Milton

Jeffrey Theis

Classrooms

Paradise Lost in the British Literature Survey Course

Boyd M. Berry

Teaching Paradise Lost in the Western Civ. Classroom

Randall Ingram

The John Milton Reading Room: Teaching Paradise Lost with an Online Edition

Thomas Luxon

Performance and Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost as Oral Epic

Hugh Richmond

Premeditated Verse: All-day Readings of Milton's Epic

Angelica Duran

Notes on Contributors

Survey Participants

Works Cited

Editorial Reviews

"This is an exemplary anthology of essays, all of them anchored in pedagogical concerns." — Joseph Wittreich, Graduate Center, City University of New York

"While the essays are frequently addressed to experienced scholars and teachers of Milton, most are diligent about making their arguments accessible and useful to those teaching his epic for the first time. . . . [T]he very best essays develop pedagogical frameworks that could potentially animate and structure entire lectures, discussions, or even semesters. . . . A number of essays compress a voluminous body of research into a compact form geared toward classroom discussion and lecture. . . . [The volume] is a fine representation of the diversity of current Milton pedagogy, rules by no orthodoxy, unified solely in its desire to produce new generations of readers excited to ask questions of Milton's great epic and discover new answers."

—Daniel Shore, Milton Quarterly

From the Publisher