passages for books V and VI

Sorry everyone for the delay in this posting. My internet at my home has been extremely slow/inaccessible for some reason the past two days. I've only been able to communicate to those who have emailed me via my phone, for every time I've tried to post this my internet has crashed; thus it has been a trying and irksome few days. Nevertheless, I have finally gotten through the pinhole (it seems) to offer up these helpful moments within the text.

Book V

• 17-25 (Adam's morning song)
• 28-93 (Eve relates her dream)
• 99-121 (Adam's statements on reason, fancy, the five senses and "mimic fancy")
• 145-149 ("unmediated" prayer in the prelapsarian world)
• 156-159 *(God is in all things...)
• 171-208 *(the whole universe and earth offer Him praise)
• 235-245 *(God reiterates man's free will to choose and, importantly, He releases His culpability)
• 262 (Galileo is named! see note!)
• 265-285 (Raphael flies to earth; the phoenix)
• 332-349 (Eve gathers for the feast)
• 359-360 (Adam is servile)
• 404-443 (Raphael on the necessity of nourishment for all creation)
• 452-456 *(the 2nd request for knowledge!)
• 469-479 *(on creation: its origin and end in God; the spheres of "refinement")
• 486-490 (more on creation)
• 496-503 *(man will ascend, if only obedient by choice and if in a state of grace/love)
• 507-512 *(the golden chain of existence; free will)
• 524-534 (indeed man is perfect, yet not immutable)
• 574-576 *(earth as a shadow of Heaven)
• 580-582 (see note, Milton debates time!)
• 603-608 (Christ is anointed)
• 657-693 *(Satan's envy and resolve to revolt)
• 710 (he took with him the third part of Heaven's "stock," see note)
• 760-802 *(Satan's mount and his speech to his army arguing against God's rule)
• 812-822 *(Abdiel refuses Satan's argument)
• 853-863 *(Satan's rebuttal, "self-begot")
• 886-888 *(the golden scepter to an iron rod)

Book VI

• 1-25 *(Abdiel returns to God, witnesses His army and is met by cheers)
• 41-43 (reason and merit, see notes)
• 78-187 *(Satan's army; first day's battle beings; Abdiel and Satan exchange heated words on the battlefield; Abdiel proves a defense of servitude)
• 262-280 *(Michael calls to Satan, exposing his evil and falsehood)
• 291 (Satan thinks he can "turn Heaven into hell"!)
• 320-353 *(Satan is wounded by Michael, yet he is hurt in way beyond corporal pains; a commentary on the angels' ethereal substance of which they are 'made')
• 378-380 (the erasure of the rebellious from the books of Heaven (cf. 1.361-62))
• 406-408 (night falls; first day's battle ends)
• 428-532 *("fallible," an exemplar of Satan's falsehood; pain, though not mortal in threat; "weapons more violent;" mine the "ethereous mold" for the means to make gunpowder ("blackest grain"); the second day's battle begins)
• 558-595 *(Satan unveils his cannons and fires!)
• 635-670 *(Heaven's army rallies, they drop their weapons and throw mountains, thus all Heaven goes to "wrack"!)
• 699-718 *(on the third day's battle Christ will end the war, God professes)
• 748-770 (sunrise on the third day; Heaven's army reassembles)
• 781-784 (Christ restores Heaven to its original)
• 832-834 (all Heaven shakes, except the throne of God)
• 838-879 *(the rebels drop their weapons; (take special note of 864); they throw themselves out of Heaven
• 900-911 *(one last warning to our first parents via Raphael)

journal #8 (4/21) and SP#3 notes

For this journal entry (#8) I would like you to propose a possible topic and/or thesis statement that you plan on using for Short Paper #3, which is due Monday 4/26.

If you have already used Shakespeare's The Tempest for Short Paper #2, then you must write Short Paper #3 on John Milton's Paradise Lost.


Below are some example ideas, topics, and theses to get your minds' gears turning!

-- Your paper could be an examination and interpretation (i.e., a close reading and an analysis) of a particular passage or series of related passages of importance. So, for instance, you could take a closer look at Prospero's final words in The Tempest and discuss how this speech highlights some of the major themes and issues presented by the play. Or, you could examine the moment when Satan meets Sin and Death in Book II of the epic Paradise Lost. You should essentially deconstruct the lengthy passage of choice a few lines at a time, rather than attempting to discuss the entire thing at once.

-- A few noteworthy topics in Milton's text are the following:

• Exile as a function or result or one's own free will and choice. Think about this one for a moment... I'd argue that each of the texts we have read this semester have offered at least one character who has been exiled. The interesting thing about these individuals is that when taking a closer look, it appears true that each character who is exiled has reached that state because of their own choice(s). The alchemists--the Canon and the Yeoman--desire to ever-practice their art, even if the cost is to live broke, on the fringes of towns and villages. Dante the Poet was amidst much political turmoil, and because of his desire for power and recognition he was forced into exile when the Blacks overtook the Whites. Sure, Prospero was also forcibly removed from Milan and driven to the deserted isle where the play takes place; however, could not it also be said that his love for his studies led to his neglect of "worldly ends" and thus caused his own exile from society? Satan similarily chooses his own path... obviously, we all know his rebellion is thwarted and he is cast with his crew from Heaven into a permanent state of exile; yet, the deeper and more intriguing exile Satan experiences is the internal conflict resulting from his attempted war against God. What emotions does he feel and what thoughts does he think as he gazes towards Heaven, knowing full-well that he will never again be granted access to those gates of gold?

• The commentary in Paradise Lost on the monarchy, sovereignty, tyranny, empire, and regicide! How is God's rule described? How is Satan termed in this leadership of the demonic hoard? 

• The parody and perversion of God's creations. Pandaemonium is a prime example. Consider also the falsehood of Satan; his actions, yes, but especially his words!

• Free will and the profound power of one's choice and one's mind/spirit. 

Hope these help! Remember that you can always draw from your classmates' thoughts and ideas, improving them or commenting on them accordingly to offer your own interpretation and reading.