CCS 110: Milton

Fall, 2011

CCS 110: Milton

Topic for the first paper:

An important stylistic element in Paradise Lost is the epic simile, which Milton uses in important, complex, and often surprising ways to further the poem’s meanings. For your first essay choose one epic simile from the first five books of the poem and do a close reading of it. This will entail tracing its mythological and/or biblical references and deciding how the reader can understand its working in the narrative.

Here are some questions you’ll want to consider in developing your analysis:

Is there a distinction between the apparent or logical working of the simile, that is, the exact points of the comparison, and its imaginative or poetic working? How does the simile direct the reader’s imagination?

How does the simile bring into play the associations of the reader, who is presumed to be familiar with the Bible and classical mythology? Here the footnotes in our edition will be helpful in directing you toward possible connections with biblical narratives and classical poetry.
How does the simile relate to the larger narrative and its themes? Here the concept of prolepsis, or anticipation, may be useful to your analysis. Prolepsis means foreshadowing or anticipation of events to come in a narrative. Does the simile subvert the immediate narrative context in any way?

I don’t anticipate that you will need to do research for the essay beyond understanding the classical and/or biblical references; the point of the essay is your own critical understanding of Milton’s poetry. But should you consult other criticism, you’ll want to reference all debts to outside sources in a “bibliography of works consulted” and all specific use of others’ ideas or words noted specifically in footnotes or endnotes.

If you’d like to talk about the simile you’ve chosen and your ideas about it, by all means come by my office hour. If my office hours don’t work for you, let me know and we’ll find a mutually convenient time.

Your essay will be due on Wednesday, October 26. An essay of four or five pages is envisioned, but take whatever space you need to develop a critical reading of your epic simile.

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