Milton seminar questions

**Please answer questions on at least three different poems or sets of poems from the Norton.



Use examples from Spenser, Sidney or Shakespeare to explore how Milton’s sonnets subvert a form traditionally used to discuss erotic love into one that examines political, religious or vocational issues.

Why do you think Milton’s sonnets appeal to later revolutionary thinkers writing about politics, gender, religion or literature?

What is unique about Milton's concern with time/Time in his poems?


Do you think that Samuel Johnson missed the point of “Lycidas” when he claimed that it was harsh in tone?

In what ways does Milton play with genre in “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” Composed 1629?

Examine how Milton uses any two of the following Biblical passages in ““On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” Composed 1629:  Matthew 2, 24:30; Isaiah 6:5-7’ 14:12; Job 38:6-8; Exodus 19:16; Numbers 23:38; 1 Sam 5:4; 2 Kings 23:10; Psalms 106:28; Revelation 12:9

Why does Milton frame the Christian message of “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” Composed 1629 in a pagan context?

What is particularly interesting about the thematic focus of Milton’s Nativity poem?

How do the verb tenses of the hymn section of the Nativity poem create problems for the reader?

Should L'Allegro and Il Penseroso be read as companion poems?

No comments:

Post a Comment