Module ENGL2611: John Milton (1608-74)

Department: English Studies

ENGL2611: John Milton (1608-74)

Prerequisites

• Any Single or Joint Honours finalist student wishing to take this Special Topic must have satisfactorily completed the required number of core modules. Combined Honours and Outside Honours students must have satisfactorily completed either two Level 1 core introductory modules, or at least one Level 1 core module and one further lecture based module in English at Level 2.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to a broad range of writings by John Milton.
• To enable students to analyse in detail a selection of works from different periods of Milton’s oeuvre and in different genres.
• To encourage students to read closely and to gain relevant contextual knowledge.
• To foster a critical awareness of diverse critical approaches to Milton’s work from the seventeenth century to the present.
• This Special Topic is designed build upon the material covered in the first year module: Introduction to Poetry.

Content

• This module will give students the opportunity to look in detail at:
• Milton's early poetical works (e.g. ‘At a Vacation Exercise’) as well as the major works of his artistic maturity (e.g. Paradise Lost).
• A selection of prose writings, including the Areopagitica.
• Milton and the classical tradition (e.g. Milton’s use of classical genres, allusion and mythology).
• Topics to be discussed in seminars will include Milton’s representation of the role of the poet and poetry, sexual politics, religious, political and educational issues.

Learning Outcomes

• The student will be expected:
• To gain knowledge of a diverse body of work by Milton
• To demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts by a single author and critical approaches to his works
• To show an understanding of the cultural and intellectual contexts of his work
• To engage with the various critical approaches to his writing

• Students studying this module will develop:
• Critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• An ability to analyse texts closely with an awareness of generic conventions
• An informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and an ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts by Milton
• A sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• An ability to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to Milton’s works
• An ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to this author
• An awareness of conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills, including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation
• A command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• An awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated.

• Students studying this module will develop:
• A capacity to analyse critically
• An ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• A competence in the planning and execution of essays
• A capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• Skills in critical reasoning
• An ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• Information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• Organisation and time-management skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Seminars: encourage peer-group discussion, enable students to develop critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts, and skills of effective communication and presentation; promote awareness of diversity of interpretation and methodology
• Consultation session: encourages students to reflect critically and independently on their work; in this session students are entitled to show their seminar leader a list of points relevant to the essay and receive oral comment on these points. Student may also, if they wish, discuss their ideas for the second essay at this meeting.
• Independent but directed reading in preparation for seminars provides opportunity for students to enrich subject-specific knowledge and enhances their ability to develop appropriate subject-specific skills.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.
• Essays: tests the student's ability to argue, respond and interpret, and to demonstrate subject-specific knowledge and skills such as appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation and the close reading and analysis of texts; they also test the ability to present word-processed work, observing scholarly conventions. In individual Special Topics, the essay may, where appropriate to the subject, take an alternative form, such as 'creative criticism'.
• Feedback: The written feedback that is provided after the first assessed essay allows students to reflect on examiners' comments, giving students the opportunity to improve their work for the second essay.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Before the first essay, students will have an individual consultation in which they will receive feedback on their essay plan.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University