INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS FOR RESEARCH If it be admitted that one of the chief purposes of English training is to develop the power of independent research, and also that practice is necessary to develop this power, then each pupil should be assigned, at the beginning of the study of a classic, some subject which is closely connected with the theme of the classic, and which is suited to the present research power of the particular pupil. The following are some of the individual assignments that may be made in the study of Paradise Lost and its author. The assignments may well be made at the beginning of the study of the poem, and may be prosecuted while the text is being studied. SUBJECTS WITH PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1. The making of a bibliography on Milton and Paradise Lost, to consist of such books as are found in the city and school libraries. 3. A study of B. IV., Paradise Lost. 4. A study of B. V., Paradise Lost. 5. A study of B. VI., Paradise Lost. 6. A study of B. VII., Paradise Lost. 7. A study of B. VIII., Paradise Lost. 8. A study of B. IX., Paradise Lost. 9. A study of B. X., Paradise Lost. 10. A study of B. XI., Paradise Lost. 11. A study of B. XII., Paradise Lost. 12. A study of Lycidas. 13. A study of L'Allegro. 14. A study of Il Penseroso. 15. A study of Comus, divided among three pupils. 16. A study of Samson Agonistes, divided among three pupils. 17. An outline of Paradise Regained, with brief readings. 18. The universe as found in Homer, with diagrams. (Bry ant's Iliad.) 19. The universe as found in Vergil, with diagrams. (Dryden's Vergil.) 20. The universe as found in Dante, with diagrams. (Longfellow's Dante.) 21. The Ptolemaic Theory, with a diagram. (Encyc. Brit., Vol. II., 777.) 22. The Copernican Theory, with a diagram. (Encyc. Brit., Vol. II., 778.) 23. A demonstration, by citation of passages, of the diagrams found in this book. 24. A diagram of Satan's flight to earth, with citations in proof. 25. Milton's early formative influences. (See bibliography, p. xlviii.) 26. Milton's education. (See bibliography, p. xlviii.) 27. Milton's travels. (See bibliography, p. xlviii.) 28. Milton's friendships. (See bibliography, p. xlviii.) 29. Milton's environment and residences. (See bibliography, p. xlviii.) 30. London in Milton's time. (Ordish's Shakespeare's Lon don.) 31. Milton's matrimonial affairs. (See bibliography, p. xlviii.) 32. Milton as a historian. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 33. Areopagitica. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 34. Tract on Education. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 35. Apology for Smectymnuus. brary.) (Prose Works, Bohn Li 36. Defence of the English People. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 37. Second Defence of the English People. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 38. Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 39. Letter to a Friend. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 40. Letter to General Monk. (Prose Works, Bohn Li brary.) 41. The Tenure of Magistrates and Kings. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 42. Eikonoklastes. (Prose Works, Bohn Library.) 43. The Puritan Revolution. (Gardiner, or Hume's History of England.) 44. Characteristics of an epic, and the great epics. (National Epics, by Rabb; McClurg.) 45. Who is the hero of Paradise Lost? Prove it. 46. A search through Milton's poems for lines concerning him self. 47. A search through volumes of other poets for poetry on Milton. (See heading, "Poetical," under "Helps to the Study of Milton.") 48. A search through the bibliography on p. 27 of Clark's "A Study of English Prose Writers" for select paragraphs on Milton. 49. The identification of Satan, Beelzebub, Moloch, Belial, 1 and Mammon with certain of the "Seven Deadly Sins. 50. Milton's Versification. (Milton's Poems, Cambridge Ed., Macmillan.) SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS The "suggestive questions" here offered are offered as suggestions only, as a complete study-plan would hardly be in keeping with the "research" plan advocated herein. While following the questions given, however, the pupils themselves will find so many others that time cannot be found to follow all of them out. INTRODUCTORY SUGGESTIONS 1. Have pupils read chapter on "The Cosmography of the Universe in Paradise Lost," p. xvi, of this book. 2. Have pupils read text of B. I. and II. outside of class, making notes of outline, and reducing them to the form of an "argument." The different "arguments" of the pupils may be put on the blackboard, compared, discussed, and reduced to final form. 3. Have recitations in class to be assured that pupils have clear ideas of the general plan of the poem through B. I. and II. This need not be carried out into minute detail. The work of detail may be left until the "suggestive questions" are taken up. SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE INTRODUCTION IN B. I. 1. What lines of the poem are included in the introduction? 2. What are the purposes of the introduction? (These should be given with great definiteness, and should be supported by the reading of citations in proof.) 3. What are the divisions of the introduction? Why so divided? 4. What two questions are asked in the introduction? 5. In what words does Milton state his purpose? 6. At the close of the study of the poem, show the application of the introduction to the rest of the poem. SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON Books I. AND II. 1. Trace, by citing passages, the circumstances that led to Satan's desire for revenge. NOTE ON QUESTION 1.- The following is an illustration of a "search" made by a pupil for an answer to this question. It is given just as the pupil made it. Follow up the citations. |