Está en la página 1de 4

Paradise Lost/Jonathan Swift Review Sheet

Character Identification:
Adam Archangels
Eve The Great Chain of Being
God the Father Michael
God the Son Raphael
Satan Uriel
Lucifer Gabriel
Sin Beelzebub
Death Moloch
Chaos Belial
Old Night Mulciber
Angels Maamon

Free Will
• How did Milton believe Free Will factored into salvation/damnation/redemption?
• Which characters had Free Will? How is this shown in the major characters of
Paradise Lost?
• How is Free Will responsible for the following characters either falling from
grace or being restored to it: Christ, Satan, Adam, Eve
• Explain the differences between the moral responsibility of Adam, Eve, & Satan
o Adam’s sin was primarily motivated by love for Eve. He ate of the fruit
after she did because he would be lonely without her as she, who had
eaten of the fruit, eventually grew old and died.
o Eve was deceived outright. Though her sin is different from Adam’s in its
motivation, her sin was committed with the idea of becoming better, of
overleaping what she was as God created her. This would be ambition or
greed or one of the other deadly sins, but would be nowhere near Satan’s
o Satan had been the fount of sin and death. He created it out of envy for
God’s power and position. Afterwards, too, to compound his
wretchedness, Milton alludes that even Satan – SHOULD HE CHOOSE
TO REPENT VOLUNTARILY – would be given a second chance at
redemption. Satan would, of course, need to prostrate himself much like
the returning Prodigal Son in the parable: content even to be a servant in
the master’s house. To heighten the loss the reader has for such a great
specimen, Satan has so many admirable (if not human) qualities valued by
mankind. What a waste.

Look up the word Paradox & Prototype


• The fall is evil and not fortunate; however, the result of the fall is fortunate…Man
regains paradise through divine Providence

Grace & Providence


• God’s plan for loving his creatures is called providence
• How does Man’s choice of evil affect this?
• Is Satan allowed Grace after his fall?

Pandemonium – what is it and what conceits are used to describe it (end of Book I)

Moral Responsibility
• What is elemental to be morally responsible?
• How are Adam, Eve & Satan differently responsible for their actions?

Political Dimension to Paradise Lost


• How did Milton’s belief in ABSOLUTE FREEDOM color his views on kings and
organized churches?
• If he followed someone ‘lower’ than himself, how would God feel about it?
• Story attacks
– Calvinist Predestination (RELIGIOUS)
– Limits of Power (POLITICAL)
• Earthly (King) & Heavenly (Satan) power
Literary elements of the Epic
• Long poem written in grand style, beginning In Medias Res
• List the facts that support how Paradise Lost is an Epic
• The story begins with an invocation(prayer) to a god or gods.
o “Sing, goddess of epic poetry, the story of the anger of
Achilles.”
• Gods intervene in the affairs of human beings in these stories.
• The settings of these stories are vast.
• Long formal speeches made by major characters.
• The heroes embody the values of their civilization.

As a matter of review, here are the details of Book 9.

1. Identify the “sovran mistress” in line 532.


2. Why would her “looks, the heav’n of mildness” look upon Satan
with disdain here?
3. Write at least three ways Satan describes this “mistress’s”
beauty in the first 15 or so lines.
4. If line 552,”Not unamazed she thus in answer spake,” means
that she WAS amazed when she spoke her answer, then how
was Eve most affected by Satan’s speech here?
5. What did she notice MOST out of all the things Satan just said?
6. What question does Eve ask of Satan here? (560-65)
7. 567-570 How does Satan’s TONE change from how he was
speaking in the first section?
8. If flattery didn’t work during the first section, then how is Satan
going to try to convince Eve in this section?
9. 571-75 How does Satan TRY to fake sounding modest here?
10. If Satan (as a snake) was really lowly at first, then what did
Satan claim he did to change the way he was and to give him the
ability to speak?
11. (584-588) How does Satan describe the fruit he ate?
12. (590-593) How does Satan say the OTHER animals felt
about his eating of the fruit?
13. What does Satan IMPLY (suggest) about the possible
effects of the fruit, if EVE were to eat it too?
14. (602-612) What does Satan say the eating of the fruit
allowed him to do?
15. (615-624) How does Eve respond to this second attempt to
persuade her to come with him and see the fruit?
16. (631-640) List at least one of the two “hell-like” image
words used to describe an excited Satan when he is taking Eve
to the tree.
17. (653) What is God’s “daughter of his voice?”
18. How does Satan respond to this?
19. (680-695) How does Satan address Eve’s claim that the
fruit will cause you to die?
20. (705-710) What will the fruit make Eve if she eats it?

“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift

Directions: Please complete the following on either the back of this sheet, or your
own paper.

1. What does the speaker find "melancholy" in Ireland?


2. Note the interesting distinction in the first line. Does the speaker finds it depressing that such
impoverished people exist? Or does he find it depressing to see such people? Do you think the
speaker's sympathies are with the suffering lower class? Or with the poor rich class that has to
look at them everyday?
3. According to the speaker, what will these children do as adults to support themselves?
4. What would the people of the commonwealth do to reward anyone who could think up a solution
to dealing with the large number of unwanted children?
5. What problem has the speaker always had with the "several schemes of other projectors" who try
to come up with a solution? (i.e., in what way have previous "fixes" been inaccurate, according to
the speaker?)
6. In the next paragraph, the speaker notes "another great advantage" to his scheme. What is that
advantage?
7. According to the speaker's math, how many children are born to poor Irish parents each year?
8. According to the speaker, how old must an Irish child be before they can pick up a livelihood by
theft? What's funny (or un-funny) about this?
9. In the next paragraph, the speaker notes that a boy or girl is not a "saleable commodity" before the
age of twelve. What the speaker does not state is why twelve is the cut-off point in age. Think
about this issue. Why would young boys and girls suddenly become "valuable" at age twelve?
10. Explain the humor behind the speaker's hope that his suggestion "will not be liable to the least
objection."
11. What nationality was the acquaintance in London who first informed the speaker that babies were
good to eat if well nursed at a year old? What are some ways this person suggested for the culinary
preparation of babies?
12. When the speaker notes that the food will be somewhat "dear" (i.e., expensive), whom does he
suggest would be the "very proper" recipient of such food?
13. What seasonal advantages and disadvantages does infant's flesh have? When is the one season in
which the markets will be more glutted than usual?
14. What is a "collateral advantage" to the speaker's policy of eating Irish children? Who are these
"Papists" he refers to?
15. What social advantages will Squires (i.e., landlords) have from this new policy?
16. What will the skin of babies be good for when it comes to fashion?
17. In the city of Dublin itself, what common-sense measure does the speaker suggest to ensure that
the baby meat will be fresh--much like the way pork is kept fresh--before preparation? Why is this
rather gross?
18. Explain the disagreement the speaker has with the patriot who argued that the meat of teenage
Irish lads and lasses could be used as a replacement for venison. Why does the speaker think it
makes more economic sense to let them live and only eat the infants?
19. In the next paragraph, the speaker tells the tale of Psalmanazar in the island of Formosa. What
policy did the "Mandarins of the Court" have on Formosa regarding the execution of fat people?
20. Why doesn't the speaker think it necessary to seek a cure for the problem of the sick and elderly in
Ireland? How will this problem take care of itself, according to the speaker?
21. In the next section, the speaker lists (depending on how we number them) eight to twelve
advantages for eating Irish babies. What are these twelve advantages?
22. The #6 advantage involves marriage. How will the policy of eating Irish babies improve
marriages?
23. The eighth advantage involves "improvements" in what "art" or technology?
24. In the fourth-to-last paragraph's opening section, what is the one possible objection that the
speaker fears will be raised against his proposal? What's his response to that objection?
25. At the end of the fourth-to-last paragraph, in italicized print, the test lists several solutions to the
problem of poverty which the speaker dismisses as stupid or impossible. What are some of these
solutions? Do you think Swift himself dismisses these ideas as folly?
26. In the next-to-last paragraph
27. In the last paragraph, why does the narrator end by emphasizing the age of his own children and
his own wife? How does this connect with his mock ethos? Why do you suppose Swift wanted the
essay to end on that note? Does it provide a sense of closure? Why or why not?

"Food" for Thought:

• Consider the title of the piece. Why a "modest" proposal? Why didn't Swift just use "A Proposal"
for the title?
• Look at the tone Swift uses through his essay. Does it stay the same or change over the course of
his discussion? Why does he use the first person? Is this voice identical with Swift's own voice?
Or is it How does his tone contribute to the persona he uses?
• Why would Swift choose to have it be an American who first introduced the speaker to baby-
eating? What stereotypes might we be seeing here about eighteenth-century Americans?
• What makes this essay funny (or un-funny)? Does that change over the course of the essay?

Copyright Dr. L. Kip Wheeler 1998-2009. Permission is granted for non-profit, educational, and student reproduction.

Make sure to double check the notes posted to the “Paradise


Lost/Jonathan Swift” subpage at the bottom of the class webpage. To
access it directly, CLICK HERE.

También podría gustarte