Teachers of Humanities and all high school English teachers rush home, pour yourself a cup of decaf green tea, add a drop of honey, and check out these amazing resources! Whether you decide to use them in lesson plans or just for your own personal enjoyment, enrichment and “soul-nourishment,” you will be glad to have stumbled across these lovingly created literary gems.
- The Milton Society. This is the home of fellow “Word Pressians” at the scholarly society dedicated to the study and dissemination of Milton’s works. I think an astute teacher might review the works in progress page as a resource, but also as an opportunity to discuss exactly what a literary scholar does. A review of some of the books, chapters, papers, could be used as as springboard for students to generate their own research ideas, and increase the quality of their own theses. I think in general, we see that students try to write too broadly. But also, as a discussion of how an artist or body of literature can impact a culture. I think the link section is most valuable, however, as it links directly to several additional resources (below.)
- The John Milton Reading Room. “Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race.” You can spend a lot of time here in this Dartmouth College site. It features the complete poetry and a selection of Milton’s prose. A wonderful resource to be lost and/or regain’d.
- The Twickenham Press and The Lark Ascending. Kudos to The Twickenham Press for being the digital home to the dramatic readings of classic literature by now defunct performance group, The Lark Ascending. This group performs not only the work of Milton, but Whitman, Eliot, Wordsworth and others. It serves as a reminder that poetry must be heard, not just read! Excellent work.
Questions for Discussion
- How does a researcher decide on a topic to study?
- What impact did John Milton have on Western Literature?
- Brainstorm a list of potential Milton paper topics and fine tune these to thesis statements.
- Why is it essential to hear, not just read poetry?
- Read a little about the origins of the Twickenham Press. Who are some significant “self-published” authors?
- What was the mission of The Lark Ascending? Has your classroom had a poetry performance day lately?
- What else does this inspire you to”dream, learn, do?”
