I chose God to write about in my Milton essay because I find it interesting the way he is shown in the story and the words surrounding him. Paradise Lost has many concepts and questions within it that can be analyzed but I chose God as he is the character that exists throughout the entire story. He is the creator of the world we see in the story and has control over much of what goes on in the story, whether he is passive or active in those parts. I found it interesting to look at the words used when describing God and how Milton uses other characters to describe God in ways he might not unless through their voice. Milton’s political views are also good to think about when looking at how he describes the world in this story.
One-Word Milton
John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost is filled with numerous significant symbols and characters that are important to understanding the text and the lense Milton was writing through at the time. The themes in the poem often reflect his perception of the story and he expands the story in an unusual way. As the story plays out we see transitions of power, along with themes of creation and agency. Milton shares the characters in Paradise Lost in an interesting light, as many of them are shared in a different way from what many have done before. His explanation of Satan causes readers to sympathize with him, although he does not fail to state his evil. Perhaps the most important concept tackled in this poem is God.
God in this story, naturally, falls as one of the most important characters. He is the one who creates and rules over the world we are seeing in this poem. Milton also states that one of the main goals of this poem is to “justify the ways of God to men” (Milton). His tactics are not necessarily what would be expected, however, and God’s character is different than many might think; Milton’s God is not a particularly likable character, and many descriptions of him are pointing towards him as a tyrannical ruler. Many of these descriptions are put through lenses of characters such as Satan and his followers, who are additionally filtered through the muse. This takes away the blame towards Milton for these criticisms of God. In Book II, Moloch uses words to describe God such as “torturer” and speaks of “[t]he prison of his tyranny.”
It is characters associated with Satan using the especially negative descriptions of God, near the beginning of Book I Milton describes him as a Monarch. Although Monarchy is not necessarily considered a negative description, Milton stood for individuals’ freedom and was against England’s leaders at the time. This supports the assumption that Milton has some problems with God in his story. It is interesting to see Milton’s subtly dialectical view of God, and how he states clearly that he will justify his ways while stating things about him that he is against. This does not, however, mean that Milton is against the character God, but maybe he is more against the societal structure surrounding an all-powerful being. Milton’s God is a just ruler no matter how strict, and his decisions are harsh but not without consideration.
Part of what makes God’s character unlikable is his lack of emotions. This lack of emotions, when juxtaposed to Satan’s character, can make Satan seem like someone to sympathize with, but without emotions, God is able to make decisions easier and be clearer and a more firm leader. Milton’s God should not be mistaken for human. As we can see in the way Adam and Eve’s story plays out, God stands strongly with his word and does not forgive easily. His character, in turn, becomes difficult to like, but this does not take away his virtue. He is still the “creator,” and he is still described as “great” and “almighty” by Milton.
Synonyms of light are often used to talk about God, as he is associated with heaven and the holiest of things. The word light often comes up around God and he is additionally described as being light. This light could have to do with his holiness and his greatness. It also potentially connects to his role as the creator, and how he brought light to the world. Additionally, it creates a contrast from the darkness of hell and Satan. The words surrounding light also make connections to the sun and The Son who appears throughout the story. God is the connection made between all the moving pieces in the story, and his through-line is significant as the curator of the world. Milton’s God is a strict ruler, and at times he proves to be unforgiving. He also lets situations play out before getting involved immediately. His omnipotence gives him the potential to act in more ways than he does once he has created the universe but he decides not to a lot of the time. Although he might not be likable it is apparent that he is a ruler who follows a moral view. Milton’s connection of God to Monarchy and his partially sympathetic characterization of Satan is enough to make the reader question his view of these characters, but Milton’s overall goal is to justify God to man.
Cover Letter for Scott + Greenblatt 2.0
Throughout our journey talking about A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism and Stephen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self-Fashioning, the concept of identity has stuck with me the most from each text. I believe that they both have interesting viewpoints on the same phenomenon. I crafted my discussion to try to share how I found identity and discussion of identity in each of their books. I find the works of Scott and Greenblatt to be compelling in how they rely on the reader to derive the point they are trying to get across through subtle nods in their books, teaching us how to do what they are discussing in the text. This comparison was very difficult for me, because it challenged me to connect two authors with different points on the surface level and look deeper.
Scott + Greenblatt 2.0
Everything that happens in a person's life combines to form one thing, their identity. Someone's identity makes them who they are, which makes them individuals. Are we individuals shaped by our own design, or are we only a product of the society around us? Do we shape our own paths in our world or are our lives already dictated for us? These are questions that A.O. Scott and Stephen Greenblatt have dealt with, one way or another, in their works, Better Living Through Criticism and Renaissance Self-Fashioning respectively. Scott and Greenblatt consider many topics in their works, however, their contemplation of identity is the strongest connection between them.
A.O. Scott’s literary work Better Living Through Criticism is written to teach his audience to criticize through showing instead of telling. He begins the second chapter by contemplating taste. He asks if it is “the sum of your likes and dislikes that makes you who you are?” This leaves a great deal of pondering to be done by the reader, as he essentially asks if our Identities are formed just by what we like or don't. Scott leaves much to be determined by the reader, allowing them to choose how their Identities will be affected by his writing. He goes on to write about the concept of subjective universality, which is when everyone has the same reaction to art. Subjective universality does not always present itself, however the idea of it is not rejected completely. If we all react differently to art, we could be considered different, but with the concept of subjective universality injected into the conversation, there is a consideration that we all could be the same in some ways. The idea of subjective universality takes away the idea of having full control over identities, and leaves the thought that people are shaped by what is around them.
In Stephen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self-Fashioning, he deals with the concept of identity more directly. He states that “[t]here is no such thing as a human nature independent of culture, a set of control mechanisms–plans, recipes, rules, instructions…–for the governing of behavior.” This clearly illustrates that he does not believe that identity is truly up to one person, however, there is more that he thinks about. In the introduction to his book, Greenblatt explains the structures that we exist within. Selves (the individuals), Authorities (higher powers or leaders), and Aliens (anti-authorities) all submit to each other in some way, shape, or form. This means that we are restricted to this structure, however, he shows us that now that we are able to see the structure, we can function more effectively within it, by choosing what to submit to and only do things that bring us joy. A.O. Scott and Stephen Greenblatt both consider identity and what it means to be an individual, if individuals truly exist. Both admit to a structure occurring in the world, but give a way to function better within the structure. Their writing contains subtexts that teach you something new about the world, for Scott it is how to be a Critic and interact with art, while Greenblatt focuses on how to function in predetermined societal structures. Neither of them admit to there being any identity that is completely individual, however through choices, people have some choice in their lives.
Cover Letter (original)
For my formal writing, I wrote an analysis of Maria Popova's Kierkegaard on Time, the Fullness of the Moment, and How to Bridge the Ephemeral with the Eternal. I took a look at Popova's writing style and how her piece on Kierkegaard relates to her other work on the Brain Picking website. I wanted to completely explain the positive elements of her writing style and how they aided her ability to write a persuasive piece. Popova has created a style for herself where she gathers ideas from thinkers throughout history and makes them into a persuasive piece. In my essay, I go through the different aspects of her piece, along with comparing it to her other brain pickings. Her style includes block quoting, including images, and making a point as concisely as possible.
Rhetorical Analysis on Maria Popova (original)
Time is typically categorized into three main categories, the future, present, and the past, although, some notable thinkers would categorize it differently. In Maria Popova’s Brain Picking piece Kierkegaard on Time, the Fullness of the Moment, and How to Bridge the Ephemeral with the Eternal, Popova pulls together ideas from thinkers throughout history, most notably Søren Kierkegaard. Her style effectively captures and explains her thinking process and the point she is attempting to make. Popovas writing style proves her to be a versatile reader as well as a writer, in her pieces, she typically explains a few other thinkers points of view instead of her own. In this piece, she includes extensive quotes from Kierkegaard’s “The Concept of Anxiety,” which she ties in with a few other thoughts on the topic. The quotes she includes are well chosen and expertly woven into the text. Including the large blocks of quotes in her writing allows her to convey the points of thinkers throughout history in a concise, captivating piece. Her writing in between quotes effectively ties the ideas together while including a reference of time to the quotes she is including to scientific revelations relating to the content of Kierkegaard’s thoughts. Popova’s typically writes here pieces in an attempt to convey one viewpoint as concisely as possible while including concentrated and captivating information. The quotes she weaves into her pieces are extensive, however they only include key concepts needed to understand the point she is trying to convey. Popova’s claims are typically big ideas condensed into just a few paragraphs of information. She usually starts with a quote, intended to capture the attention of the reader, then further explains the context and meaning of the idea presented. In her piece on Kierkegaard, she began with the quote from Kierkegaard, “The moment is not properly an atom of time but an atom of eternity. It is the first reflection of eternity in time, its first attempt, as it were, at stopping time.” After a quote to get the reader thinking, Popova includes an introduction, including the thoughts of a few other thinkers on the topic then moves on to the quotes. The layout of Popova’s Brain Pickings are another aspect that proves appealing throughout her works. Images are interspersed throughout the pieces in to give more context to the point she is making. In this piece she included illustrations that related to the material while adding a different point of view to the table. The images allow for the reader to have a small break and change their point of focus for a moment before returning to the reading. Kierkegaard on Time, the Fullness of the Moment, and How to Bridge the Ephemeral with the Eternal is a good example of Maria Popova's style because it holds true to the style and structure she writes her Brain Pickings in. The piece is told very efficiently, wasting no time to get to the point of what she is trying to say, and effectively explaining quotes and viewpoints brought up. Popova’s style uses other people's work to bring together ideas and deliver efficient and interesting information to readers.
Cover Letter (revision)
For my concept map, I brought together the central ideas I found to be the most important ideas in each book from the summer reading. I tried to think more about big picture than specifics when creating the concept map, so I included a few points from all the books that encompassed the most interesting points. My concept map was formatted in a similar way to the writing style of Maria Popova, as I attempted to tie together topics that were not related on the surface level. I found that every book was compelling and had varying viewpoints and intents while writing, but they all had some common themes that they shared. In my persuasive description of my concept map, I talked about some of the common themes in each of the texts, and how they related to each other and varied inquisitions within a particular common theme. The main theme I found between the three pieces was culture, and a discussion of human behavior. In my persuasive description, I talked about how each of the texts represents culture in its own unique way.
Persuasive Description of Concept Map (revision)
Culture is a term thrown around often, but how much do we truly understand about culture or the culture we live in? Within the texts Better Living Through Criticism by A.O. Scott, A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, and Renaissance Self-Fashioning by Stephan Greenblatt, the discussion of culture is a through-line. After reading the texts, I created a concept map (shown below) that visualized the key concepts in the texts. When creating it, culture repeatedly came into play in the texts. Each text discusses a different topic but within the books, they bring up pivotal arguments on why culture is the way it is and the various effects it has on the world. Better Living Through Criticism by A.O. Scott explores culture by posing viewpoints on human nature and why we act the way we do. A large portion of the book discusses art and human reaction to art. Scott poses questions like “Are some cultures better than others?” and “is culture … what we bring with us or is it what we are looking for?” These questions urge the reader to think deeply and reflect on how these questions relate to their lives. Additionally, Scott brings up human complacency and wonders how much human nature falls into a hive mind. He also mentions the “Treasures of Civilization” that might be found in a place like the Louvre, and that they all had some connection to human exploitation, appropriation, objectification, and domination. I find Scott's positions on art intriguing, and in every line, he provided me something to think about. A More Beautiful Question By Warren Berger does not have the same direct approach as Better Living Through Criticism does when discussing culture, but instead talks through more specific situations that say a lot about our culture. One of the chapters Berger wrote discusses children's curiosity and yearning to ask questions. Berger discusses the way children stop questioning for the most part once they are past a certain age, and part of this is because “our current system of education does not encourage, teach, or in some ways even tolerate questioning.” This statement says a lot about our culture. Children are not encouraged to challenge their curious sides, and instead, are put in a system that is intended to prepare children for jobs in a factory-like setting. When children are put into a system like this, over time, their natural curiosity stops. This makes for less curious and interesting generations resulting from the school systems. Berger discusses the value of questioning, and how children are creative and have such a huge ability for learning. Berger's discussion of children's creativity were well aligned with what I believe, and further explained things I knew were issues but I did not understand to what scale. Renaissance Self-Fashioning by Stephan Greenblatt discusses culture through the viewpoint of sixteenth-century literature. In particular, Greenblatt brings up renaissance writers like William Shakespeare, and how they fit into the culture at the time, along with how their work played a function in society during that time period. Greenblatt, like Scott, discusses human nature, and whether society functions as a hive mind or as individuals. Free choice, and whether we have a choice over what we consume and how we behave is considered within this text as well. He quotes Geertz in his text when he said: “There is no such thing as a human nature independent of culture, a set of control mechanisms–plans, recipes, rules, instructions…–for the governing of behavior.” In each of these texts, a different main topic is kept, but the discussion of culture is important in all three. Scott, Berger, and Greenblatt all find compelling ways to bring up this conversation within their writing. Their views on culture varied a bit, for example, Berger is the only one who outwardly expresses a need for change in culture while the other writers just talk about it. Although their style varies, each of these writers are compelling critics and have interesting viewpoints on how the world works. Their works made me reconsider the culture I live in, and the way I function within it.