These will be argumentative essays. In other words, your essay should not merely describe the poem; it should argue for a particular reading of some aspect of the poem. Accordingly, your essay proposal will identify a central question that (1) is debatable, and (2) requires close reading and interpretation for you to answer.

This paper will argue that Milton’s “humanistic” portrayal of Satan in Paradise Lost is meant to drive the reader to identify with Satan, question free will, and also ponder on their own postlapsarian existence. Needs many instances of close-reading (passages that describe Satan with humanistic characteristics (i.e. Book 4 35-50)