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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. By whom has the poet been inspired?

2. Over what do Sin and Death build a bridge?

3. What happens when Satan's followers eat fruit from the trees?

4. What is Eve amazed that the serpent can do?

5. What does the angel tell Adam a woman should never be allowed to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Adam and Eve come to terms with leaving paradise?

2. What will happen when a tyrant rises?

3. How does the serpent explain his human speech?

4. What does Adam see in the field?

5. What is Adam's reason for wanting a mate?

6. In what way does Raphael say woman is inferior to man?

7. What do you think the Creation story illustrates about good and evil?

8. Why does God create man and woman?

9. What does Raphael say is man's place in the world?

10. What has Adam learned from his experience?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Milton represents Paradise as he does? Is it more serious than modern day representations? What sort of tone does Milton's Paradise give to the poem? How would this tone change if you swapped Milton's representation for a more modern day representation?

Essay Topic 2

Examine blank verse.

1) What do you think blank verse expresses that other forms of poetry do not? How different would Paradise Lost be if it were written in lyrical form?

2) What kind of poets from the past and present have used blank verse? Why do you think though chose blank verse to express their ideas?

Essay Topic 3

Paradise Lost is written in the third person. Why do you think Milton chose to write the poem in the third person? How do you think the meaning of the poem would have changed if it were written in the first person?

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