[Milton-L] The Poetics of Evil

[Kemmer Anderson]

Our curriculum stated with Paradise Lost and ended with Night, the 
Holocaust. My colleague and I designed an exam project-essay on The 
Poetics of Evil. Obviously these students will discuss the problem of 
evil. They were frustrated by the word "Poetics," but we had read so 
much poetry Coleridge, Keats, WWI Poets, and Frankenstein. Finally 
while doing my own essay, I read Michael Lieb's "Poetics of 
Conspiracy" on Galileo and Milton. With the great intro of Dan 
Brown's Angels and Demons, I realized once again, I had not 
constructed the right bridge for my students. I wrote a poem to 
demonstrate the connection. Then I challenged, begged for someone do 
for Milton what Dan Brown did for DaVinci. "You know guys a picture 
of Eve at the Uffizi with a Milton's signature or code." Anyway Sam 
Robinson, my narrative thinker, took the bait. While I read and 
conferenced on his opening set up, he flipped through Milton's 
Imagery and the Visual Arts. I am waiting for the final product - a 
surprise. A nice break among the philosophical and literary essays of 
10th graders. Kemmer Anderson, McCallie School, Chattanoga, TN

nice to see Wendy Furman-Adams' material on-line.