33,188 research outputs found
'The guiding hand': the progression of Milton’s thought towards Samson Agonistes
No full textThis thesis examines the development of Milton's purpose as his vocation of poetic legislator for his times informed the progress of his vision. In seeing Samson Agonistes as the culmination of a process, it illustrates the narrowing focus of Milton’s theological prescription for a godly society. Before any other concern, Milton desired man to repair his relationship with God, and urges his readers to achieve this; it may be observed throughout his polemical writing, reaching a pinnacle of clarity and urgency in the 1671 volume, and in Samson Agonistes in particular. From the assumption that unity with God's purpose was the informing principle of his writing, all of his other concerns may be observed in their rightful setting. As the foundation of Milton's political vision was virtue, the inculcation of virtue in his readership was arguably his primary motivation. This thesis addresses certain key works in order to assess the progression of this purpose towards Samson Agonistes: Areopagitica as an exemplar of his early brilliance in prose, and as a commentary on the significance of language as a weapon in the battle for truth; Eikonoklastes as a demonstration of the contemporary use of historical narrative for political ends, and as aesthetic as well as political iconoclasm; and the Second Defence as the nexus of poetry and prose in his career, where he rewrites the truth in order to glorify and defend his nation and himself His theological beliefs are discussed in the light of their importance to his vocation and vision of the regenerative potential of man. This is shown to be the guiding principle of his prose and the main subject of the final poems. The 1671 volume is examined as the immediate context of Samson Agonistes. The intertextual resonances reveal the concentration of Milton’s focus upon the paradise within. Samson Agonistes is examined also within the cultural contexts which Milton reworks in order to isolate the potential of man's spirit. Samson Agonistes is finally examined in the light of Milton's perennial concerns as a prescription for specific action. Firmly rooted in the political and theological debates of his life, it is nonetheless a call to inner revolution for his readership
Michael Rodriguez interviews fiction writer Michael Kimball
No full textAuthor Michael Kimball talks about moving away from Michigan to become a successful writer, his education, the fiction reading series he has started in Baltimore, the life-story-on-postcard project, and his book "Dear everybody." Kimball is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Paul Clemens
No full textAuthor Paul Clemens talks about his book "Made in Detroit," the genre of memoir, and writing about race. Clemens is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held in the MSU Main Library
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Tom Springer
No full textAuthor Tom Springer is interviewed about his writing career and his newest book "Looking for hickories". Springer talks about his career following after earning an Environmental Journalism degree from Michigan State University. He calls his genre "creative non-fiction" and explains how he weaves his memories into his books about life in rural and wild Michigan. Part of the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Springer is interviewed by Librarian Michael Rodriguez
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Gary Gildner
No full textAuthor Gary Gildner explains why he left his tenured teaching position to move to Idaho to became a full-time writer of poetry. Gildner talks about donating his personal papers to Michigan State University Libraries' Special Collections, his writing style and how he approaches writing. Gildner is interviewed by MSU Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writer Series. Held at the MSU Main Library
Austin also must be remembered. The Augustinian legacy in Milton's work
No full textWhen I started working on this project, with a limited knowledge of Augustine, but determined to spot his presence in Miltonâs poetry, I was little aware of the intricacy of the relationship between the two authors. At this stage of my research, I do subscribe to Savoyeâs opinion, that this relationship is pervasive. However, one could safely add, it is as pervasive as it is hidden, primarily because of changed cultural paradigms, so that Miltonâs references are no longer familiar to the reader.
As I have pointed out in my presentation of the state of the art, these articulations are hardly made explicit in Miltonâs Oeuvre and also in critical literature they are hardly brought to the surface. My objective has been to make them a little more visible.
I have started my own process of discovery from the works where Milton more openly (but not completely) acknowledges his Augustinian sources, although arguably mediated. As concerns Samson Agonistes, I have presented a reading through Augustinian lenses. I am by no means claiming that mine is the best of all possible readings, but through those lenses I have been able to see a coherence, in Miltonâs dramatic poem, that is not generally recognized.
On the other hand, I thoroughly agree that âone cannot simply take any English poet and turn the post-structuralist critical machine loose on him or her in good faithâ. In particular, I am aware that I have read Miltonâs works against the current critical grain which, with a powerful turn impressed by Empsonâs Miltonâs God, is continually surfacing Miltonâs idiosyncrasies in order to cancel the received picture of a Christian author. Rather, I agree with Cirillo that Miltonâs perspective is that of âa professed Christian poet whose Christian consciousness, no matter how heterodox, colored virtually everything he wrote.â.We may ask, echoing Febvre on Rabelais, âMais de quel christianisme? In accordance with very traditional, even traditionalist Milton Criticism, I think it can safely be stated that Milton is a post-Reformation religious author, and one whose endeavour to âjustify the ways of God to menâ had to come to terms with the difficult task to find signs of providential history in the aftermath of a civil war and in the adverse context of the Restoration. His last published poems deal with this problem in different terms. As readers, we can come to different conclusions as to the texts. Behind them there is the man, âest abyssus humanae conscientiae,â in front of which, after Augustine, I can only say: "nescio"
Gold standard of UK degrees is lost in translation
No full textInflated marks, overworked staff and politically compromised courses are the price of exploiting offshore UK registered students, says Michael Day
Michael Rodriguez interviews historian and author Keith Widder
No full textHistorian and author Keith Widder talks about his move to Michigan from Wisconsin, his career as Curator of History for the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, his research interests, his book "Michigan Agricultural College", and his current projects. Widder is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held in the MSU Main Library
Dr. Michael Janis, Morehouse College, August 2011, August 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Michael Janis. Dr. Janis talks about his book, "Africa After Modernism: Transitions in Literature, Media and Philosophy". Yolanda Gilmore-Bivins, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
- …
