CliffsNotes on

Paradise Lost

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About the Poet

Early Years
Education
Early Literary Work
Influences Abroad
Writing Career and Marriage
Later Years

About the Poem

Introduction
A Brief Synopsis
List of Characters
Character Map

Summaries and Commentaries

Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV
Book V
Book VI
Book VII
Book VIII
Book IX
Book X
Book XI
Book XII

Character Analyses

Satan
God
The Son
Adam
Eve

Critical Essays

Milton’s Universe
Major Themes in Paradise Lost
Milton’s Grand Style

Study Help

Quiz
Essay Questions
Practice Projects

Cite this Literature Note

Which is better, the Twilight books or the movie?

The books.
The movie.

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Study Help

Quiz

1:  What purpose does Milton state for Paradise Lost?

a. To show how God defeated the rebellious angels

b. To justify the ways of God to men

c. To prove the superiority of Protestantism over Catholicism

d. To show how Adam and Eve made their way out of Eden
2:  Who are Satan's daughter and son?

a. Chaos and Night

b. Adam and Eve

c. Sin and Death

d. Beezlebub and Belial
3:  Who cast the rebellious angels into Hell?

a. God

b. The Son

c. Gabriel

d. Michael
4:  From which tree are Adam and Eve prohibited from eating?

a. Tree of Life Everlasting

b. Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

c. Tree of Insight

d. Tree of Evil Borne by Satan
5:  After both Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit, what is the first thing they do?

a. Put on clothes

b. Worship the tree

c. Have sex

d. Cower under the wrath
6:  Besides death, what punishment do women receive because of the fall?

a. To be subservient to men

b. Never to be ordained as ministers

c. To bear the pain of childbirth

d. To endure the stress of multiple priorities
7:  Eve is most surprised by the serpent's ability to

a. glide effortlessly over the tree's branches

b. select the ripest fruit

c. talk

d. stay perfectly still
8:  Michael shows Adam a vision of biblical history from the time of Adam through the birth of

a. Raphael

b. the rebellious angels

c. the second man

d. Jesus
9:  Classically, Urania is the muse of

a. astronomy

b. music

c. gardening

d. idyllic poetry
10:  Milton describes a universe with Heaven in what position and with what primary quality?

a. Middle; purity

b. Top; light

c. Bottom; forgiveness

d. Top; profound wisdom
11:  Who said the following: "The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n."

a. God

b. Milton, as the Narrator

c. Satan

d. Eve
12:  Who said the following: ". . . be lowly wise: / Think only what concerns thee and thy being."

a. Sin

b. b. Adam

c. Raphael

d. Abdiel
13:  Who said the following: "Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat, / Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe, / That all was lost."

a. Gabriel

b. The Narrator

c. The Son

d. Mulciber



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