Considering the plethora of annotation which accompanies John Milton's poetry, a plan of the structure of "Paradise Lost" is offered as an aid to comprehension for undergraduate students and as a teaching guide for college teachers. The poem is divided into three parts of four books each for pedagogical purposes, and major themes and characters are delineated. Special attention is directed to the central theme of human choice between good and evil. Selected quotations serve as literary signposts. (RL)