Blog Post Three - Due 12/8

For your third blog post, choose from the following three prompts. Make sure to review the blog expectations, rubric, and any comments on your first two posts before you begin.

1) Dante's Divine Comedy in many ways functions as a critique of his modern society; faced with violence and corruption in Florence, Dante reacts with moral outrage towards his contemporaries. For this prompt, find a story from our news today that strikes a chord of moral outrage in you. Summarize the story in detail and explain your outrage, making sure to cite your research. Then, connect your story back to The Inferno - is this an issue that Dante addresses in any way or is it something unique to our modern society? Would you and Dante be in agreement regarding this issue?

2) Using evidence from Circles 7 and 8 to support your assertions, discuss why Dante believes fraud to be a more evil sin than violence. Consider in your argument the ideas of alienation and union that we have discussed in our study of this work. Do you agree with Dante's overall assessment?

3) Carefully read the following poem by American poet Robert Frost.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
and would suffice.

Using Frost's poem as a starting point, discuss the symbols of fire and ice in Dante's Inferno. Where does he employ each and for what purpose? How does each symbol relate to Dante's overall plan in designing his hell? [NOTE : Make sure that you have read all of Circle 9 before answering this question.]

Blog Post Two - Due 12/1

For your second blog post, you will be focusing on Circles 4-7. Choose from the following three prompts. Make sure to review the blog expectations, rubric, and any comments on your first post before you begin.

1) Choose 15 to 24 lines of text that you felt were significant to theme and/or character. Type the passage into your blog and then do a close reading of these lines by considering elements of language such as diction, imagery, tone, syntax, mood, symbolism. Organize your paragraphs by focusing on key patterns within the passage and how the significance to theme or character is revealed.

2) Consider the following passage from Circle 4 where Dante and Virgil discuss Dame Fortune :

No mortal power may stay her spinning wheel.
The nations rise and fall by her decree.
None may foresee where she will set her heel:

she passes, and things pass. Man's mortal reason
cannot encompass her. She rules her sphere
as the other gods rule theirs. Season by season...

What do you think Dante is saying here about fate and fortune through this mythological figure of Dame Fortune? How does this relate to Dante's conception of God? How do you think this compares with the way fate is explored in Sophocles' works?

3) In Circle 7, the Violent are punished in three separate rounds depending on the nature of their violent tendencies. Choose one round within Circle 7 and explore an archetypal symbol that Dante uses there to explore the sin. You may, for example, look at the river of blood in Round 1 or the trees in Round 2 or the desert and fire in Round 3. Consider the archetype itself and then how Dante utilizes the symbol to enhance his own work.

The Descent into Hell

In his creation of The Inferno, Dante aligns himself with a rich tradition of writers who utilize the hero's descent into hell to explore the concept of spiritual death and rebirth. In this archetypal situation, the hero must recover from a wound and travel into the depths of darkness in order to emerge healed and able to continue on his journey.

This situation is one seen not only in ancient works such as Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid but also in more modern works. In the clip above from Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back -- consider the imagery used when Luke learns of his father's true identity. There seems to be a clear connection to Dante's hell in the circular nature of the fall that Luke takes. He descends into his own personal hell as he battles the evil that is not only external but also within.

Blog Post One - due 11/17

For your first blog post, choose from the prompts below. Remember to carefully review the rubric and overview of blog expectations before you begin.

1) What does the inscription on the gates of Hell imply about the divine perspective on the sinful and about the place of Hell in God's plan? Consider, for instance, the phrase "PRIMORDIAL LOVE" -- how does Hell being formed with love seem strange to our modern ears? How does the inscription indirectly explain why the damned are so eager to cross Acheron and receive their punishment?

2) Discuss the spiritual state of Dante the narrator from the opening cantos through the Gates of Dis (Circle 5). To help do this, consider devices and symbols used such as “the dark wood,” Dante’s “swoons,” and Dante’s reactions to key sinners.

3) Choose one circle that Dante visits in Upper Hell and carefully analyze how the punishment of the sinners embodies the law of contrapasso. To develop this topic to the proper degree, you will need to very closely analyze specific language and imagery utilized in this circle. Make sure to consider the description of the circle itself, the way the sin is described, and the way the punishment is described. What does Dante seem to be asserting about this sin specifically through the punishment he chooses?

Inferno Welcome

Welcome to Mrs. Holliday's Inferno Blog! I will be using this space to post prompts, ideas, and resources for you to explore in your own blog postings. I look forward to exploring this challenging yet fascinating work with you.