Poetry Paper I

Option A: Dante’s Inferno.

1. Dante's vision of hell has a very carefully worked out structure, which not only indicates punishments for particular crimes but which also ranks sins according to their seriousness. Discuss the importance of this structure of punishments, paying particular attention to what it reveals about Dante's vision of the individual, society, and the various ways these can become corrupt.

2. Dante presents a ranking of failures of moral virtue. Why, according to this ranking, are the sins of malice and fraud more severely punished than those of sensual appetite?

3. Select a single, short passage of Dante's Inferno (maximum about twenty lines), and write a critical analysis of two different translations of the passage. The essay should focus on the differences between the versions as English poetry. Do not, unless you are fluent in Italian, consider the question of the adequacy of the rendition of the original language. Pay very close attention to how the different phrases, images, rhymes, and so forth affect your response to the passage. How are the passages different? You might want to base the essay on a statement expressing a clear preference. Please include copies of the two passages you are comparing.

4. Select a single incident in the Inferno, and, by a detailed discussion of what happens in that incident (both to the sinners and to the onlookers and to the reader), explore the significance of that episode. What does it contribute to the total effect of the poem? Does the incident raise any challenging questions about or provide important insights into main features of the poem?

5. In what sense is Dante's Inferno a voyage of discovery about the poet-narrator's own self and culture, a necessary descent before he can attain proper spiritual insight? What does Dante (the character in the poem) learn as a result of his trip to hell?

6. The inferno (hell), we are told at the very opening of Canto III, is a place constructed by Divine Justice, Omnipotence, and Love. What problems, if any, does this raise? Can you defend Dante's poem from the charge that it makes God appear appallingly cruel?

Option B: Compare and Contrast: Theme, Tone, Figurative Devices, Etc.

Using the suggestions on page 8 of “Writing about Literature” in Perrine’s, write a paper comparing and contrasting any two poems in the poetry section of the text. (pp 647-1024) Although neither is a comparison/contrast essay, reading the sample papers on pp 46-52 might be helpful.

This paper should be a minimum of 500 words, typed and double-spaced. We are going to workshop this paper, so you need to keep to the following schedule:

Poems and/or topic of paper e-mailed to me – Wednesday 9/21
Work-day in Computer Lab – Friday 9/23
First draft of paper – Monday 9/26
Second draft – Monday 10/3
Final draft – Wednesday 10/5