Your posting for this grading period must be completed by June 10th.
Find an article of any length that relates to a topic being studied in class, i.e. Dante’s Inferno. Your posting must include:
- A link to the article
- An explanation of why you chose this article/ how it relates to what you’re studying in English class at the moment (~50-100 words)
- A summary of the article (~200-250 words)
- Your personal thoughts on the article, for example whether you agree or disagree, how interesting it was, or how well it helped you understand a the topic from class. (~200-250 words)
- This is meant to be an academic extension of what you do in class, so your source must have some level of professional or academic credibility. No tabloids, please.
Mr. Pores English Postings 
June 6, 2016 at 1:47 am |
Lipkin Sophia
This article is similar to what we are learning in class because it address topics in the Inferno of Dante. The article talks about how Dante’s vision of Hell differs from the Catholics and other religions. The main difference if focuses on is how in The Inferno of Dante, Hell is a physical place while in other religions it is an emotional state.
For years, preachers and painters have taken inspiration from The Inferno of Dante to create many paintings and physical descriptions. While Hell is thought of as a physical place, the Catholic Church has presented a different and modern interpretation of Hell. Their new belief is that Hell is an alienated, emotional state created by the dammed person and not as a punishment from God. The sinner deliberately rejects God and therefor enters into a self-inflicted state of pain. In this state, God doesn’t send the people to hell and people are not rewarded or punished by angles or demons. After the early 1960’s, Catholics started emphasizing the joy of God instead of the punishment. However, there is no doubt that Hell is real in the minds of the Pope and many other people. Many philosophy professors are discussing the similarities between the modern and original interpretation of Hell, including the fear of the unknown. However, many people still believe in the traditional version of Hell. Many paintings and other religious artworks depict the physical punishments that people believe in. However, many figures state that the punishments are symbols for the real punishment, eternal separation from God. The New Catechism was released by the Catholic Church in 1994 emphasizes that eternal separation from God is the primary punishment in Hell.
I am not sure if I enjoyed reading this article. I am not a religious person, so I did not connect with the article well. However, I did find parts of it interesting. I really found how the changing views of Hell to be interesting. I have always thought that people have always believed in a physical place, and the thought of emotional chaos and separation instead is slightly intriguing. Every piece of religious artwork I have seen that depicts Hell has always depicted it as an actual place, and I never considered that they could be symbolic instead. I also thought that the physical punishments for your sins were the main punishment in hell, not the separation from God. In The Inferno of Dante, separation from God was focused on in Limbo. I realize now that that punishment is inflicted and felt on every level of Dante’s Hell, not just in the first level. Every other level has two punishments while the first only has one. This is a very interesting concept to realize, and helps me understand ancient and modern views of Hell better. While I didn’t exactly enjoy reading the article, it does contain some interesting points and helped me understand how people view Hell better.
June 6, 2016 at 3:07 pm |
Marijke van der Geer
Pores
English, Period 2
6/6/2016
Final Independent Reading
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303663604579503700159096702
I chose this article because it is about how someone had interpreted Dante’s Inferno and how it helped them become a better person and get through a very hard time in their life, I found it very interesting to read and examine because it is crazy that a book can change and help someone’s life that much. This article relates to what we’re studying in class because, in class we’re studying the Inferno, and this article is about another aspect of studying it.
This article was about a man who began to go through a lot of depression and confusion after his sister died from cancer and he visited his hometown for her funeral. He found himself in a bookstore where he decided to pick up and start reading a copy of Dante’s Inferno. The author claimed that when he read the first canto, he related to Dante who had been lost in a dark forest with all the path’s blocked out. After reading that first canto he began to read the book and didn’t stop until he had read all three books of “The Divine Comedy”. The author then goes on to describe the plot of all three books. First how the Inferno isn’t just about gore and torture, but about “all sin is a function of disordered desire”. He then describes Purgatory and Paradise. The author talks about how he believes that Dante meant for these three books to be “self-help” books because they teach the reader to look back upon their live, the things they’ve done wrong, and the things that they dwell upon, and learn to let it go and be a better person by believing that God is there looking out for them.
I found this article very interesting because I was amazed that three books could have so much impact on a person’s life, and help the get through very difficult times in life. Personally, I disagree with the article because I don’t see how a book like that could change the way you look at life. However, I think that I just think that a book couldn’t have that much impact on MY life, but I can see how it could affect someone else. I do find it crazy that reading a book about a man going to hell, can help you reflect on your life, think about going on that journey yourself, and change your ways, attitude, and get through hard struggles that are burdening you. This article really helped me understand why we are studying the Inferno in English class, because I now understand that this book can change people’s lives and make them look at the world in a different way. I believe that we have had to study the Inferno because it can help us, as teenagers and freshman, learn that the things we do in life will always have consequences, and in order to avoid those consequences, we need to think about whether what we’re doing is morally right or wrong.
June 9, 2016 at 2:03 am |
Final Independent Reading Assignment
The Article I chose to read is titled “How Dante’s ‘Inferno’ Became Modern.” By Mary Jo Bang. The reason I chose to read this article was because it pertains to Dante’s Inferno, which we just finished reading in class. I also decided to read it because of the title suggesting a modern touch to a classic tale.
The article is about Mary Jo Bang’s approach on translating Dante’s Inferno. Rather than translate the poem word for word as countless other authors have, she decided to change some characters and instances to make the story more relatable to modern readers. She wanted to preserve the same allegorical power the poem had when it was first written, while also modernizing the epic. She tried to keep the framework of the poem intact while making occasional substitutions. For example, Ciacco, one of the shades in the third circle, is being pelted from above with sewer water. When asked what sin he committed, he responds gluttony. To find a name that would signify gluttony to readers in the 21st century, Bang turned to South Park’s Eric Cartman, a character defined by his selfish gluttony. By making substitutions like these, the reader can associate the characteristics of a well-known character to the punishment he receives in hell. Another example is Alichino, a devil clown who was substituted with John Garcy, a serial killer who worked as a clown for children’s parties and murdered 33 young men. Without a doubt, he is someone who definitely deserves a place in hell, and this substitution helps the reader picture the winged devils more vividly. These are just some examples of the way Mary Jo Bang chose to translate Dante’s Inferno.
In my opinion, modernizing characters from Dante’s Inferno with pop culture references as well as real figures from the news and media is a great idea to give a fresh feeling to Dante’s Inferno. It also allows for some creative comparisons to classic characters. The way Mary Jo Bang approached her translation reminds me of the movie “Romeo + Juliet” with Leonardo DiCaprio. It is a spin on a classic tale featuring modern references, much like Bang’s translation of Dante’s Inferno. The article gave me a better idea of what some of the characters in the poem are like, and also got me thinking of what characters I would have substituted if I had translated the poem, and for who. I believe that this article is helpful in giving some exposure to an original take on Dante’s Inferno, because without it, this adaption would fly right over our heads as another basic word for word translation that so many other authors have tried to sell. I found the article interesting and to the point.
The article can be found here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/53406-how-dante-s-inferno-became-modern.html
June 9, 2016 at 2:22 am |
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/origin-of-hell/41044.aspx
Why I Chose This Article:
I chose this article because I was curious as to how the idea of a hell or underworld originated. Most people know of this idea of hell and different people have different ideas as to what hell is. Different religions have different ideas of hell and certain religions don’t even believe in hell, but I don’t think many people know the true origins of hell, including myself.
Summary of the Article:
This is article was about, you guessed it, hell. More specifically, the origins of this idea of a hell. The authors of the article, Richard Burky and Jeannette B. Anderson, start off the article by describing how Christianity and Islam view hell. They do not exactly state or describe how hell originated in Christianity, but they do write about Augustine, a fourth-century bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who played a major role in the development of a hell. He did this by writing many books describing his idea of hell. He believed that those not baptized into orthodox Christianity are subject to punishment. Burky and Anderson also mention Dante Alighieri whose work influences Western society’s ideas of hell to this day. Moving backwards in time from there, the authors write about ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, India, Egypt, and Greece that had the idea of an underworld incorporated into their mythology. They then write about how Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle further developed the concepts of a life after death as Western philosophy rose. After this, the authors go back to the concept of religion, more specifically, the bible. They further describe hell as the Christians’ view it by citing chapters and verses from the bible.
Personal Thoughts:
Personally, I really enjoyed this article. It was really interesting to me, because most people know of an underworld or hell that may or may not exist, but I’ve never sat down and asked myself how the idea of an underworld originated. I found it interesting how hell is such a prominent idea in our society, but I have no clue as to its origins. I’ve always known that the ancient Egyptians believed in a life after death, but where that idea came from and how it has developed to the hell that most people think of now, I am not sure. This article didn’t really address how the idea of an underworld came to be other than the fact that ancient civilizations believed in a life after death, but I really liked how they went through the history of it and how the idea of hell developed through the years. I also really liked how Burky and Anderson wrote about the people that really contributed and helped developed the idea of a hell or underworld such as Dante Alighieri, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine. I didn’t really like that the article focused mainly on the bible and Christianity, but I think that’s only because I’m not really religious and don’t know much about it, so I wasn’t sure what they were talking about most of the time.
June 9, 2016 at 2:24 am |
Why I chose this article:
I chose this article because I wanted to find out more about the author of Dante’s Inferno. I thought maybe something in his life had influenced him to write this book. The book is considered the greatest work of literature composed in Italian so I figured the author must be someone very unique and incredible. This relates to what we are doing in class because we are currently reading and analyzing the book, Dante’s Inferno.
Summary:
In “Dante Biography”, an article by Biography.com, some light is shed on the life of Dante Alighieri, the famous writer of the epic three book long poem, The Divine Comedy. The article starts with an explanation of Dante’s early years in life. It explains how Dante was forced to marry a family friend but actually loved a different woman, Beatrice. She is said to have been a huge influence on his books and one of the reasons he wrote them. She died unexpectedly in 1290 prompting Dante to publish, The New Life, a book about his tragic love for her. The article next explains how Dante fell out of favor with the Florentine political scene and was exiled because of it. After his exile Dante traveled and began writing, The Divine Comedy. Later on in 1308, Henry of Luxembourg was elected as emperor causing Dante to write his famous work on the Monarchy. In this he claimed that the authority of the emperor was passed down to him directly from god and was not dependent on the pope. Dante died in 1321 after the completion of The Divine Comedy. The books show a visionary trip through the Christian afterlife and were written as a warning to a corrupt society to steer itself to the path of righteousness. Finally, the article states that Dante’s Divine Comedy has flourished for more than 650 years and is considered a major work in modern times.
Thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading this article because it helped me understand what events lead up to Dante writing his famous books and what they were really about. It was interesting to find out that Beatrice, the woman Dante loved, helped to influence the creation of his Divine Comedy. I also think it was amazing that Dante claimed to have experienced love at first sight although it was very sad that Beatrice died so unexpectedly. Without this happening I doubt his books would have ever been created. The article also helped me to really understand what the books were meant to be about. It explained how the books were about the Christian afterlife and the different realms of the dead. I thought it was interesting that the things Dante did pertaining to politics had such harsh consequences.His views caused him to be exiled first from Florentine. He was also permanently banned from another city when he wrote about his views on the emperor and how his authority descends from God and not the Pope. Overall I really enjoyed this article because it provided me with insight into the incredible mind behind Dante’s Inferno.
June 9, 2016 at 6:46 pm |
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Go-Hi/Hell.html
I chose this article because I wanted to see different people’s perspective on hell and what its like. As well as if what the inferno describes hell as is related to what some other religions believe too or if it is just a made up scene from Robert Pinsky’s mind to create a good story.
In this article, it describes various different aspects of what religions think hell is like. Some religions think that there are multiple different sections of hell. For example, Buddhists think that there are 136 sections of hell. Although Persians think that there is a bridge that will either lower them into hell or raise them into heaven. But to the Persians there is only one hell where everyone is punished no matter what they did. Although, all these different groups/religions think that people go to hell to be punished but a lot of them believe that after they serve their time their soul will be reborn. This is unlike the inferno because it is stated that they are tortured for eternity with no forgiveness. Christians believe in forgiveness so that people will be able to leave eventually but they still need to take the punishment that they deserve. Also they believe that this is the the home of Satan and any fallen angels. If you compare this to the inferno, it is not very similar because people are always punished and their is no such thing as forgiveness, but their views are somewhat related because Satan lives in both of them and there were a lot of bizarre monsters in the story which could have been fallen angles.
I enjoyed this article and it was extremely interesting and informational. It was very interesting because there were so many different perspectives that all had various points. I am a Christian so before this I only really knew about what my religion believes in but I found it astonishing that there was such a large range of beliefs. I’m not even sure how people come up with all these different views but ultimately they all believe that there is a hell there are just some minor details that make them different. But really in the end there is only going to be one not 8, 9, 10, etc. different hells. This article helped me to understand the concept of hell and what Dante traveled through and that hell is a place or suffering and helps bad people get what they deserve based on what they did, and that some people do not deserve as much torture as others. I believe that if some crimes were not that bad that instead of being punished forever that those people should get to leave after they have received the rightful amount of pain. For example, a murderer should stay in hell forever because he took something away from someone else but people who committed suicide made a mistake and they did not physically harm others.
June 9, 2016 at 11:10 pm |
Sara Eckmann
Mr. Pores
English per.2
10 June 2016
Dante’s Inferno Independent Reading
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/31/books/bringing-dante-into-the-realm-of-contemporary-english.html?pagewanted=all
I chose this article because I was interested in the translation of The Inferno and how easy or difficult it would be to translate it. After hearing it in Italian in class, I was wondering about the process it takes to get from Italian to English. I was curious about the steps of translating such an important historic novel and how difficult a task this actually was. I was interested in the many different parts there are to translating this novel from Italian.
I found a very interesting New York Times article about the translator Robert Pinsky and the process he took to translate The Inferno. The title of the article was “Bringing Dante into the Realm of Contemporary English”. The article began by saying that it is impossible to make a perfect translation of The Inferno and that such a thing does not exist. It explains how many different translators have tried over the years. Some have made a word for word, line by line translation of the Italian text. Others have made a literal prose translation, some keeping the rhyme and some not. There is no exact way to translate the Italian to English, since the language is very deep and contains rhyme scheme, rhythm, and meter, along with conveying the actual story. Because of all these reasons, translating this novel is a momentous task. Robert Pinsky’s version of The Inferno focuses on the terza rima rhyme scheme, or the triple rhyme scheme, which Dante created for The Inferno. This rhyme scheme is very tricky to translate. Instead of rhyming the lines perfectly, Pinsky made near rhymes, or slant rhymes (for example, died and vowed, or lewd and rolls). Writing triple rhyme in English is very difficult and takes years of working to accomplish the entire novel. Pinsky’s version is also not perfect, but it does “preserve both the rowdiness and the dignity of the original.”
I enjoyed reading this article and though it expanded my knowledge on the novel we are reading in class, Dante’s The Inferno. This article gave me an insight into the difficult world of translating novels into another language and what hard work it is to do it. It is not just about being able to speak both languages, but about really understanding the novel and the context behind it. You also need to be able to understand the rhyme scheme and meter the author used to write the novel. I thought this article was very interesting because it was a topic I didn’t really know about or understand before reading this article, so I’m very glad I chose to focus on this article for my independent reading. This really helped me to understand more deeply what we are doing in class, because I see both the Italian and the English words on either side of The Inferno book and now I know how difficult it was to accomplish that. I thought this article not only added to what we learned in class but it also was very interesting to read and learn about. It helped me to understand this novel that Dante wrote and see deeper into the specifics of his writing.
June 10, 2016 at 1:15 am |
Lieu, Timothy
Mr. Pores
English 1,2 Per. 2
9 June 2016
Final Independent Reading Assignment
Link: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-satan-exists
I chose the article, “Why Satan Exists” because in our class we were reading The Inferno of Dante which was about Dante traveling through hell. At the end of the book Dante also experiences Satan and so it intrigued me why Satan is there in hell. I was also curious as to why Satan is still existent since God really is believed to be all powerful.
The author, Bob Bevington, is very clear and confident in his belief and claim. He opens with the question of why Satan exists and says that he does simply because God allows it. God allows it for our happiness and his “glory.” Using excerpts from the Bible, Bevington proves his claim with three important reasons. The first being how Satan and other demons obey Christ. When Christ had his forty-day battle he had unmistakably won but had also commanded Satan to leave, and without resistance he did just that. The second is “the Hour” where God receives glory and his people are overjoyed by it. This hour was when God had only glorified his name in the face of darkness. That hour of darkness was also God’s hour of glory. The last is that Satan’s destiny is already spelled out and God will always prevail. That means the people won’t ever have to worry about being separated from God. His closing paragraph is about Spiritual Warfare. He states that it’s not about actual fighting or Satan and his demons, but it’s about the glorification of God and how that’s only possible with the darkness that is Satan. God needs a dark background to shine on in order to be truly expressed.
This article really explained a lot to me and although I’m not Christian or any of the other monotheistic cultures I could actually understand it. Even though I don’t know some of the events, I could understand Bevington’s point of view and it’s a very interesting one to me. I’ve never thought about how good can be using the bad in order to make themselves better, with the thought of God in mind. Of course it’s common but I wasn’t expecting that situation with God. It certainly makes good sense considering God’s power and its unusual thought process makes me wonder if many people have heard of it. His word’s and sources are very convincing but I’m not sure if I’d believe the idea completely. It’s a bit isolated in its thought process and it must be a bit offbeat to not be known about that well. All in all it was a very nice article to read and certainly got my mind working and thinking about the topic. It’s not an improbable one. Just unusual.
June 10, 2016 at 3:40 pm |
Vivian Zhang
Mr. Pores
English Period 2
8 June 2016
http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/legal-encyclopedia/domestic- violence-laws-
penalties.html
I chose this article because in Dante’s Inferno, souls that have committed violence
are left in the seventh circle of Hell to suffer various consequences. There are three rings
in that circle and the souls are placed in a certain ring based on the type of violence
they’ve performed. The outer ring contains those who have showed violence against
other people and their property and are immersed in a bloody river of fire. The middle
ring is the ring of suicides. These souls are trapped in the figures of bushes and trees,
unable to move, as harpies rip them apart. The inner ring punishes those who show
violent against nature and God. They are left in the blazing dessert as burning rain pours
onto them. In reality, the punishments are a lot different.
Many violent people avoid their punishments and most that are caught, aren’t
punished for eternity. Their retributions can’t even compare to the suffering in Hell.
Whether it is threatening harm towards others or harming them physically, if you are
caught, you’re going to jail. Murderers spend years in prison and sometimes their entire
lifetime. Small punishments in Alabama such as stalking others can lead to years or a
lifetime in prison. Even if the victim does not have any injuries, there still will be time
served in prison. When committed a crime, the information goes on your personal record
holder and can prevent you from going to other places in the world. When there is a
permanent abuse found in your record holder, it gives you less access and freedom to
things you want to do. When you have broken a law then break another, the punishment
adds on. Even if it’s the same crime, your term in jail lengthens. With every crime also
comes a fine. Violence against others can cost up to a few thousand dollars as wells as
time served in prison. There are various punishments for different crimes in different
parts of the world, but there isn’t a possible payment to others for suicide.
I think the punishments in reality is a lot less severe in reality than in Hell, and
doesn’t teach the criminal a lesson about what they have done. In the seventh circle, the
criminals have an eternity to suffer and think about their past actions. The punishments in
Hells is also a lot worse in that they feel tremendous pain every second for the rest of
eternity. But similarly, mistakes are made too. Some people are punished for no reason in
reality and many didn’t deserve to be tortured in Hell. However, people who are sent to
Hell are there for a reason. If something they did had violated the rules in their lives, they
are not given another chance. But in reality, many criminals manage to escape the
consequences without others even knowing. In Hell, there is a punishment for suicide, a
violent action performed on yourself. But in reality, you can’t possibly punish someone
for what they’ve done if they’re already dead. When committing a crime and sent to
prison, you also have to pay a fee which to me, doesn’t make much sense. This is because
I feel once the criminal has been freed from jail, they wouldn’t have as much money as
they did before and would more likely want to commit a crime to live a better life. But
these rules exist for a reason. They help people understand what is wrong to do in this
world and how to avoid it.
June 10, 2016 at 9:14 pm |
Kenneth Bach
Mr. Pores
English P.2
Independent Reading: “Crime and Punishment Inside Prisons”
Link: http://people.howstuffworks.com/prison3.htm
I chose this article to relate the punishments of modern prisons to the punishments of Hell in The Inferno of Dante. In Hell there are the nine circles, starting from the least sinful at the first circle and the most sinful at the ninth. I want to know if modern prisons also have a way of determining the severity of the prisoner’s punishment because of what they did before getting caught.
In modern day prisons, the punishments range from receiving referrals called “shots”, to the transfer of an inmate to a different, high-security prison. There are different forms of these punishments depending on the prison, but the most general ones are: Solitary confinement, Removal of ”good behavior” time, Transfer to a lower prison job, Loss of items, Transfer of prisons, or just getting marked with “shots”. The other punishments already have their descriptions, but for “shots”, they are like referrals to the inmates prison file, and it is only gained by minor infractions and the amount will be taken into consideration when the inmate requests an additional privilege like a better job. There are also informal punishments that guards can give right away without any hearing or trial, such as raiding a prisoner’s cell for contraband, while also ruining other possessions they have. Guards can also beat inmates with physical force if they disobey any direct orders, or if there is uproar in the courtyard, then the guards will not hesitate to shoot shotguns into the crowd. Punishments can also be given by other prisoners, such as when an inmate “snitches” on another after witnessing a beating or murder; that inmate will receive some violent payback.
These prison punishments compared to Dante’s “Inferno” are somewhat similar except for the fact that prison can be temporary. The souls in the Inferno are tortured there forever and the punishments they have are based on what happened while they were alive. I believe that Dante might have gotten some inspiration from the prisons during his lifetime for his Inferno. There are also innocent people that really shouldn’t belong in these places. In prison, people get framed or are mistaken for someone else, and they have to suffer for something they didn’t do. In the Inferno, there is the soul of Pier della Vigna which is trapped in a tree for committing self-violence. He was basically bullied by others because they were envious of his social status, until they framed him for treason, which lead to him being exiled and blinded. At this, he kills himself and ends up in the seventh circle of Hell, which I don’t think is right. I think there should be a secondary prison for a person who was supposedly framed, especially when the public also claims that the person was framed. This prison should be like a solitary, until the framed person is put on trial. These people shouldn’t have to suffer in the real prisons with actual convicts.
June 11, 2016 at 1:04 am |
Maravilla, Javier
English Period 2
June 10, 2016
Final Independent Reading
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9631281/doing-right-thing
I choose the article called doing the right thing because the book The Inferno, it was about going to hell for doing the wrong things in life. This article is about doing the right things even when nobody is watching. There is always a consequence for every action that’s why many people in the book went to hell for doing the wrong thing. By the end of the book the main character, Dante, learns many things from his experiences seeing many people suffering for what they have done in life and tries changing the ways of life.
What this article is about 4 kids going to the store without anybody being in there to check up on them. They went to go get supplies for football and they paid in the store in front of the surveillance camera so people wouldn’t think that they are stealing because that would be the wrong thing to do without paying. The kids also went to the store next to them and said that the store was open and nobody was there to take the money. The store next to the store that got “robbed” called the manager that they just got robbed but 4 kids. But when the manager and his employees saw that the kids did the right decision, they noticed that this has never happened throughout life. The kids were on T.V and said to the news that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, because they were really buff but everybody has a soft spot to them. These kids knew that if they ever did such a bad thing that the consequence would be really bad but not everybody is bad, you need to have faith in people no matter what they look like.
I thought that this article was very interesting because it like the world is really changing and that many people are looking at different paths to take in life. I really liked this article also because its true, you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Such as an example, a guy might be really buff and do lots of sports but that doesn’t mean that they do bad in class and get really bad academic grades. This has never happened it lifetime history were someone just walks into a store without anybody being there but still pays for what they have took and showing honesty by telling others that they paid their supplies and telling them that the store was opened this was probably the first time this has ever happened and there are many other people that can change their paths and seeing things the right way. May seen like people may be bad or evil but everybody need to have some faith that they can be good and do the right thing.
June 11, 2016 at 1:19 am |
Ashley Casden
Mr. Pores
June 10, 2016
English, Period 6
Final Independent Reading
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2012/05/09/how-the-church-has-changed/
I chose this article because Dante’s Inferno is based a lot about Christian beliefs. Due to the fact that Dante’s Inferno was written in the early 1300’s, I was curious if Christianity changes throughout time. Though the belief of Hell, Heaven, and Purgatory still remain as a part of Christianity, the description of Hell do not match modern interpretation. This article is about the changes in Christianity from one generation to the next.
Scot McKnight, professor at Northern Seminary in IL explains some of the many changes that Christianity has gone through in a time frame as small as a few generations. McKnight explains what many of the changes he experienced as Christianity changed. Some of these changes include small churches being replaced by “megachurches”, pastors would once pray for everything at length, style, and music. He explains how, at one time, music was sung from hymnbooks while a choir wearing robes would sing. Nowadays, many churches do not use hymnbooks and instead, young people will play their music and “danced or hopped”. It is also explained how the style of clothing people wear has gotten much more casual. Less than a century ago, boys would wear a coat and tie with leather shoes while women would wear dresses. Many examples of where tradition and formal happenings becoming more causal were given. One of the most noticeable examples given was that people have many different churches to choose from. People are not stuck inside their local church but instead have the ability to switch to whatever church they felt matched with their own personal; beliefs. In all, McKnight gave 12 differences and changes that occurred in Christian traditions in less than a century.
Though I did not agree with the negative tone the author was placing on changes done in the church, I can understand clearly what the purpose of this article is. It helped me understand the Inferno a little bit better because McKnight is very religious much like Dante. As a person who has limited knowledge of Christianity, this article was a great amount of help to understanding some of the main ideas in Christianity. This article was also very interesting because McKnight possesses many beliefs people nowadays may consider to be “old-fashioned”. For instance, dancing is one of the things McKnight lists with smoking, drinking, and having sex. Today, dancing is an acceptable action as long as it remains appropriate. McKnight also disapproves of reading text off of a screen instead of from a physical copy of a book. One of the things I disagree on is how, for the eighth example that is given, McKnight does not rely on evidence or facts but instead claims that, “Church in my youth smelled holy; it smells love today.” Perhaps there is a certain smell the McKnight associates with holiness but by definition, a smell cannot be holy. All of McKnight’s other examples are based off of facts. If Christian traditions and churches can change this much in less than a century, Christianity can change a lot from the time Dante’s Inferno was written to now.
June 11, 2016 at 4:03 am |
Jonas Schulson
Mr. Pores
English, Period 2
7 June 2016
Dante’s Inferno and the Modern World
Article link: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/53406-how-dante-s-inferno-became-modern.html
As we read and discussed Dante’s Inferno both individually and as a class, curiosity continuously led me to wonder how the Inferno could correlate to the real world. In 2012, Mary Jo Bang wrote an article expressing how she translated Dante’s Inferno to fit the modern society that we live in.
While Mary Jo Bang was translating the Inferno, she was focused on staying away from the bulk of the other translations. Bang was focused on creating an adaption in a colloquial English, just as Dante wrote his infamous poem in Tuscan instead of the traditional Latin. When Dante wrote his poem with a sense of realism by incorporating names of places and cultural artifacts, and by creating both real and literary characters. To make Dante’s Hell feel like it was occurring in the present moment, Bang wanted to have the same symbolic power that Dante possessed. She managed to accomplish this by incorporating elements of today’s cultural landscape. Some of her allusions include Star Trek, Jekyll and Hyde, and the Rolling Stones. “Dante’s time and place, and his consciousness, are in the original Inferno; in my translation, a contemporary consciousness has been folded into the poem” (Bang 1). Mary Jo Bang has created an Inferno with today’s ideas in mind. Dante’s Inferno signified gluttony, a vital part of his epic, though a fictional character (Ciacco). Just as Dante signified gluttony, Bang had to as well. She accomplished this by using Ciacco’s traits, selfishness and a wry sense of humour, to think of a character. Bang thought of the character Eric Cartman from the television show South Park. Eric is,“defined by his persistent selfish gluttony” (Bang 1). This made him a snug fit for Bang’s modern translation of the Inferno, coining the character of gluttony Eric Cartman.
Mary Jo Bang’s article was very engaging. She continued to provide examples of characters that she used in her modern translation of the Inferno. This was both amusing and intriguing. I was amused in a sense that I recognized her characters from real television shows, movies, and other sorts of media. It was almost difficult to imagine characters such as Eric Cartman from South Park reside in hell, yet at the same time it felt fitting. Seeing that her adaption of the Inferno was viewed through today’s eyes, the characters that she used as examples seemed to fit like puzzle pieces. The next character that Bang explained was one of the devils, name Alichino. To discover her modern character, she analyzed the name Alichino, and discovered it meant devil-clown. In substitution of this devil-clown, she placed John Wayne Gacy, someone who deserved to be in Dante’s Hell. John Wayne Gacy was a serial killer who entertained at children’s parties as a clown. At the time, the media gave Gacy the name “Killer Clown.” Once again, I felt that her character choice was a suitable embodiment of a devil-clown. I appreciated reading Mary Jo Bang’s strategies of incorporating today’s characters into her modern translation of the Inferno.
Works Cited
Bang, Mary Jo. “How Dante’s ‘Inferno’ Became Modern.”PublishersWeekly.com. PWxyz, 03 Aug. 2012. Web. 8 June 2016.
June 11, 2016 at 5:02 am |
Victoria Rednoske
Period 2
Seminar English 1,2
Pores 6/9/16
Independent Reading
Link to article: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/53406-how-dante-s-inferno-became-modern.html
I chose this article because it obviously relates to the book we just finished reading in class and it was our assignment. I found it interesting that the title was how the story became modernized because since the book is so disturbing and foul, I really wanted to know how that could translate to now.
In the article written by Mary Jo Bang, a poet, she discusses her approaches to how she was able to translate the book into a more modern version, without taking away its essence. She explained how she wanted to substitute certain parts of the poem for more modern connections. She quickly summarizes a few of the cantos and their main characters and punishments, the correlates each character to someone similar that is a modern person or someone that wasn’t alive during the 13th century. She explained that she was trying to replicate the journey while adding modern characters and twists, without compromising the integrity of the original book. The book was meant to help teach humans about their morals and the consequences we can receive if we choose to break them. Bang wanted to keep this theme in her translation, just in a more colloquial english form.Overall, the purpose of this article was to explain to her readers her process of how she was able to translate “The Inferno of Dante” into a more modern and maybe even a more clear english version of the horrific journey. She broke down the steps to finding a person that would best correlate with a character in the book to allow the reader to understand the meaning behind the punishments and actions of the story. By making these connections, she was able to modernize the book.
After reading this article, I thought it made complete sense to create this translation. While reading the book, I had to reread many of the cantos and really think and process all the sentences that were being put in front of me. It was one of the hardest pieces of material I have had to interpret so it really made me think which was good. What Mary Jo Bang did, I feel like, was a very smart thing so many more people could hopefully understand the book better and can recognize certain characters in the troy to provide that better understanding. Her article provided many examples which was beneficial. This allowed me to see what she was talking about. Even I recognized some of the substitute characters she used and explained that how correlate to the characters in the book. This definitely helped my understanding of the book. I do agree with this article because I do agree with the idea of making a modern translation so younger or less experienced readers can still enjoy the same plot, but somewhat simplified. Therefore, I can honestly say that my comprehension of the story has been made easier because of this article. She explained many of the crimes that were committed in the book, which was helpful since i did not know what some of them were.
June 11, 2016 at 5:26 am |
Lauren Stack
Mr. Pores
English, Period 2
8 June 2016
Independent Reading Assignment
Link: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2016/03/03/inferno-dante-never-took-sat/PdtlmZ9eSzxiUISliCcjSO/story.html
During our study of Dante’s Inferno, I enjoyed the fantastical element of it, but I have wondered how this could apply to modern life. Life was very different during Dante’s lifetime and his depiction of hell is like nothing on Earth. During my searching for an article, I came across a piece that touched on my interest. The author, Taryn Plumb, discusses a play that high schoolers from Kentucky put on, based on the Inferno and the SAT. The students wrote and performed a play about the SAT, and related it to Dante’s journey through hell. Not only did I find this comical, but it also showed how Dante’s writing may be applicable today.
The article describes the play that students from the Lexington Christian Academy put on regarding the SAT and Dante’s Inferno. The play, called “Standardize Me”, has comic potential and is meant to be a mockery of the impersonal aspect of standardized testing, where students feel like they are just another test score. It takes place in a testing room, where each test taker from different backgrounds tell their story incorporated with small portions of Dante’s own writing. This format mimics the one used by Dante; where Dante and Virgil approach sinners and hear the story of how and why they are trapped in this level of hell. In the article, Plumb also discusses how the actors feel about the play. Most of them can relate to the stress, pressure, and chaos that comes with standardize testing, like the SAT. Audience members can also relate to their high school experience through this play, which has made it popular. The play itself has been performed four times and at theatrical festival in Massachusetts. The play shows how the Inferno can be similar to today’s student life and many people can connect to it, even though the story it is based off of is a journey through hell.
The article describes how the play brings up the impersonality of today’s standardized testing. I agree with the stance the playwrights take in this theatrical performance. They make it comical and a mockery, which lightens the tone of a relatively serious subject for students, but still manage to convey the feelings test takers have. I can relate to how students feel when approaching large tests. Students feel enormous amounts of stress, pressure, and sometimes panic, which at times can be hard to handle. Students can feel at times, like they are defined by the scores they receive on these tests as well. The author of the article did a fantastic job of peaking my interest in this play. The topic was something I could relate to, not only with my study of the Inferno, but as a student. She gave me just enough information to make me see the connections between Dante’s work and make me want to go and see the play, but didn’t give away too much to ruin it. The way Plumb portrays the modern spin in this play on Dante’s Inferno helped me see how daily life can be connected to a fantastical story from centuries before modern day.
June 12, 2016 at 4:10 am |
Mia Pearson
Mr. Pores
English, Period 6
June 11, 2016
Independent Reading
Link to article: http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/what-are-seven-deadly-sins
I chose an article about the seven deadly sins, because I find it interesting and it relates to the Dante’s Inferno. For some belief systems, people who sin and don’t believe in God spend eternity in Hell after they die, whereas the people who do believe in God spend their afterlife in Heaven. According to the website I chose, there are seven deadly sins and all of them are forgivable if the person who committed them asks God for mercy. Dante had to go through Hell, where all the sinners go, before being able to see his love in Heaven. Dante’s journey through Hell, seeing all the sinners and souls being punished made him realize that he was living wrong.
This article opens up by listing each of the seven deadly sins (envy, gluttony, greed or avarice, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath) and briefly describing them. The author of the article discusses how these seven deadly sins are caused by the human desires for excessive things and that we can live without doing the sins. The author, who does not give a name, claims that the deadly sins can be cured when God gives you a new heart and you walk in His ways, thus living a holier life than before. A brief history of the seven deadly sins is given, as well as evidence from quotes in the bible pertaining to the sins. There are seven virtues, which are kind of the exact opposites of the deadly sins. Each of the seven virtues (kindness, temperance, charity or love, chastity or self-control, humility, diligence or zeal, and patience) “cure” each of the seven deadly sins; they go together. For example, if someone was sinning by being envious of someone, they could cure it by asking God for forgiveness and then trying to act with more kindness. At the end of the article, there is a helpful infographic that lists each of the deadly sins, gives verses from the bible that mention them, and then cures for them.
I liked this article and I found it very interesting. I think it helped me understand Dante’s inferno a little more as well. I appreciated the deadly sins infographic at the end because it made the whole article more understandable for me. Something I like about learning about these seven deadly sins is you don’t necessarily have to be religious to “change your ways”, you can just turn it around and try to be a better person, living the seven virtues. According to the article, the seven deadly sins are forgivable by God. So, if Dante wanted to turn around his life, he could repent and live a holy life, and follow the seven virtues. The only sin that is unforgivable is “complete rejection and rebellion against God’s grace, aka blasphemy against the holy spirit.” When I read this, it made me think of the ninth level of Hell with the worst souls (including Judas Iscariot), and overall helped me understand the last canto of Dante’s Inferno. The souls in this level were considered the worst because they were traitors against their masters. Judas never was forgiven for what he did in the bible because he literally turned against God, and that is unforgivable.
June 12, 2016 at 9:39 pm |
Kate Encio
Mr. Pores
English, Period 6
12 June 2016
Independent Reading Assignment
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/33331/self_improvement_and_motivation/life_is_about_choices_and_the_decisions_we_make.html
The article, “Life is About Choices and the Decisions We Make” by Dr. Janette Marie Freeman, is about how life contains endless decisions that you have to make everyday. Whether these choices are good or bad, we all have to make some. These decisions may lead to happiness or consequences. Though, not every single choice you make may not be the brightest or smartest decisions. That is was life is about. Choices. Freeman makes an analogy that “life is like a road.” She says, “You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. “ This means that you don’t know where life will take you, unless you make a choice that will influence your life overall. In this article, Freeman describes all the outcomes of one choice. A choice is a very important decision to make when your life is on the line. You can choose to take risks that can greatly impact your decision beneficially or harmfully. In order to make a decision, you must be confident and you have to think about how it will affect you, as well as, how will it affect others. You must think about all the consequences that come along with your decision. Life is truly based on the path you choose to take and that is the path that will lead you somewhere.
The reason I chose this article, was because it is about how life is filled with decisions and choices. This topic relates to the book “The Inferno of Dante”, by Robert Pinsky, because in this book Dante, the main character, meets people of the underworld that committed suicide. So I chose this article on how to make decisions because the people, who committed suicide in the book, did not make very wise decisions. The choice you make can be a matter of life or death.
I thought this article was very intriguing because Freeman included a very nice analogy to life. She compared life to variety of roads. While I was reading this article, it made me think of the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost. This poem was also about making decisions. In the article, Freeman described many outcomes of making a decision, depending on the situation. I agree with Freeman on how life is full of decisions, because if you didn’t make decisions, then you wouldn’t be able to continue life. And if you didn’t continue life, you would just be stuck in the same place as before. I also agree how life is a road, and you don’t know where it will take you, unless you make detours or choices to alter your path. I think that this article helped me better understand how the suicides in “The Inferno of Dante” occurred. The people who killed themselves must’ve thought it was better to die so it can relieve them from all the distress that has occurred to them while they were still alive. They made the decision to free themselves from pain and go to a place where they think they will be happier. Overall, decision-making is very important in life. The decisions we make can make huge impacts on our life, whether they are good or bad ones.
June 12, 2016 at 10:26 pm |
Dylan Yee
Mr. Pores
English Per. 6
6/7/16
Independent Reading Assignment
“How Dante’s ‘Inferno’ Became Modern” is directly related to what we are learning in class. We are reading Dante’s Inferno and learning about the different people in Dante’s time, and his depiction on Hell and everyone in it. Not only that, but we are reading a somewhat modern interpretation on the classic novel.
“How Dante’s ‘Inferno’ Became Modern” by Mary Jo Bang is about her new Dante’s Inferno book and how she went about translating the older version. For example, some people may not know about the citizens Dante put in his story, so she had to come up with names that both were understood to the modern audience, but also keep the meaning behind the original name. For instant, Dante named one of his characters Ciacco. Ciacco is a nickname for “hog” or “glutton,” but not many people know that. “As a translator, I needed to find a name that would signify gluttony for American readers in 2012, the way the name Ciacco did for Dante’s Italian readers in the 1300’s…” So she thought of Eric Cartman from South Park. He has a selfish gluttony to him, he’s fat, and he even played Porky Pig from Looney Tunes in a special episode once. He was a perfect fit. Another example is the devil that Dante named Alichino. He’s a devil-clown character down in the eighth circle of Hell. When she tried thinking of a name, she remembered John Wayne Gacy, a serial-killer found guilty of raping and murdering thirty three men. What stood him apart from all the other killers in the world was that he was an entertainer at children’s parties. As a result, she made Gacy the new clown-devil. Bang doesn’t go much farther in depth about how she translated the rest of the book, as she probably wants you to read it and find out yourself. But she did say that, “Translators often have fun with these names, since it appears Dante himself was having fun.”
I enjoyed reading this article and would definitely recommend reading it. When searching for the article, I thought it was just going to be another boring story that just so happened to be what we are learning, but I found it to be really fascinating. I thought it was interesting how translators go about naming characters from a long time ago. I never realized they just think about current people in the real world that have acted like those characters in the story. I thought it would take months to come up with a name suitable for that character. I guess not. Plus, according to Bang, translators have fun coming up with the names. But then it got me thinking, why change the name in the first place? I understand that people wouldn’t understand the meaning of the old names, but that doesn’t mean they will understand the meaning of the new names either. The translation we read kept the original names, so we learned about these people as we read along thanks to a glossary in the back. Plus, changing all the names would lose the whole idea of learning about the people back in Dante’s time. But if Bang or any other translator came up with the perfect set of names, then I’m all in for it.
June 12, 2016 at 10:34 pm |
Logan Quessenberry
Mr. Pores
English, Per. 2
6/12/12
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/53406-how-dante-s-inferno-became-modern.html
I chose this article because it is about a modern translation of Dante Alighieri’s epic the Inferno which is what we read in class. We are not reading this translation, but I still found it interesting that people take this amount of liberty with the classic. I have found that really what one must do to get the best experience is to learn Italian and read the epic in its intended language.
The article basically explains that Mary Jo Bang’s translation is modernized by replacing his references of thirteen hundreds literary references, with more modernized references using pop culture. A few examples are given in the article, “…Prufrock, Star Trek, Jekyll and Hyde…” and more. One example that is given is about the glutton Ciacco in Canto VI. In the original language, when the name is used as a nickname it means hog or glutton. Mary’s translation needs to find a name that symbolizes gluttony in the same way Ciacco did for Dante’s readers in the thirteen hundreds. She thought of Eric Cartman from the TV series South Park. The names share the hard c sound so it would work well. In another example one of the demons in Dante’s hell was called Alichino which combines the word for wings and harlequin, a devil clown from medieval passion plays. As she was thinking about what modern names could fit the description of demon clown, a name of someone who deserved to be in Dante’s hell, she thought of John Wayne Gacy. John Wayne Gacy was a serial killer who entertained at children’s parties as a clown. The media called him the “Killer Clown.” Found guilty of killing and raping thirty-three young men, some of which had corpses found in the crawl space beneath his house. He seemed to be a perfect embodiment of the words Demon-Clown.
I very much enjoyed this article, as it shows that classic literature can be subject to modernization. If we had read this translation I am sure I would’ve probably been able to read it in class without needing the context notes. The downside to modernization, and even translation, is that you lose some of the charm that the book has. The little references to things that people who lived today will not get that makes thirteenth century readers laugh or cry or emote in general, that is what made the Inferno, the Inferno. If you were to write a book today using pop culture as we know it, would it be understandable in fifty years? Would it have the same effect as a book written in that time period with the same plot? These are the questions that are posed when modernization happens. This article did help me learn about the Inferno and how it made all these little pop culture references to Florence in the thirteen hundreds. Dante put the politicians of the day, the same politicians that had exiled him from his home in Italy, into hell. He made jokes that go completely over the heads of readers today. I am glad some writers put it into today’s terms for people who didn’t live in the thirteen hundreds.
June 12, 2016 at 11:11 pm |
Fishell, Josetta
Mr. Pores
Seminar English, P.6
1 June, 2016
Hell: Origins of an Idea
I chose this article because the book we are currently reading, Dante’s Inferno, is about Hell, and it is viewed from the author, which is Christian. I was wondering how the idea and view of Hell developed. Also, since I am also a catholic (type of Christian), I was wondering what the view from other Christians of Hell is like.
In “Hell: Origins of an Idea”, the authors, Richard Burly and Jeannette B. Anderson, go into depth of the ideas of Hell that have developed over time. This article basically shows the concepts of hell taught in Christianity and Jewish beliefs. Anderson and Burly use the Bible and People of the Book, since they both have similar ideas. The article first explains how the concept of hell was first also accompanied by judgement, as it is now. This is because to decide whether you go to heaven, hell, or purgatory, you’re sins must be judged and accounted for. The authors continue to explain more about how in the beginning of the Christian religion, an author, Augustine, wrote several books (we consider them ‘literary works of Western Civilization’), in which he briefly described Hell looking like a “lake of fire and brimstone… which torment the bodies of the damned,” Augustine also stated that “those who disbelieve in our revelations, we will condemn them to the hellfire,” basically saying that those who are not Christian will go to Hell. This article also briefly speaks about the appearance and concept of Hell in “Dante’s Inferno”. The concept shared in the book is from beliefs from philosophers of time periods around B.C.E. Richard and Jeannette describe how in the Bible (the Old Testament), it states that when we die, we simply go to ‘the grave’. The idea of Hell didn’t really appear until the Hellenistic period, in which it spread to many religions. In the New Testament, a place like our vision of Hell, is described briefly, as a place to dump and burn trash.
This article really helped me understand the views of Hell better. It helped me visualize how Hell looked in the book we read in class, “Dante’s Inferno”. Also, it made me consider how different my view of Hell was compared to how it is actually described in old texts, like the Bible. This article also referenced some of the minor characters from “Dante’s Inferno”, which helped me understand why they were in a particular circle of Hell. Although this article did help a lot, I thought it was quite boring. It had plenty of good information, but some of it was unnecessary and confused me. But, I did understand most of the things from the article; like the references to people and events from the Bible. I found it interesting that there were so many literary pieces from different religions that described Hell, all of which are similar, but can be slightly different. Also, something else I found interesting was that the authors included the translation of a word from one of the literary pieces, since they were in different languages.
Link: http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/origin-of-hell/41044.aspx
June 13, 2016 at 12:02 am |
Zachary Plaster
Mr. Pores
English, Period 2
6/2/16
Dante’s Word Press
The article is an explanation of Dante’s view of Hell. It explains how contrapasso works. It talks about how the punishments are equally to the sins committed by the person being punished. It talks about how the punishments are supposed to be metaphorically related and not just blatantly obvious to the sin.
I chose this article because it helped explain the story better. It explained parts that I didn’t really understand and explained how the punishments were chosen. This helped me understand the punishments and how they fit the sins committed by the culprits.
This article was very helpful. I agree with what the authors were trying to do when they created this article. It helped me understand the punishments bestowed upon the people that have committed sins to be in Hell. It also explained big parts of the story because a lot of the information comes from the punishments and sins committed. This article showed and explained how the punishments related to the sins. It also helped explain how the circles of Hell are seperated and how the sins they fit into the rings.
http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/past-issues/issue-2/kameen/
June 13, 2016 at 1:02 am |
Morgan Wills
Mr. Pores
English, P.2
June 10, 2016
http://www.equip.org/bible_answers/are-there-degrees-of-punishment-in-hell/
Final Independent Reading Assignment
In class we just finished reading Dante’s Inferno, which is a story of a mortal having a journey through hell. The article I chose talks about the circles of hell, which are mentioned in Dante’s Inferno as well. I was wondering if the circles in hell in Dante’s Inferno corresponded to the circles in what people believe to be real “Hell.”
The article explained how there are different degrees in Hell for different crimes. It expands on the fact that not all existence in Hell is equal. The author states that, “God is perfectly just and will reward and punish each person in accordance with what he or she has done.” (Hanegraaff 1). Hanegraaff explains that God believes every sin is done in spite of him. Therefore, he chooses their punishments based on their betrayal to him. Another point that the author makes is that those who disobey and know what they are doing is wrong will be tortured much worse than those who do not know. The metaphor of physical torture is used to warn people of what will come when they disobey God. The last point that the author makes is that it is common sense that all punishments in Hell are not created equal. This is because not all sins are created equal, so why would everyone have the same punishments for different levels of sins. For example, why should a mass murder, and someone who told a small lie be put to the same eternal torture and punishments. The author expands on all the points he made with examples from the Bible.
I do not know if I agree or disagree with the author. I agree with the fact that not all punishments should be equal if the sins are different, but we do not have real proof of if that is how it is in Hell. We do not know if Hell is real, and we may never know. I am not a very religious person, so I do not know much about Heaven, Hell, or even God. We cannot base our ideas of Hell and the afterlife based on books and ideas from people who lived hundreds and thousands of years ago. If there is really a Hell, I do agree with the author on the fact that God decides on the punishments based on the sins, and that there is different degrees in Hell. I found this article and topic very interesting because almost all of this information was new to me, because I have not learned much about Hell, besides what we have talked about in Dante’s Inferno. I enjoyed reading this article as well as the book, Dante’s Inferno, because they corresponded and had similar information that interested me because I was learning it all on the spot.
June 13, 2016 at 1:39 am |
Alexi Wyckoff
Period 6
6/1/16
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Dante_Alighieri.aspx
I chose this article for many reasons. I chose it because I think it is good to know about the author that writes the book you are reading. I feel that you could understand it more and maybe it would be easier to see from his point of view. It relates to what we are studying in class because we are reading one of Dantes books called Dantes Inferno.
Dante was born in Florence, and is the son of Bellincione d’alighieri. When he lived in Italy it was the age of political conflict between popes and emperors and of strife of the Italian cities. The article tells us about his family and how they had to live under modest circumstances but Dante was able to live as a gentleman and pursue to his studies. He attended the Franciscan school of Sta Croce and the Dominican school of S. Maria Novella in Florence, where he gained the knowledge of Thomistic doctrine and of the mysticism that was going become the foundation of his philosophical culture. When his father died he followed his arrangements and married Gemma di Manetto Donati, they had two sons and a daughter. A famous portrait of the Dante made by Giotto hangs in the Palazzo del Podestà in Florence. They have a description of the way he looked described by the author Giovanni Boccaccio: “Our poet was of medium height, and his face was long and his nose aquiline and his jaws were big, and his lower lip stood out in such a way that it somewhat protruded beyond the upper one; his shoulders were somewhat curved, and his eyes large rather than small and of brown color, and his hair and beard were curled and black, and he was always melancholy and pensive.” Dante also never wrote about his marriage or family. Early in life Dante began to compose poetry. The article also talks a lot about his masterpiece he completed shortly before he died called The Divine Comedy.
I liked this article and thought it was very interesting. I think it is cool how Dante achieved many things while still doing his studies and not letting them be interrupted. He fought with the Florence calvary at the battle of Campaldino, and became a member of the peoples council and still managed to achieve his goals.
June 13, 2016 at 2:34 am |
Brenn Bragado
5 June 2016
Pores
English, Period 6
S. Taylor, “The Real Meaning of ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’”
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-darkness/201308/the-real-meaning-good-and-evil
I chose this article due to its relation of good vs evil, a similar theme recognized in Dante’s Inferno. The article defines “evil” people as “those who are unable to empathize with others…their own needs and desires are of paramount importance. They are selfish, self-absorbed and narcissistic,” which is comparable to the Christian belief that sinners purposely injure others, nature, art, or God, as well as their excess gain of “self-love”, a term that is used to describe a personal regard of one’s happiness, while losing their regard of others. Those with these traits would be sent to hell. In the Inferno, there is an aspect of humanity that Dante possesses as he made conversations to the shades, listening to their stories and asking them questions about life, which lead to Dante feeling pity for them. The article notes that the justice system used in Europe can be more effective than the American one, as it lets the perpetrators meet the victims and see how their actions and behaviors affect the latter’s lives. The same aspect of humanity is found in this scenario as the perpetrators often sympathizes with the victims.
“The Real Meaning of ‘Good’ and Evil’ is written by Steve Taylor Ph.D, a lecturer and a best selling author in psychology. The article itself, comes from a blog known as “Out of Darkness”, where the writer talks about suffering and awareness. He describes how the terms, “good” and “evil” are often simplified and that human nature tends to be much more complex than a categorization of actions. The article then goes to define what they mean and gave examples of people who show qualifying attributes of both, listing the likes of Gandhi and MLK for good, and Hitler and Stalin for bad. After clearing up the distinction between the two sides, Taylor claims that people, in general, “lie somewhere between the extremes”, which adds to the notion that we are in a gray area of morality and that sometimes our behavior can waver between the two. It also mentions that being able to feel empathy or not “aren’t fixed”, but rather can be grown, as seen in spiritual traditions where people become more connected and benevolent among each other. This does exclude those with psychopathy, who are unable to make those judgements. The author also recognizes that restorative justice is a better way to punish those who have done wrong by exposing them to the consequences of their actions and the effects they had on other’s lives. This way, instead of locking them up to prevent them from doing it again and to make them learn their lesson, takes advantage of the sympathy, as mentioned before, of the perpetrators have for the victims, in order to rehabilitate them.
I agree, for the most part, of what this person is saying, however he did claim that “evil is an aberration…which only emerges when we are broken off into disconnected fragments.” That is a general statement, where there are examples throughout history of people committing evil, rather than due to a lost of empathy for others, but as way to do what they need to do to, like support a family, or that they had no other option left. Taylor’s comparisons and stance on the fluidity of human nature helped me understand why the sinners in the Inferno were labeled as such and even though they were, Dante still felt sadness for them being there. Overall, I thought that the article was interesting and had a good coverage of what good and evil were, but what I found the most fascinating was from the comments section of the article where an anonymous submitter explained the differences between cognitive and affective empathy, where one is simply reading emotions and the other actually caring about feelings. This disagrees with the author’s idea that empathy leads to goodness, as those who use cognitive empathy could be able to use it to con and manipulate people, which could lead them using it for evil purposes.
June 13, 2016 at 3:09 am |
Weiss, Kimmi
Mr. Pores
English 1, 2, Period 6
June 10, 2016
Final Independent Reading: Dante Alighieri
I chose this article, “Dante Alighieri” from poets.org, because Dante Alighieri is the author of the book we read in class, The Inferno of Dante. Reading about Dante’s life can further educate me on who the author of the book is and what he was like. I wanted to learn more about Dante to figure out where he got all of his ideas about hell and how he became such a great poet.
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy, in 1265. At the age of seven, he lost his mother and his father remarried, giving him two siblings. Around this same time, Dante fell in love with a girl named Beatrice, whom he includes as a character in many of his writings. Unfortunately, Dante was betrothed to Gemma di Manetto at age twelve and did not encounter Beatrice much after that. Dante started writing poetry in his youth and never stopped. He studied Tuscan poetry, painting, music, and philosophy. However, Dante was affected by the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict as he sided with the Guelphs and joined them in battle. After defeating the Ghibellines, the Guelphs were divided into two factions: White Guelphs and Black Guelphs. The Blacks took over Florence while Dante was in Rome, so he was not allowed to return home. As an outlaw, Dante wrote his most famous work, La Commedia. On September 13, 1321, Dante died in Ravenna, Italy, most likely of malarial fever. Due to his influential work, Dante is considered one of the greatest writers of all time.
I thought this article was very useful since it gave me insight on where Dante got inspiration for writing The Inferno. It led me to realize that Dante may have witnessed and felt a lot of the pain portrayed in his writing throughout his life. He had a very tough life due to the death of his mother at a young age, separation from his lover, Beatrice, the battle he was caught in between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and the exile from his beloved home, Florence. Any of these tragic events could have given Dante the inspiration for writing stories like The Inferno. For example, he may have witnessed grueling scenes of men dying in battle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, much like some of the scenes in The Inferno. In addition, I have realized that some of Dante’s writings about Beatrice may be true, since I now know she was actually a part of his life at one time. This is very interesting, because it provides the reader insight on the author’s thoughts throughout his writing. I found the article of Dante Alighieri’s life interesting, yet I still wonder how he came up with all of the clever punishments to the corresponding sins. Many of them were very elaborate and came with a deeper meaning. I would still like to know if anything that happened throughout Dante’s lifetime influenced him to write what he wrote in The Inferno.
Article: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/dante-alighieri
June 13, 2016 at 3:31 am |
The Inferno Independent Reading
The article I chose was, “Raising a Moral Child,” by Adam Grant of The New York Times. I chose this article because I found the topic it focuses on very interesting and that it had a lot of factual evidence. I also thought that this article provided a collection of useful information to use in the future. This article relates to what we are learning in class because it focuses on how the way parents raise and punish a child affects the way they behave and The Inferno places a large importance on punishment and behavior. For example, the way the people behave while they’re alive has a large effect on how they are rewarded or punished when they die.
Throughout this article the author uses a lot of research as evidence for many questions about how to praise and express disappointment to children. The article starts out with the author, Adam Grant, introducing us to an experiment which proves that praising character is better than praising actions. In the experiment done by researchers Joan E. Grusec and Erica Redler, children received marbles and gave some to other children. The children were either praised for their actions or their character. When the children returned after a few weeks, the children who were praised for their character were more generous. Grant states that, “Praising their character helped them internalize it as part of their identities” (Grant 1). Next, Grant says how children either feel shame or guilt when they do something wrong. He says how shame makes children feel about themselves and get angry whereas guilt makes children feel bad about their actions and try to fix the problem. “Psychologist Nancy Eisenberg suggests that shame emerges when parents express anger…” (Grant 1) After talking about what causes shame, Grant uses more research to explain how to prevent it. “According to independent reviews by Professor Eisenberg and David R. Shaffer, parents raise caring children by expressing disappointment and explaining why the behavior was wrong…” (Grant 1) Lastly, Grant used another experiment to show us the best way to teach children to be generous. In the experiment by psychologist J. Philippe Rushton, adults either acted a certain way in front of children or told the children to act a certain way. In the end, the adults that acted generously in front of the children, resulted in the most children acting generous when they came back awhile later. Grant uses this result to build his statement that, “People often believe that character causes action, but when it comes to producing moral children, we need to remember that action also shapes character.” (Grant 1)
I found this article very interesting because it had a lot of information on the effects of praising and punishing children. It also had a lot of information on why children react a certain way when they do something wrong. Another thing I liked about this article was that the author used a lot of experiments and research to answer many questions about raising children. Also, it was very surprising to learn how much a parents actions can affect a child’s actions or character. Reading this article helped me understand many things about The Inferno. When I read The Inferno, a question I had was, “Why would those people do those sins?” After reading this article I can now say that those people probably acted that way because of how they were raised or what their parents values were. Another question I had about The Inferno was, “How do the sinners punishments relate to their sin and is it actually showing them why their actions were wrong?” Depending on how a parent punishes their child, the child will either act shameful or guilty towards their actions. The punishment the sinners receive is similar to a parent threatening or acting angrily towards a child when they behave badly. After reading this article, I now question whether or not the punishment the sinners receive is actually teaching them right from wrong.
June 13, 2016 at 3:37 am |
Nick van Daelen
Mr. Pores
English Period 6
9 June 2016
Independent Reading #6
Link:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/formerlyfundie/5-reasons-why-more-christians-are-rejecting-the-traditional-view-of-hell/
Why I chose this article
I chose to read the article “5 Reasons Why More Christians Are Rejecting The Traditional View of Hell” by Benjamin L. Corey. I decide to read this article because it closely relates to what we have recently been learning in english class. We have been reading The Inferno of Dante which is a book about Dante’s journey through Hell. This Article seems like it will probably be about how some of the things in the book contradict the Christian teachings. I am hoping to see two different versions of Hell.
Summary
The article “5 Reasons Why More Christians Are Rejecting The Traditional View of Hell.” is about how the traditional view of Hell goes against many of the Christian beliefs. The article is a list of reasons and it explains each reason after it. The first reason is that christianity tells us that torturing people is morally wrong. For this reason, we believe that God would not torture anybody. The second reason is that “The concept of eternal, conscious torment runs contrary to the whole testimony in scripture.” (Corey 1) After rereading the scriptures the author is saying that it describes a Hell different than the traditional version. He says that instead hell is a second death rather than an eternity of torture. The third reason says that since jesus is the final judge, it would not be like him to torture people. The Fourth reason says that torturing people would make Jesus a hypocrite. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and by torturing people he would be doing the opposite. The fifth and last reason is that this idea of hell would make us better than Jesus himself. We all dislike people but would never torture them, but according to this view on Hell, Jesus would. Us being more gracious than Jesus goes against everything Christians believe in. The Author concludes the article by saying that the christian population would rise if we reject the evangelical view of eternal constant torture in Hell.
Analysis
This article was written by Benjamin L. Corey and was posted on his blog. Benjamin L. Corey is a scholar in theology and missiology. This tells me that he is very credible and knows what he is talking about. The author of this article also wrote a book on a similar subject matter. The book that he wrote is called “Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus”. It is about how the american culture causes us to miss out on Jesus: The most important aspect of the Christian faith. Since he has deeply studied Christianity and has written a book about it, he is definitely credible. I liked the way that he wrote the article. The format of the list made the article very organized and easy to read. However, in my opinion, the ending to this article did not conclude it well. Rather than quickly summarizing what he had written, he brings a new idea never mentioned before in this article. He talks about how more people would become christian if we reject this idea of torture in hell. I think that it would have been better if he would have summarized the article in his last paragraph. Overall, i thought that the article was well written, organized and interesting.
June 13, 2016 at 3:38 am |
Aoife FItzpatrick
Pores
Seminar English, p.6
June 1, 2016
Final Independent Reading
I chose this article because hell is portrayed in so many different ways through books, movies, and religious views. There is no way to prove which portrayal is correct, so it is interesting to see all of the interpretations of the afterlife. In the different ideas of what hell would be like there are also different severities of “sins” that would force a person into hell. In class, we are are reading The Inferno of Dante by Robert Pinsky. Hell is described as barren, hot enough to burn people, yet too cold. The people who are stuck in hell are flung into place and stuck there for eternity. They also have a punishment to match their sins.
In the article, six different views of hell are listed. The author states that the views are mostly from christian tradition, and does include atheists views of hell. The first view is hell being “a place of unspeakable torment”. This idea views hell as a place for people who die without christ and must endure eternal torment. There are no second chances. Then next view is that hell is a ghost town. This view is from Christian Universalism, which believes that hell can be escaped by repenting. The third view states that people not with Christ go to hell or a kind of purgatory. People are able to be saved and can go from being dammed to being saved. Next, there isn’t endless torment, but people are judged then exterminated. The fifth view is immortality. This is an Ancient Greek philosophy that a soul never dies. The last view is subhuman existence. It is between tournament and immorality. They more a person sins, the less human they become. These are just 6 of the views of hell from different religions and people.
This article shows so many different views on what he’ll or the afterlife is like. After reading the Inferno of Dante, I believe that the novel’s version of hell is a mix of the different kinds of hell described in their article. It is a place of torment, and it is also barren. In the article it doesn’t mention any kind of hell where there are different levels or rings, so that means that the rings were probably an original part of the Inferno of Dante. This article has a lot to do with religion. The different religions have different views of hell, as well as atheism. Although there are different views, they all seem similar. There are different sins and repercussions from hell, but throughout the descriptions hell is mostly torture. In the Inferno if Dante it follows some of the views that believe not being with Christ will cause a person to be in one of the less extreme rings of hell.
Link: https://benirwin.me/2011/04/21/sixteen-views-on-hell/
June 13, 2016 at 3:46 am |
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/door-of-hell_n_4311694.html
I chose this article because it closely relates to the book that we are studying in class at this time. The book, Dante’s Inferno, tells a story about a man and his guide journeying through all the levels of hell, in order to make it to heaven so the man can find his wife. The article I chose also touches on the topic of hell.
In 1971, a group of scientists, part of the Soviet Union, discovered a large natural gas pocket under the ground in the Karakum Desert, in the country of Turkmenistan, near the village of Derweze. They set up a drilling rig, hoping to harness this natural gas. The very same year, the rig collapsed, creating a 230 foot wide crater. The collapse released a huge quantity of methane gas. This gas is poisonous, and also accelerates the warming of the earth, if it finds its way to the atmosphere. The scientists had a choice- leave the gas alone, for it to spread and cause deadly and long lasting problems- or burn it off. The scientists chose the latter, choosing to risk burning off the gas to save the environment and the surrounding people. The group set the crater on fire, expecting the gas to burn off in a few hours, or days at most. Today, over 40 years later, the crater still burns. No one knows why it burned for so long, and no one know when it will stop. Today, it is still a tourist attraction, drawing thousands of people from all around the world to come and ogle at this crazy phenomenon. In spring of 2010 the country’s president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, visited the massive burning crater, and decided that it should be closed. Today, in 2016, that has yet to happen.
I am fascinated with this phenomenon. The article wasn’t very long, but I couldn’t imagine choosing anything else. In Ap Environmental Science, we learned a lot about natural gas. Natural gas is gases like methane and carbon dioxide, which can be efficient for creating energy, or burning to create steam to spin turbines that generate energy. However, these gases are very harmful to the environment- they intensify the greenhouse effect, causing rises in global temperature, which leads to disaster all over the world. The story of the Russian men burning the natural gas to get rid of it, instead of letting it ooze into the atmosphere, intrigued and confused me. Did the smoke from the fire not enter the atmosphere and cause the sake effect that just letting the crater be would? Why did they try to harvest the natural gas to produce electricity? And how many tons of gas are under or in the crater for it to burn for over 40 years? These are questions that make me want to go to the Gates of Hell and find the answers to myself. I think that the crater also looks really cool, and might be a source of income for Turkmenistan, through harvesting the natural gas and attracting tourists.
June 13, 2016 at 3:54 am |
Karine Kim
Mr. Pores
English Period 2
12 June 2016
Final Independent Reading Assignment
http://www.livescience.com/44376-italian-culture.html
I chose this article because I enjoy learning about different cultures and comparing them to the two cultures that I know, Japanese and American. The culture that a person was raised in has a significant effect on what beliefs they form. Dante has strict beliefs that are depicted throughout the Inferno, and I may be able to understand them better if I knew what morals were taught to him.
In the article, “Italian Culture: Facts, Customs & Traditions,” Kim Ann Zimmermann explains Italian population, religion, language, family life, art, architecture, food, business, and holidays. The population of Italy is 96% Italian, and the other 4% are mostly European. Roman Catholicism dominates Italy, but other religions include Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim. Many italians are not practicing catholics. Italian is mainly used to communicate, but they often learn other languages such as Bavarian and Albanian. Family is extremely important in Italy. Most households include grandparents, and children are expected to support their parents when they reach adulthood. There are many famous ancient art works located in Italy. Opera first started in Italy, and is often still performed in Italian all over the world. Architectural styles such as Roman, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical are used to design many of the buildings and homes. Food is also seen as a form of art. Central Italy is known for their pizza and pasta. Northern Italy often serves fish, rice, potato, sausage, and pork. Southern Italy has many tomato dishes. Because of Italy’s family centered society, most businesses are smaller and family owned. Meetings are often informal. Italians celebrate most Christian holidays as well as the feast day of the patron saint of their city. Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th, which is much like christmas as an imaginary character named Belfana delivers presents to children.
This article was easy to understand and gave me a nice overview of Italy. I did not know that family was so important in Italy, and that businesses were family-owned. I also found the section about Italian food interesting because the only Italian food I know is pizza and pasta, and there are actually many dishes that are rice-based. To learn about each section more thoroughly, I would have to find a different article. Culture is too complicated to sum up in one article. I believe that my only way to truly understand Italian culture is to actually live in Italy. Now knowing that family is so important in Italian culture, I know why betrayal is an unforgivable sin. Family revolves around trust and loyalty, and betrayal breaks both of those qualities. I wish this article included more information about Italian history, and how it has affected the citizens of the country. I would also like to learn more about how much education the average person has, as well as the currency system of the country. Another subject I am really interested in is how items are sold. Do they sell on the streets, or in buildings? Do they regularly use credit cards as in America?
June 13, 2016 at 4:00 am |
Ashley Meader
Mr. Pores
English Period 6
June 8, 2016
Final Independent Reading Assignment
A common theme in literature throughout the ages is grief and loss. This can be seen in Dante’s Inferno, where Dante compares the experience of grieving a loved one to passing through Hell. Grief: The Journey from Suffering to Resilience, by Dr. William Doverspike, puts perspective on this story by describing how people process loss. This article explains how people generally transition from the state of shock and sadness following a death to accepting what has happened and continuing with life. The transition is different for everyone, but generally includes all or most of five stages. The two stages that Dante focuses on are depression and acceptance. In Canto I of the Inferno, Dante finds himself lost in a dark wood, not knowing how he got there. Eventually, he comes to the bottom of a valley. Distant sunlight is just visible over the tip of the mountain, and although he tries to climb up to it, terrifying beasts block his path. This can symbolize how, when a loved one dies, it can often feel as if you’re lost, with nowhere to turn. The path to happiness, the sunlight, is often blocked by negative thoughts, the beasts. Also in Canto I, Dante encounters the famed poet, Virgil. Virgil helps Dante navigate through Hell, eventually guiding him to Heaven. The role of Virgil in Dante’s journey can signify the importance of friends and family when grieving a loved one. Without Virgil’s support and guidance, Dante would not have been able to escape the dark valley in which he was trapped. Just as Virgil was there to guide him through the pain, emotional support from other people is a huge part of overcoming the sadness that follows a death. Finally, Doverspike stresses the importance of acceptance. Accepting the loss and continuing to rebuild your life is often the last stage of the grieving process. During this stage, the pain diminishes, and the person can exist as a gentle memory. In Dante’s Paradiso, Dante meets up with Beatrice, the person who he fell in love with. She then takes over for Virgil and guides Dante through Heaven. At the final stage of Heaven, before he meets God, Dante must say goodbye to Beatrice for the last time, but now he has accepted her death and is ready to move on.
In his article, Doverspike explains the process of experiencing and accepting the death of a friend, family member, or pet. He first explains some of the different stages of grief. They include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While the process is not the same for everyone, most people cycle through most of these stages as they mourn the passing of a loved one. He also states what might happen if a person is unable to look past the death. “The tasks of grieving include experiencing the pain of grief, accepting the reality of the loss, adjusting to an environment in which the loved one is missing, and withdrawing one’s emotional energy and reinvesting it in another relationship. Failure to complete these tasks can result in impacted grief, which is a prolonged type of grief associated with depression,” writes Doverspike. When a person is unable to recover from the loss, it can cause psychological problems down the road. While a deceased person should not be forgotten, impacted grief becomes more of a stagnant depressed state in which the bereaved person cannot move past what has happened. People that suffer from this often avoid anything relating to the dead, including possessions, ceremonies, or conversations.
Doverspike also describes the steps necessary towards recovering from a death. One step is to allow yourself to feel the pain. Often, cultural or social expectations make it seem as if grieving a loved one is somehow weak or cowardly. In reality, it is an imperative part of recovering from a loss.“The pain and suffering of grief are not overcome by avoiding pain, but rather by experiencing and working through the pain,” the author explains. Thus, every person processes this pain differently, but doing so is essential for everyone. The next steps include discussing the event with others, reflecting on all aspects of the deceased’s life, accepting the loss, and finding a purpose in what has happened. These tasks, although difficult, are necessary in reorganizing life and moving on from the death.
Grief: The Journey from Suffering to Resilience is an in-depth article regarding what people may or may not experience while grieving the passing of a loved one. The author describes the signs of a healthy grieving process, and shows some of the things that must happen in order for recovery to occur. While providing helpful advice, Doverspike also acknowledges that the journey is different for everyone and cannot be precisely mapped out or defined. Although the article was well-researched and informative, the organization could have been a little bit better. It felt as if the paper lacked a central focus, and spent more time on certain, smaller parts of the grieving process. Overall, however, it was a very well written piece. In addition its relevance in everyday life, this article also provides a different perspective on Dante’s journey from the Inferno to the Paradiso. While it may appear as a story of strict fantasy, the trilogy can be seen as an allegory about the suffering that follows the loss of a close friend or family member. Just as a grieving person must experience pain and move on, Dante must travel through Hell in order to reach Heaven and reunite with his loved one. This article helps substantially in understanding the connections between common grief patterns and the events in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Works Cited
Doverspike, William F. “Grief: The Journey from Suffering to Resilience.” Georgia Psychological Association. Georgia Psychological Association. n.d. Web. June 3, 2016.
Link to article: http://www.gapsychology.org/?305
June 13, 2016 at 4:27 am |
Benito Hurtado
Mr. Pores
English Seminar Period 2
12 June, 2016
Final Independent Reading Assignment
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/In-America-punishment-should-fit-the-crime-5079861.php
I chose to read the article, “In America, Punishment Should Fit the Crime” because it is about how the courts punishment does not always seem equal or fair. This ties in to what we are doing in class because we are reading the Inferno which is a book about all the punishments in hell and how they correlate to the wrong doings done on Earth.
The article explained how the judicial court punishments are sometimes not the best. The majority of the article gave two court cases as examples. The first, a college student at the age of 26. The second, a FBI agent who has access to important information about the United States Government. The college student was a drug dealer and some of his buyers got caught dealing drugs and told investigators who they got the drugs from. The college student was eventually tracked down and was given 3 life sentences without patrol. The former FBI agent turned on the United States and sold information to Russia about the United States Military. He too was given a life sentence without patrol. The writer of the article says that she completely disagrees with the punishment because selling drugs is not the same as selling government information to an enemy country. The article takes the side of the college boy and thinks that either the boy gets a shorter sentence, or the FBI agent receives the death sentence. The article explains that there should be more specific punishments for the more specific crimes done by the American people. It also shows how the president can appeal any court case and/or punishment but that occurs once in a blue moon.
I agree and disagree with this article. I agree with the point that the punishment given to some people can be unfair and with the point that the death penalty should be given out more than it is. I think this because the jails are being filled up with people who have life sentences and are using the government’s money. I also agree with the statement that who the person was before the crime should be taken into consideration when given the punishment so that the punishment fits the crime and the person. I disagree with the point that the court should make unique written punishments for every possible crime there is to commit. This article is very creditable because the author is a long time writer for the New York Times. This article relates to the topic discussed in class because it talks about crime and punishment given to a particular crime. The Inferno is a book that has two characters going through hell and describes the people that they encounter and how the people in hell describe what they did to deserve the punishment in hell.
June 13, 2016 at 5:12 am |
Alyssa Jamotilo
Mr.pores
English, Period 2
10 June 2016
Article: http://historylists.org/art/9-circles-of-hell-dantes-inferno.html
This is an article about the circles of hell portrayed in Dante’s Inferno. I choose this article, because the circles of hell seems interesting as well as the punishments included in them. This ties to what we are learning in class, because the the book is about Dante’s journey through hell and includes description on those circles.
This article explains the circles of Hell. In Hell there are 9 circles and each circle involve a different sin and a different punishment. The first circle of hell is Limbo, which is where virtuous non-baptized Christians are put and these non-baptized people have to stay in this “…inferior form of Heaven” (historylists.org) for eternity. The second circle involves people who have sinned because of lust and their punishment is to be blown violently back and forth by a strong wind for eternity. People who have committed the sin of gluttony is sent to the third circle and there punishment is to lie in a value of slush that is produced by a never ending icy rain. The fourth circle is reserved for the people who commit the sin of greed.The people in this circle are split into two groups, the hoarders and the spenders. The two groups joust each other using great weights as their weapon. The wrathful and sullen people are sent to the fifth circle of hell where they have to fight each other on the surface of the Styx river. Heretics reside in the sixth circle of hell where they have to spend eternity in a flaming tomb. The seventh circle is where you find the violent sinners. Depending on their sin they have to suffer a different punishment. In the eighth circle, frauds are put into ditches for eternity and in the ninth circle, treacherous people are frozen in an icy lake.
This article helped me understand the book better, since the author also put a reason to why that was their punishment. For example, the people who have been greedy would have to joust with great weights as their weapon. The author explained that this is an appropriate punishment, because pushing the weights symbolize their selfish drive for for fortune in their lifetime. I also chose this topic since I am interested in the circles of hell. I am interested in the circles, because I am reading a webtoon, a South Korean web comic, where the setting is hell and they sometimes mention the circles of hell. Even though this webtoon has the setting of hell, their circles are different. The innermost circle is more like a big city instead of an icy lake and the demons roam freely. I was surprised that the book or this article didn’t mention many demons like Beelzebub and Mephistopheles since this article is about hell. I am also surprised that Lucifer isn’t mentioned in the article, since he is know to be the first angel sent to hell as well as the monster that was put into the innermost part of the ninth circle of hell.
June 13, 2016 at 5:25 am |
Simon Tan
Mr. Pores
English, Period 6
10 June 2016
The link to my article is http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/bad-choices.htm
I chose this article because reading Dante’s Inferno in class made me wonder why people chose to make the choices they did to get into hell. In Dante’s Inferno, souls are shown to be receiving punishment for the immoral and sinful acts that they committed during their lifetime. When reading Dante’s Inferno the questions, “Why do they choose to do these acts? Were they in thinking clearly about the consequences that their actions would have?” popped up in my head. This article explains what is going on in a person’s brain and what causes them to think carelessly about the actions that they are about to commit.
This article introduces information about what a person is going through when making difficult situations and what causes them to make careless actions. Scheve, the author, begins by explaining that stress is what sets people up for failure. He tells us that fear of doing the wrong thing can cause stress to build up that if affects your decision making. Our decisions affect our brain, especially in the areas that are responsible for emotions. When we are about to make important decisions, stress builds up and clouds our thinking. This causes people to make poor choices since they won’t be able to use their brain to its full capacity. Our brain also keeps memories of the bad choices that we make in the past. These memories can cause us to make judgments that may not be correct. Another thing that sets us up for failure is bad information. Bad information can cause us to make bad choices. The information can influence us to act and believe that what was given was correct. To summarize, stress and other factors play a big part in tough decision making. Making decisions aren’t as easy as they may seem since you can easily make mistakes due to the amount of stress that builds up. Stress can build up from fear and past memories of bad choices. A bad source of information can also cause you to act incorrectly.
I personally believe that this article gave a lot of information that was interesting. It informed me about the factors that could cause people to make bad choices. I think that the information was accurate, and I could also relate to how this process would go in my own mind and how I could make those choices. This article allows me to connect to the minds of the souls that are stuck in hell in the book, Dante’s Inferno. The book introduces the concept of how souls are stuck in hell because of the actions that they committed in their life on Earth. From the information given from the article, I can now understand briefly what was going on in the minds of the souls when they committed their immoral action. I also think that some of the souls did not willingly make a bad decision and that the stress overcame them and affected their judgement causing them to become mistaken. This makes me personally wonder if they could’ve done anything to stop their unintentional immoral act from happening, and if this happened then they probably wouldn’t be in hell anymore. An example of stress affecting a person could be when Dante was scared when he heard voices and listened to Virgil’s advice and broke one of the tree’s branches, which happened to be part of a soul’s body. There are different factors that affect a person’s mind that can cause us to change the way we think.
June 13, 2016 at 5:40 am |
Tara Maxwell
P. 2
In English, we read a book called The Inferno of Dante. It was about a man named Dante who had a guide named virgil who took dante through hell. There was 9 levels, and with each level had a worse cause of being in hell and a worse punishment. Dante sympathized most of the people inside of hell because of his humanity and thought most people inside of hell didn’t deserve to be there/ didn’t deserve the punishment given to them. The article i choose to relate to the story is called “What It’s Like To Be In Hell”.
In the article “what it’s like to be in hell”, it depicts a picture of what hell is like in the real world. Some topics talked about in this article include gangs (what it’s like to witness a gang attack), children being forced to do things they don’t want to do (boys joining gangs and girls becoming prostitutes), war(and what is was like for everyone in it including the men, women, and children), and people who do not have money (and are focused to do desperate things in a time of need). It then talks about an article about a man who experienced many hardships (like when he had to watch his friends die at age 12). It then talks about problems people of other race (like african americans) face. It last words in the article say these are all problems the president should address.
I honestly thought the article was hard to read emotionally. It very sad what people are going through and it is meant to show people that hell is place of suffering. Hell is not only the world after the living if you did something bad but it is a place that people go to when they are experiencing their all time low. I found it shocking that they could fit some many different angles inside and were able to tie it all up. Just like when dante traveled through the levels of hell to see people suffering, someone went through people’s lives and saw so many different ways they were suffering as well. The article also shows perseptive, like showing me personally how lucky i am to have the life i have. Some people are so much unfortunate than me and i should appreciate that. Another point is that it was trying to show people that the government should put a stop to these problems. Like what virgil was trying to do for dante, this article was to inform the public about what really goes on behind the curtain.
June 13, 2016 at 6:05 am |
Janet Newman
Mr. Pores
English, Period 2
June 12, 2016
In English class right now, we are studying The Inferno of Dante by Dante Alighieri. I chose an article discussing contrapasso, the idea that every crime should have a fitting punishment. Contrapasso is a very interesting concept, and has a fair amount of controversy as to whether or not contrapasso is an invention of Dante, or whether it is a branch of the traditional sense of biblical justice. There are some who believe that Dante mostly made up a new service of punishment, while others say his system is based on the holy retribution system.
There are some people, such as Robert Durling or Ronald Martinez, who believe that Dante has based his creation of contrapasso on the ancient biblical ways of finding a punishment. They use the phrase “an eye for an eye” to describe how the punishment fits the crime. They believe that Dante used the holy punishment system to create the idea of contrapasso, while others disagree. Matthew Pearl makes the claim that Dante’s creation of contrapasso was not based on any religious standards, and instead wa completely made up. In the article, the author, Joseph Kameen, discusses how both sides are partially correct, but neither is completely so. He says, “Dante is not trying to consciously re-write the biblical definition of justice, as Pearl implies; nor is he simply going along with the status quo for the sake of political correctness.” (Kameen, 7) The author is proposing that contrapasso is an even blend of the two sides of the argument, combining the concepts to form a mixture of the two ideas. This neutral tone from the article author allows the reader to take their own stance on the subject while still reading and learning about both sides of the debate.
I agree with Kameen when he writes that the idea of contrapasso isn’t a totally rigid idea of either retribution or political correctness. I concur with the statement that it is a blend of the two ends of the spectrum. Justice can never be seen as just black or white. Justice is a very grey, vague subject, and that is evidenced in bothe this article and The Inferno of Dante. A punishment can be fitting or not, but it is always hard to tell if justice has truly been served. Compensation for a sin is very much in the eye of the observer, and, as such, is different for all onlookers. This is because different people have different morals and different standards for telling right from wrong. Once I realized that, I was able to understand how controversial the idea of contrapasso was. This new knowledge also helped me understand The Inferno of Dante more because I was able to realize that even if I didn’t think a punishment was just, Dante did. These moral differences are what make literature such as this so interesting to study and analyze. Overall, I agree that justice is not clear-cut, it is hazy and undefined, much like the fog that clouds Hell on Dante’s journey.
June 13, 2016 at 1:18 pm |
Jeff Livers
Mr. Pores
Period 2
June 12th, 2016
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/08/is-hell-real-people-who-went-there-say-yes.html
I chose this article because it relates to The Inferno Of Dante by Robert Pinsky. It talks about people who have had near death experiences, and believed that they went to hell. This article shows people’s descriptions of hell after their near-death experience. Many of them relate very closely to the descriptions seen in the inferno. This shows that Robert Pinsky might have been correct on his theory for hell.
This article is about real life experiences that people have had with hell. Most of these experiences happen when someone has a “near death experience”. It starts off with a man who was shot in a gunfight. He said that hell was like “being hung over an abyss”(Sessions). The author the claims that these hell people who have these stories, are the ones who fear hell the most. The article then talks about different people’s experiences with hell and how they all tend to have a great variation. For example many are seen as hot, cold, dry, wet, slimy and much more. This shows that hell can vary from person to person. He later discusses near death experiences and the research being done on them. Researchers have been studying these experiences in controlled environments and comparing similarities and differences to each person. “Roughly one out of every three people who come close to death will have transcendental experiences”(Sessions). Many people are still very skeptical of the credibility and legitimacy o f the experience people seem to have. “roughly one out of five was frightening, traumatic, or otherwise ‘hellish.’”(Sessions). These experiences tend to have weird patterns, as there is no correlation between the person in real life, and the experience they face. This phenomenon trumps many people and has them wondering what is still out there.
I think this article is extremely interesting. It is a very eye opening idea that people are having these hell-like experiences in real life. I agree with alot of the article and how it shows that many people will experience different things when they almost die. This makes me curious how this happens and why people who can be really good have such evil experiences. I think hell is what your mind makes of it. As it said in the article “But hell stories circulate most prominently among various stripes of evangelical Christians who fear ending up there” (Sessions). I think this shows that people who think about hell a lot and internally fear it, will tend to “go” there in their mind because it’s what their mind has created. These experiences seem to open many people’s eyes on life and can completely change them for the better or worse. This will help me in class because it gives a sense of credibility and reality to what we’re reading. It tend to make a story much more easy to understand when you know that it is real. This will also help me by connecting the people in the story to people just like us in real life. This might give more empathy and feeling toward each tortured shade in the book. Near death experiences can open your mind up to very deep things that we wouldn’t normally have ever known.
June 13, 2016 at 1:19 pm |
Patric Berard
Mr.Pores
English, Per. 6
June 12, 2016
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/aeneid/virgil-biography
We have recently been reading “The Inferno” In which Dante journeys through hell. While he is in hell, he is guided by another author Virgil. Despite being Dante’s guide the entire book, very little is said about him. I chose this article because I wanted to know more about Virgil and his works, and why he may have been chosen as Dante’s guide.
In this short biography, the author quickly summarizes Virgil’s life and education, then talks about his early works, and his most popular work, “The Aeneid”. The article is divided into multiple sections. The first is “Personal Background”, which summarizes his childhood, before his education. Virgil was born October 15, 70 BC, near the city Mantova (Now known as Mantua) and was the oldest of 3 children. He was born to a rich family, and his father wanted him to pursue a law career. The next section is “Virgil’s Education”, which states Virgil went to school in Cremona, where he studied law, before changing to the study of philosophy. The next section is about Virgil’s Early Works. Shortly after Caesar’s assassination, Virgil wrote his first significant work, “Eclogues”, a collection of 10 poems which describe the life of shepherds at the time. he gained much popularity from this. By the time “Eclogues” was published, Virgil had met Maecenas, whose house was a meeting place for authors like him. This influenced his next work, “Georgics”, which was about farming methods. The next section is “Writing the Aeneid”, which is about his most famous work, which Virgil spent the rest of his life working on. While visiting locations which are mentioned in “The Aeneid” to refine his work, Virgil became very sick ,and in 19 B.C., he died in Brundisium (Now called Brindisi). He requested for his unfinished work to be destroyed before his death, but it was still published, and he gained immense popularity for it.
Before reading this article, I barely knew who Virgil was, and only knew him as the guide of Dante. Now that I’ve read this biography though, I know a little more about when he lived, what kind of life he had, and the works he wrote. Unfortunately, even after reading this article, my question of why Virgil was chosen as Dante’s guide is still not answered. Although I now understand why Dante already knew Virgil, and why he respected him and trusted him . This article was quite enjoyable to read, as it contained many interesting facts. One thing I enjoyed about the article, was that it was not only a timeline of Virgil’s life and works, but it also helped me to understand more about Virgil as a person, and his personality. As explained in the article, Virgil was a bit of a perfectionist, and was not very politically active. Though this confused me a little, as these traits are not expressed much by him in “The Inferno”. I also found it interesting that he was considered “a naturally Christian Soul” in the middle ages, meaning people believed he would have embraced Christianity, had he not been born before Christ. I believe this may be part of the reason that he was allowed to guide Dante. Overall, this was a very interesting article, and it helped me to better understand Virgil as an individual, and it added another layer of depth to “The Inferno”.
June 13, 2016 at 1:58 pm |
Dina Esmele
Mr. Pores
English SM, Period 6
June 12th, 2016
The article I choose is about the recent shooting of a gorilla at a Zoo in Cincinnati. Many people debate whether killing the gorilla was the right thing to do over saving the life of a child that fell in the enclosure. I choose this piece because in Dante’s Inferno, compassion is a theme. Dante meets many souls that he feels pity or sorrow for them even though they allegedly deserved the fate that they were met with.
In the article, ‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting, written by Madison Park, Emanuella Grinberg and Tiffany Ap of CNN, the authors describe the event and go over. Harambe, a rare 17 year old gorilla that lived in the Cincinnati zoo, was killed after a child fell in the gorilla enclosure and caused a panic amongst the people. A video, showing Harambe dragging the child around the water in the enclosure, went viral after the incident occurred. The Cincinnati Zoo Director, Thane Maynard said he “stands by his decision to kill 17-year-old silverback Harambe to save the child.” Harambe was shot with a rifle causing outrage on the internet. Many people debate other options where the rare gorilla could have also lived such as tranquilizing him instead and debating who is to blame for the death of the gorilla. The chairman of The Gorilla Organization, Ian Redmond reasons that zookeepers had other options such as negotiating with them, bringing them their favorite treats. Maynard argues other peoples’ criticism over the lethal shot when a tranquilizer could have been used. Maynard claims that the tranquilizers may not have taken effect in time to save the boy while the dart might have agitated the animal, worsening the situation. This also isn’t the first time this kind of incident has happened. There has been other events where children have fallen into gorilla enclosures and even protected from other gorillas and no one was severely harmed.
I think this incident has many sides to consider, and so many ways of thinking and viewing the situation. First of all, I personally don’t agree with their decision to kill a rare gorilla and from what I could see from the video, he didn’t intentionally cause the child harm. I understand a human child’s life was stake and many people argue with the fact that a human’s life is more valuable than a gorilla’s. And commonly, “ You would do the same thing if it was your child.” Well I disagree with that because the child should have properly taught how to behave. The article shows that after the incident, the enclosure was checked to make sure it was up to code, which it was. The child had to go through a lot of trouble to be able to fall in, and parents can’t keep an eye on their children at all times but In my opinion if she taught her child how to behave than a situation like this could have been avoided and a rare Harambe could still be alive
June 13, 2016 at 3:37 pm |
Wilkinson, Robyn
Mr. Pores
English, Period 2
12 June 2016
http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/01/09/measuring_hell/?page=1
Final Independent Reading
The article that I chose to read was “Measuring Hell” by Chris Wright. The article was about the theory that The Inferno of Dante by Dante, may have sparked modern physics. I chose it as my article for this project, because it ties together two subjects that are seemingly unrelated. I also thought it was interesting that Dante’s Inferno has such a wide range of effects on our lives today.
In the article, Wright begins by introducing the concept of Galileo’s lectures, and how they were often overlooked. He then goes on to say that these lectures may have actually been where Galileo began to discover modern physics. Wright says that at the time Galileo lived, many scientists at the time were trying to map out hell according to Dante’s Inferno. Galileo, being curious, and a contrarian, decided to investigate the maps that had been created. Upon doing so, it is said that Galileo concluded that the existing diagrams of hell could not possibly work without collapsing on themselves. He realized that Dante’s description of Lucifer as being a giant man did not have the proper proportions to support himself. He also stated that with the existing diagrams, the layers of hell would be too weak to support the earth’s crust, much less the souls in the layers. He began to give lectures of his own, and many of the leading scientists at the time despised him for this, because he regularly disproved them during said lectures. He then worked on his own diagrams that would work, and through that, laid the groundwork for modern physics. Wright concluded the article by saying that in this way, Dante’s Inferno helped to spark a huge part of modern sciences.
I liked this article quite a bit. I enjoyed it because it had a completely unexpected view on The Inferno, and one that helped me to learn alot about science. Furthermore, it was related to the book in terms of science instead of religion or language, meaning it came from a completely different field. In terms of whether I agree with the article, I can’t really pass judgement on it because I don’t have an in depth knowledge of physics or Galileo’s life. The article did however enhance my understanding of The Inferno in a specific and unpredicted manner. Reading it helped me realize what a huge cultural impact Dante’s Inferno had on people when it was published, as well as in today’s literature. I did have one problem with the article, and that was the writing style, which in my opinion, was very roundabout and not to the point at all. This bothered me because I felt that it took alot of effort to read it and understand it. I did however, find it very interesting, because. As I said, it appeared to be unrelated to the inferno in the conventional sense, and that intrigued me. Overall, I really enjoyed the article, and found it fascinating that so much of modern science could be based off of such an un-scientific book.
June 13, 2016 at 11:41 pm |
Vivian Avila
Mr Pores period 6
June 12, 2016
http://www.biography.com/people/dante-9265912#the-divine-comedy
Independent Reading Assignment
I choose this article since these past few weeks we have been reading Dante’s inferno. This article focuses on the author Dante Alighieri, Italian poet and philosopher. Throughout this article it explains major events and incidences in his lifetime. Prior to reading this article I had wondered what had conveyed Dante to write such “Divine Comedy”.
Born in Florence, Italy in 1265 Dante spent his first few years in a politically involved household, which later explains the political references in the inferno. His mother died when he was still young and he was married off at the age of 12, not long after he fell in love with another woman named Beatrice Portinari who became the foundation for the development of the character Dante in his “Divine Comedy”. But his love towards her was only platonic, his love at first sight had unexpectedly died in 1290. Five years before her death he published Vita Nuova (The New Life) detailing his deep love for Beatrice. It was soon after than Dante was dedicated to the study of philosophy and machinations of Florentines political scene. Dante help many important public posts but in 1302 he was exiled by higher political figures, but this only flourish his artistic period. After a few years of travel, he found himself in 1308 where Henry of Luxembourg was being elected emperor, he believed that his would bring changes to Italy in religious and political aspects. It was around this time that he started to write Dante’s Inferno, most of his so to speak inspiration, came from his personal experiences in the political world of Florentine. Dante’s finished writing the inferno in 1317, shortly after he died in Ravenna, Italy 1321.
This “Divine Comedy” written in terza rima and is originally composed of 100 cantos. It was modified to 34 cantos by Robert Pinsky which was the one we read in class. It follows Dante and Virgil in the setting of hell, revealing an analogy of the human life through their journey. This article informed me that Dante has been heavily inspired to write his books based on historical and political issues happening during his time. One thing I found very intriguing is that his work Vita Nuova was written in Italian unlike most of his previous work which was in Latin. This was an interesting article that pinpointed many aspects of Dante’s life that influenced his writing in The Inferno.
June 13, 2016 at 11:57 pm |
Marc Anthony Stangland
Mr. Pores
English, Period 6
Final Independent Reading Assignment
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno/themes.html
I chose this article to what we’re doing in Dante’s Inferno since this article talks about several key points and themes about Dante’s Inferno and what Dante endured and how he is determined to reach his love in heaven and specific themes that address Gods justice.
The summary was about how Dante had to go through Gods justice and explains key points on how we see these punishments in hell to be harsh like how homosexuals have to walk on hot sand and the gluttonous are torn apart by the Cerberus. Dante had to go through hell and conquer his fears through hell to get to heaven. This has to do with the Inferno since it basically is talking about the Inferno but going more in depth with the themes and stuff. Like Gods justice and Evil is a contradiction of gods will. It also said what we thought about how bribe was more of a bad thing then murder since we think it is but it’s not about how we felt if it was a fair punishment or not it was gods will and how he thought fit for punishment. Also, how Dante past his fear through hell was also significant because Virgil acted as his guide and helped get through it to accomplish his goal.
My opinion, thoughts and question about this article. Well what if Virgil didn’t accompany Dante through hell? Dante might as well don’t even start the journey since he almost turned back from the 3 beasts. I disagree on Gods will/justice since Dante could just ask god to kill him and send him to heaven since he was a good person and why does he have to go through hell and purgatory that’s really dumb and know point. Unless God is trying to see if Dante can overcome his fears to reach the love of his life. I also think that God wanted to make Dante go through a challenge since that would kind of be unfair for other people who wanted to see their wife or husband if they died to and if they’re willing to pass hell and purgatory to reach them. Another thing is why can’t Dante interact with any of the dead even though he is living? Is that another Gods will/justice thing? In conclusion, the article help me more understand the basis of Dante’s Inferno and what Gods will/justice is.
June 14, 2016 at 4:03 am |
Newton Le
Mr. Pores
English, Period 2
6/11/2016
Final Independent Reading Assignment
I chose this article about Dante Alighieri because I wanted to know more about the man who was able to picture himself in Hell. His interpretation of Hell was so unique because the way that I pictured hell before The Inferno was vastly different than the way that he did. I pictured hell as this huge cave where lava is dripping from the ceiling and demons are flying around. A general red theme. His interpretation made me rethink my views.
This article is about Dante’s life. Information about his early life and what he did during it. During Dante’s life he was many things. A Italian poet, prose writer, moral philosopher, and a political thinker. Today he is known for writing the famous Italian poem called the The Comedy, later renamed to The Divine Comedy, later renamed to The Inferno. This epic is considered to be one of the greatest work in medieval literature. Most of what we know about him comes from his work. He transformed his personal life experience into his stories. Not much is known about his father and mother. His mother died when Dante was at a very young age and his Dad wasn’t important enough to be mentioned. So Dante’s life was heavily impacted by other sources. He grew up in a time where the city he lives in had recently won a war and his teacher Brunetto Latini, a great intellectual, was returning from exile. Dante had a great interest with philosophical poetry and after the death of Dante’s lover, Beatrice, he turned to philosophy. Without this decision he would not have written the Inferno or any of his other famous works. He also got more involved politically.
I think that the article goes in-depth into the life of Dante Alighieri. I personally thought that the article was a bit long on the ”article size scale” but it was alright. It was very interesting for me to go back and see how Dante got his inspiration from and how life was like back in the old days. I never knew that Dante had a huge impact to his community outside of his poetry. He not only makes poems he also was involved in his city politically. One of the complaints I would make is that the article was really boring. Nothing made me want to finish reading the article other than writing this assignment. If I were to compare the article to something similar it would be The Comedy/The Divine Comedy/ The Inferno. It would take a constant re-reading of one section for me to understand it. The article was not for me and I would like it if the author of the article can do something to keep the reader reading. That is their job after all. All in all, I thought this article did its job in providing information about the about Dante and I would recommend this article If you would like to know more about Dante and have a couple of years of free time.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Dante-Alighieri
June 14, 2016 at 5:01 am |
Joshua Schneider
English, Period 5
Mr. Pores
13 June 2016
Civil Rights
Article Link: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/civilrightsstruggle1/a/timeline1960.htm
Why I Chose This Article:
I chose this article because as we learned more and more about the lifestyles of those growing up during the 60s and the 70s I found a recurring theme. The theme that I noticed through this time period that changed people’s moral views and overall social aspects for the better was the civil rights movement. As a very important change and event in the 20th century I thought what better of a subject to research and write about.
Article Summary:
The civil rights movement was a struggle that African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s went through in order to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education. On top of those rights the African American community also wanted equal rights to vote, equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination. No social or political movement of the twentieth century has had as profound an effect on the legal and political institutions of the United States. This movement sought to restore to African Americans the rights of citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which had been eroded by segregationist jim crow laws in the South. It fundamentally altered relations between the federal government and the states, as the federal government was forced many times to enforce its laws and protect the rights of African American citizens. The civil rights movement also spurred the re-emergence of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, in its role as protector of individual liberties against majority power. In addition, as the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, and other leaders of the movement predicted, the movement prompted gains not only for African Americans but also for women, persons with disabilities, and many others overall changing the views of the American people during this time and for the better..
Personal View:
I find that in a time of social change and reforms during the 60s and 70s that it truly shaped America into what we know it as today for the better. Through the civil rights activism we were able to prove as a united country what influence we have in our government’s affairs. On top of this we were able to accomplish through this movement the equality for African Americans while making life better for America as a whole.
June 15, 2016 at 3:54 am |
http://www.writersbureau.com/writing/Why-are-stories-important-for-children.htm
The article I chose is an article that depicts the importance of short stories being read to children. I chose this specific article because I am very much enjoying the short story unit we are having in English class and I wanted to see if there are any benefits to learning it. This article explains all the good things short stories teach little kids and help them improve their reading and writing skills, and also just help them learn about life. This is not only for short stories but also any stories.
Kids need short stories so that they can improve their basic skills such as reading and writing Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. Stories can help with this process by showing children what people’s lives are like where they live and in other parts of the world Stories are a great way to introduce new words and ideas into a child’s language starting with picture books for the very young, working up to more complex novels for teenagers. They can be useful when trying to explain traumatic events, such as family break-ups. And what’s so great about learning through stories is that the process is done in a natural way. The feeling of familiarity of a much-loved story, the rhyming and repetition in a picture book, plus the feeling of security that time spent reading together can help the child feel more at home. They can be reading about children growing up in exactly the same situation as them one minute and about another species. When children read stories that contain feelings it can help them understand and accept their own feelings. These are the main reasons why stories can help children develop and become the people that they are supposed to be when they grow up.
I enjoyed reading this article and I very much agree with it that children develop with reading stories and not just younger smaller children but also older teenagers. I agree that books help children cope with what is going on around them such as divorces of parents and other different problems in their daily lives. Children’s brains start developing when they are born and when children are read short stories such as picture books this helps their minds develop and they start associating the pictures they see with everyday objects such as apples, toys, or different types of foods. This is helping me understand the short story unit that we are doing in class and how it actually is very helpful to us when we interpret it. This article also told me how children’s brains are done developing at about the age of 25 so I learned that I can keep learning and that stories and books are the most important and the best teaching tool you can have for yourself. This article tells how reading stories help develop your child’s mind and it is the best teaching tool because children’s minds develop when they see pictures that the can associate with real life situations. This article is very interesting and I very much agree with it.
June 16, 2016 at 9:59 pm |
Kiana Hamrah
period 6
Mr.pores
11 June 2016
http://historylists.org/art/9-circles-of-hell-dantes-inferno.html
Nine levels of Hell
I picked the article “9 Circles of Hell (Dante’s Inferno)” because I think it was interesting how well this short article is able to explain the nine levels of hell so well. Also, I think it does a good job of explaining some parts of the inferno that may not have been really clear. Like in the inferno the First Circle is Limbo. The first circle is a kind of lower version of heaven, people like Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Hippocrates and Julius Caesar would go there. Its not to bad there as they explain, they live in a castle with seven gates to show “seven virtues” ( seven deadly sins). The second circle of hell is Lust, they go here because they can never find peace and are looking for something to make them happy. For example, Cleopatra, Tristan, and Helen. As the article goes on it talks about the third circle of Hell, Gluttony, these people were forced to lie, they are punish by a icy rain that will never end. The icy rain is said to represent the selfishness and coldness people are when they lie and deceive others. The Fourth Circle, Greed, in this circle its slit into two people who didn’t share when they could or had the means to and the people who just spent it without thinking about it. In the fourth circle they use weights to push there chests down. They did this as a represent how they have a selfish want for money. In the fifth Circle, Anger, people with a lot of anger and who are bad tempered go. There punishment is lots of violence and loud noises. Sixth Circle that talks about Heresy, people that go here are those who do not believe in there religion. In the sixth circle they are punished by being put in flaming tombs, some famous historical such as, ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and Pope Anastasius II. As the article continues about the circles of hell we get to the seventh circle, Violence, which broken up in three rings. The first ring is house murders and the other two rings are being violent to others and property. Eight Circle, Fraud, these people in some way or another were corrupt. There “punishment” is to live with a flying monster that has different natures, like them. In the last circle or the Ninth Circle, Treachery, which is divided into four different “rounds”. This was the worst sin you could do and each round is worst then the one before.
I think that some of these sins make senses to be in hell but some of them are to brutal for the crime they committed. For example, going against religions believes is not a crime, I don’t think, because there is not one religion that owns the world and there are many people that are not religious. Many people have don’t have a curtain belief and I think that them going to help for it was wrong. But I also agree with some of the things like Treachery,Fraud, Violence, and some more, I think that they have grounds to punish them.
June 16, 2016 at 11:22 pm |
Michael Relly
Mr. Pores
English, Period 6
16 June 2016
Independent Reading #3:
Article: Five Reasons Why More Christians Are Rejecting The Traditional View of Hell (goo.gl/8uyNI2)
The article “5 Reasons Why More Christians Are Rejecting The Traditional View of Hell” from the Progressive Christian channel of the religion journal Patheos explores the reasons for which many progressive Christians are rejecting the traditional view of hell, which the Bible holds to be an eternal place of unforgiving, conscious torture. The argument stands that if God is the peace-loving, forgiving, omnibenevolent deity the same book says he is, then why would he subject people to such eternal torture for sins they committed during a time frame that is minute in comparison? Even worse, why would a kind-hearted, perfectly moral atheist be exposed to the same conditions? If Jesus commands anti-hate, why would God disobey his own command?
The first reason states that it is highly obvious that torture is inherently wrong; something in our souls tell us that without the need for further argument. If this is the case, why would God himself not only practice the torture of a potential billion souls, but take great pride in it?
The second reason says that the message of the Bible itself on death is totally inconsistent with the story of hell being a place of eternal torture. When one re-reads the scripture without the blinders on, it is hard to equate the regular death of those who do not give in to God’s love to the environment to which they acquiesce in the traditional sense of Hell.
The third, fourth, and fifth reasons are an explanation that the coming judgment in which all Christians believe is conducted by Jesus himself, and the idea that the end result of rejecting God’s love is a slow eternal torture session with Jesus himself at the controls, is an asinine concept that surely can’t be true by Biblical definition. Jesus would become a hypocrite, demanding that we nonviolently love our enemies as he does the complete opposite on judgment day. In fact, Jesus goes as far as to preach that loving enemies is a prerequisite to become a child of God. (Matthew 5:38) If Jesus commands that we love our enemies, refuse to use violence, and that we actually do good to those who hate us yet– eternally tortures his own enemies he’s guilty of hypocrisy at the very least. There are two truths at this point: either we are more gracious and merciful than Jesus, or the traditional view of Hell is false.
Many faithful Christians would never orchestrate or condone torture – there’s something just innately wrong about that – instead, should such a person be on the other end of the judgment seat, he or she would air on the side of mercy as opposed to pulling the torture switch, especially for frivolous crimes like being born into an Amazonian tribe who has never even been introduced to the message of Jesus.
This article was teeming with good points. Not being a terribly religious or spiritual person myself, there aren’t many points with which you can disagree after reading this article. If you are a radical Evangelical who waves the threat of Hell in your brainwashed subordinates’ faces to advocate for Biblical principles, keep in mind there is arguably nothing less Christian than putting yourself before Jesus Christ by breaking his disciples and condoning something as terrible as the traditional view of Hell.
June 21, 2016 at 1:37 pm |
Ari Weizman
Mr. Pores
English, P.5
June 16, 2016
I chose this article because it gave me a deeper understanding of the story. It explained parts that I didn’t really understand and explained how the punishments were chosen. This helped me understand the punishments and how they fit the sins committed by the culprits.
The article explained what level of hell certain historic people were in and what their punishments were, at that level. The author talks about all the 9 levels punishments for unbaptized, lustful, gluttons, hoarders, spenders, wrathful, sullen, wrathful, violent, suicides, suicides, blasphemers, hypocrites, thieves, pimps, and finally betrayers. This explanation makes it clear that not all punishments are equal and people who disobey God will be put deep in hell. The author quotes Dante’s inscription “Abandon all hope, you who enter here” After reading this article i feel that is an accurate description of hell.
This article was very helpful. I found it very helpful the map that the author created in this article. It helped me understand the punishments delt upon the people who commit sins to be in Hell. It also explains parts of the story that i didn’t understand. This article showed and explained how the punishments are connected to the people. It also helped explain how the circles of Hell are different and how the sins they become worse and worse the farther you go