Reading The Dante Alighieri Case

Dante's use of allegory in the Inferno greatly varies from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in purpose, symbolism, characters and mentors, and in attitude toward the world. An analysis of each of these elements in both allegories will provide an interesting comparison. Dante uses allegory to relate the sinner's punishment to his sin, while Plato uses allegory to discuss ignorance and knowledge. Dante's Inferno describes the descent through Hell from the upper level of the opportunists to the most evil, the treacherous, on the lowest level. His allegorical poem describes a hierarchy of evil.

Lubrano explains how middle-class children understand the importance of receiving higher education, while working-class children fail to see the purpose of preparing for a higher level in the short term. According to Lubrano, “Middle-class kids are groomed for another life” (534). Author Patrick Finn states, “Working-class kids see no such connection, understand no future life for which digesting Shakespeare might be of value” (534). In answering this question, Lubrano must look at the various circumstances that account for the poor performances among working-class individuals, the supportive relationships middle-class students have with their parents and teachers, and how children of working-class parents struggle when preparing for later life. In the address, Alfred Lubrano must address the difference in treatment between working-class and middle-class children attending

Lareau, in Unequal Childhoods, focuses on socioeconomic status and how that affects outcomes in the education system and the workplace. While examining middle-class, working-class and poor families, Lareau witnessed differing logics of parenting, which could greatly determine a child’s future success. Working-class and poor families allow their children an accomplishment of natural growth, whereas middle-class parents prepare their children through concerted cultivation. The latter provides children with a sense of entitlement, as parents encourage them to negotiate and challenge those in authority. Parents almost overwhelm their children with organized activities, as we witnessed in the life of Garrett Tallinger. Due to his parents and their economic and cultural capital, Garrett was not only able to learn in an educational setting, but through differing activities, equipping him with several skills to be successful in the world. Lareau suggests these extra skills allow children to “think of themselves as special and as entitled to receive certain kinds of services from adults” (39). Adults in the school system are in favor of these skills through concerted cultivation, and Bourdieu seems to suggest that schools can often misrecognize these skills as natural talent/abilities when it’s merely cultivated through capital. This then leads to inequalities in the education system and academic attainments.

Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.

At the start of the poem we find Dante in the dark forest(Inf. 1.2). Not much description is given maybe to show Dante’s disorientation. Whether the disorientation is spiritual, physical, moral or political; that is unclear at the start of the poem. The poem us written this way so reader can identify with Dante. It is also written in such a way that sometimes it is difficult to understand some parts, you sometimes have to read it backwards to get a better understanding.

Dante’s Inferno is an amazing nonfiction piece that was meant to vindicate many lessons to its readers. As well as, depict what Dante believed hell to be, and express some of his concerns with divine justice, and the appropriate punishments for the crimes committed. While reading this epic piece it spoke in many ways, and it addresses similar issues that are still prevalent in current culture. This religious allegory seems to focus on punishments, and how it should equal up to the wrong that was done. It brings to mind the rule of Contrapasso. According to John Kameen, Contrapasso is one of the few rules in Dante’s Inferno. It is the one “law of nature” that applies to hell, stating that for every sinner’s crime there must be an equal and fitting punishment (Kameen37).

Reading “Chapter XVI: The life of the peasants” from Harper and Brother’s Life on a Mediaeval Barony lead me to contemplate the work life and attitude toward the education of the less glamorous lifestyle that medieval peasants lived, “Their help is so important that many peasants look on large families as assets of so much unpaid labor, rather than as liabilities… Education is almost unknown” (Davis). I contemplated what this attitude towards education could mean in modern society and how it relates to the lifestyles of urban families of a lower income. In “A Letter to My Nephew” by James Baldwin, Baldwin addresses the socioeconomic education status of the early 20th century to his nephew, “The limits to your ambition were thus expected to be settled. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity [that]... You were not expected to aspire to excellence”(Baldwin). Baldwin is stating that students of a lower social standing are automatically assumed to not succeed in school due to limitations on resources. I found this to be a very applicable concept in the education system of urban schools because numerous students that attend urban schools are of a low social standing with limited opportunities for success. Students can only take full advantage of their education in respect to the circumstances that they are raised in. According to Torrey Marable, a recent graduate from Phelps High School, many students who attend urban schools have

Dante’s “Inferno” is a pandemonic story told through the eyes of Dante as he travels through the nine circles of hell with the spirit, Virgil. Dante, being a mortal, was sent to visit hell by God for he had “lost his way” through life; and Virgil, the spirit, was to be his guide. As Dante travels through the first section of hell and ends at the city of Dis, it becomes known that the journey is only beginning for Dante and his moral compass is in desperate need of this experience to place him back on the way of life. Dante faces many challenges through hell as he experiences immense fear, pity, sorrow, and guilt. These emotions are adamantly shown through his reactions to his environment and the way he handles the complications of each circle

First, Tricia Rose explores the onset of educational equality within this unequal system. She sheds light on the misconception that wealthy individuals are worthy and have received their knowledge as well as money in a just way. Conversely, the poor, unprivileged individuals have not obtained just rewards, where the educational system has created an unnecessary burden for students. This can be exemplified by the fact that students obtaining an education already have their future carved out. For instance, while a white affluent individual will have more opportunities pertaining to attaining a better education and higher grades, a poor African-American will not have the same

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265 when Italy was facing conflict. This trouble started when Pope Gregory IX excommunicated Frederick the second of the Holy Roman Empire. The pope wanted to control the Holy Roman Empire, but the Holy Roman Emperor wanted to be independent from the church. Entire families and sometimes cities chose sides. The people who sided with the Holy Roman Empire were called the Ghibellines, and the people who sided with the Papacy were called the Guelphs. After a few decades the Guelphs pushed the Ghibellines out of Italy. Since the Ghibellines were no longer a threat, there was peace in Italy for fifteen years. After a political argument within an important family in a city nearby Florence, a blood

The Structure of Hell and the Justice in The Divine Inferno Dante wrote The Inferno with a clear sense of justice. He constructed and finished this section of The Divine Comedy in the thirteenth century. He described, in detail, the structure of Hell and the corresponding punishments for the committed sins: “Hell is the place of those who in life chose not to reflect (as Dante’s Vergil puts it, those who have lost “the good of the intellect”

Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri illustrates the idea of justice through the belief that with each action arise a consequence. What you sin above ground, you deal with under. Through this he gives examples of the sins done and the punishment that is inflicted from doing such thing as a disgrace to God. All through Dantes imagination and his views as to how it should be done, there is a punishment for each area of sin committed which is why a person who bribes will be in the further in the level of hell, as compared to someone who has killed an innocent.

There are certain things in life that are just bound to happen. The things that are unexpected to happen in our life. Let’s face it, let’s do it with courage in our heart.

I chose to read one of Dante’s minor works for my discussion post and I chose to read Detto d’amore. This minor work isn’t extremely long, but it has four lyrics. Throughout Dante’s written work in this piece, it goes back and forth between serving love and also trying to avoid love. In the first lyric, Dante writes about how love is a human and that when you serve him, you get good things out of life. Love has a lot to and gifts to offer if you make your pledge to him, but the gifts won’t be ‘silver or gold,’ rather he implies that your gift will be whatever you desire emotionally (Lyric 1). Throughout the lyrics though, you can see the developing feelings that Dante writes about and how the character develops new feelings towards those he

In his first article of The Inferno, Dante Alighieri starts to present a vivid view of Hell by taking a journey through many levels of it with his master Virgil. This voyage constitutes the main plot of the poem. The opening Canto mainly shows that, on halfway through his life, the poet Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest by wandering into a tangled valley. Being totally scared and disoriented, Dante sees the sunshine coming down from a hilltop, so he attempts to climb toward the light. However, he encounters three wild beasts on the way up to the mountain—a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf—which force him to turn back. Then Dante sees a human figure, which is soon revealed to be the great Roman poet Virgil. He shows a different path