The Cantos

When you think of Hell, do you think of a serpent with the face of an honest man? Not exactly your first thought, but in Dante’s The Divine Comedy: Inferno Canto 17, he helps us understand the meaning of this figure and the sins that are relate to it. Dante and Virgil are traveling through the Seventh Circle of Hell when they notice a horrible creature come before them. Later addressed as Geryon, Virgil goes to talk to the beast while Dante speaks with the usurers. Next, they must ride Geryon, guardian

When students study to sing Italian bel canto opera, it’s better to use the work which performed by people who is original singer to imitate and practice. However, there are still a series of problems will happen for non-Italian students when they are study singing the opera, for example Semiramide. Bel raggio lusinghier. Even according to the video soundtrack to imitate, the overall effect artistic and performances is not satisfactory. The problems are pronunciation hesitation, slurred speech, unknown

The world thrives on randomness, and I seek to live on this roller coaster without any hiatuses. It rolls dices across billions of people, choosing the lucky and unlucky ones. Anyone can prepare him/herself to the fullest in order to succeed, however, no one can predict the unique situations that they might oppose. You could be super poor but somehow win the lottery. Everything could be fine at first, but then love ones dies, your house burns down, or you crash your car. How do you prepare for the

Bel Canto: An Unrealistic Fairytale Bel Canto is a drama induced romance novel written by Ann Patchett. The main character of the story is Roxanne Coss, an opera singer who, along with a plethora of other unique characters, finds herself suddenly taken hostage while performing at a private birthday party in an unnamed South American country. The specific location, we are told, is the vice-presidential palace, complete with all the luxuries and exclusivities that political dignitaries and wealthy

This canto was the voice of truth. Throughout this part of the Inferno, Virgil was the one who composed most of the conversation. On a larger picture, over the course of this perilous journey, Virgil represented the idea of truth of rationality. He showed no compassion towards the sinners, including at other sections of Hell. He saw the true nature of the sins and those who committed them. In contrary, Dante the Pilgrim was the absolute opposite. He felt pity and sorry for the punished souls. In

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and Tragedy and Utopia by Michael Ignatieff have multiple common themes. However, the one common theme that stood out was vertical social hierarchy through language and communication. Gen Watanabe is a clear example of that in Bel Canto, who enates his skills by creating a social connection through a common language. In Tragedy and Utopia, there’s an invisible curtain of communication between the citizens of the welfare state and Ignatieff, through the division of labors

In Cantos 7-12, there were many times when the vice of pride was mentioned. For Aquinas, he does not list pride as a capital sin because he believes it is the general influence to all vices or the “queen” of all vices. Pride can also be described as the “beginning of all sins”: “aversion from God, which is the formal complement of sin, belongs to pride essentially, and to other sins, consequently. Hence it is that pride fulfils the conditions of a first thing, and is the beginning of all sins” (q

Complementary Cantos Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy can be successfully read straight through as a continuous story. However, he skillfully connects verses and cantos to each other throughout the books, adding meaning and depth to his story. Dante’s choice to make his work interdependent on other points throughout his text drives home greater significance of the series in a way that is similar to that which the Bible uses. The Bible also contains verses that relate to other books within its pages

“La Canzone del Piave” (The Piave’s song) was arguably the best example among the songs, as Bubola defined them, “imposed from above” (Bubola, 2015) The song, which has kept intact its popularity until today, is able to narrate the war in its entirety in few verses. Through the tune it is indeed possible to identify the beginning of the war, the early and clamorous Italian Army defeat of Caporetto and the final victory too. But that was also one of the most glaring examples of manipulation of fact

Multiple Perspectives of Neruda’s “Song of Despair” Pablo Neruda is known as one of the greatest Spanish-American writers of all time. He is a Chilean poet whose words have impacted many and will continue to impact many more. Through his powerful romanticism, Neruda can express misery or passion in a single line. One of his pieces in particular, “Poema 20,” “Tonight I Can Write,” or “Song of Despair” expresses hidden emotions in the deepest way possible. This poem is from a collection he