Sophomores Undaunted by Dante (By Paula Priour, English Instructor)

Sophomores descend and return from Hell

Students in the Honors World Literature class just finished reading Dante’s Inferno. They were each assigned a canto (chapter) on which to create a class presentation, which included a PowerPoint lecture and an original art project.

The subject of each of the cantos is a particular class of sinner found in Hell in descending circles, where they are awarded unique punishments, depending upon the severity of their particular sin. This hierarchy of sin was not based on Biblical concepst; it was devised by Dante, with a nod to Aristotle. Students were surprised to learn how much our modern concepts of Hell (including movie representations and ideas that made their way into church teachings) actually came from Dante, and not directly from the Bible.

Art projects produced for this assignment were dioramas, painted canvas scenes of various places in hell, doll representations of simoniacs, sinners frozen in rings of cake, and a knitted cap representing the three heads of Lucifer, complete with sinners protruding heads and feet. Much to their classmates’ delight, there were even baked eyeball cupcakes, beautifully decorated cupcakes of scenes of the city of Dis, and decorated cookies of hypocrites.

Hopefully, this experience will prepare students for next year’s Winter Term trip to study Dante in Italy.
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