Week of June 7, 2010

Monday/Tuesday

Continued review for exam. Hand-out of quotes. Review of grammar/punctuation. Crossword puzzle exchange.

Thursday/Friday

Continued review.

Week of June 1, 2010

Tuesday/Wednesday

We are going to read "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," by T. S. Eliot. I meant to do this after we finished "Hamlet." It's not too late. Also, review of vocabulary.

On Thursday/Friday, make sure that you bring all your books. I am working on a review of the exam, including grammar issues and quotes. I finished the exam this weekend. There are four different exams. There will be different essay questions for different classes--all related to Slaughterhouse Five. Each of the four exams uses a different selection of vocabulary words and different selections of quotes. There are six selections--of which you will choose five. There is only one quote in each section. The six sections include: 1. Slaughterhouse Five 2. Hamlet 3. The Odyssey 4. "The Overcoat" 5. Selected Poems 6. "Inferno"--not necessarily in that order.

Thursday/Friday

You will receive classwork credit for having all your books. If you owe money on a book, this will be the day to bring in a check payable to MLWGS and to get a receipt from the office. The check will equal credit for the book. I will provide a selection of quotes. We will break up into groups. As a small group. you will analyze what is important about the quotes. Then we will share with the class.

Homework: Begin studying for your exam.

Week of May 24, 2010

Monday/Tuesday

Finish presentations of cultural / historical background of Slaughterhouse Five. Connect with the novel in a class discussion. Seminar on the novel as a whole (not graded). Prepare for reading quiz on Wednesday/Thursday for reading quiz on Slaughterhouse Five.

Wednesday/ Thursday

Reading quiz. Discussion. Review of exams to be covered on the final exam.

Friday

Review of materials for final exam. Have a relaxing Memorial day weekend.

Week of May 17, 2010--Note Change

Monday/Tuesday

Reading quiz on "Odyssey" 10-19 and Slaughterhouse Five, chapters 1-3. Go over. Library for research on assigned group topics.

Homework: Continue reading the novel.

Wednesday/Thursday

More research on assigned projects. Meet in Room 234 for attendance. Then we will go to our assigned computer lab. Make a 3-5 minute presentation on Friday.

Homework: Continue the novel.

Friday: Three-five minute presentation. You need to finish the novel by May 24/25.

Week of May 10, 2010

Monday-Thursday

Bring food if you can. I want you to learn, but I also want you to have some fun--and some relief from all the testing (APs and SOLs). We will watch "O Brother Where Art Thou?" plus talk about "The Odyssey." You should have read up through Book XVIII (18).

You will also see your "Infernos" and we will discuss them.

Friday:

Read through chapter 3 in Slaughterhouse Five. If you have any questions, this is the time to ask. There may be a reading quiz on "The Odyssey" (Books X-XVIII) on Monday/Tuesday. The quiz may include items from Slaughterhouse Five.

Week of May 3, 2010--NOTE CHANGES MAY 4

Monday/Tuesday:

Bring your Norton's (I & II--orange) books to class. We will discuss books XI-XIII. We will probably read book XIV in class and then you are to finish book XV for homework. NO READING QUIZ UNTIL AFTER AP & SOL TESTS. But there will be one on "The Odyssey"--where we will go farther. 17/18 (along with pages assigned--when they are assigned--in Slaughterhouse Five).

Wednesday/Thursday:

We will also read and discuss Tennyson's "Ulysses." It is already available on my student-shared folder, but I have also created a hand-out. We will also (if we have not already as in first period) read Book XVII of "The Odyssey." Read Book XVIII for homework.

Then I will distribute Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. I may not have enough for all students, so if you already have a copy of the novel, please bring your own. If you have your own, you may also write in it. Begin reading the novel. I have not come up with a schedule yet, but you should probably finish the novel by May 21st. There will be benchmarks, however, that you will be expected to meet.

I am keeping in mind the strange SOL schedules and the fact that several of you will be taking APs.

Friday:

Bring novels. Brief discussion on the novel. Continue reading the novel. Read assigned chapters (I need to access the book at school in order to give you chapter numbers) by Monday/Tuesday.

Next week, we'll watch "O Brother Where Art Thou?"--a contemporary movie about "The Odyssey." It also includes some pop culture figures from the depression years.

"Odyssey" figures to look for in the film:

"Ulysses" McGill--played by George Clooney. "Ulysses" is another name for Odysseus.

The blind seer--a Tiresias figure who is blind and who drives a small hand-propelled rail cart.

Poseidon/the Devil: a corrupt police official / sheriff who tries to track Ulysses and his friends down.

The Kyklopes/Con-man (and Bible salesman)--played by John Goodman with an eye patch.

Sirens (also could represent the other seductresses / nymphs encountered along the way)

Penelope--goes by "Penny," played wonderfully by Holly Hunter.

Pop-Culture / Historical References:

Robert Johnson (different first name in the movie): famous musician who supposedly sold his soul to the devil for musical abilities. The real Robert Johnson was supposedly killed by a jealous husband. His music continues to be performed by famous artists.

There is a ku klux klan rally that imitates the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" when the evil witch's minions march.

Baby-Faced Nelson: famous bank robber the "Soggy Bottom Boys" encounter.

Banks foreclosing on poor farmers.

Corrupt politicians with "populist" views.

Famous southern politician "Pappy O'Daniel."

Old-fashioned radio station. You can see one just like the one we see if you ever drive down German School Road on Richmond's south side.

Bringing electricity to the country--and flooding out lands to do so.

Great music!

Odyssey--Notes on Books 10-13

Book X

Know the island and who lives there (at the beginning).

What gift does he give to Odysseus?

What do the men do with this “gift”? What motivates them to do so?

What does the gift-giver say about giving him a replacement gift? Why will he not do it?

Who are the Laistrygonians?

Who is Artakía?

What happens to some of Odysseus’ men after their encounter with Artakía?

What is the name of the island upon which Kirkê resides?

Describe the island and explain why this is a warning. Compare to the island of the Kyklopes.

Odysseus orders his men to break up into two groups. Who does he choose as the leader of the expedition?

What strange, unnatural, and supernatural things do the men find when they get to their destination?

Which character suggests that they should enter the dwelling?

How does Kirkê treat the men once they enter? Give specifics.

After treating them kindly, what does she do to them?

Which named character did not enter because his intuition told him not to?

When that character gets back to inform Odysseus, how does that character react when Odysseus says that Odysseus will lead the next expedition to Kirkê’s house?

Which god helps Odysseus in this endeavor?

What does the god give to Odysseus?

What does the god instruct Odysseus to do (beyond the molü)?

What weapon does Odysseus bring with him?

What happens the men after Odysseus has beguiled the charming Kirkê?

How long does Odysseus remain with Kirkê?

Who tells Odysseus that he must return home?

Before he goes Kirkê tells Odysseus that he must visit the underworld. What animal sacrifices must they make first?

Which famous seer will Odysseus seek once he is there?

What happened to Elpênor?

Book XI

What kinds of libations does Odysseus prepare once he has arrived in “the realm and region of the Men of Winter”?

To which famous goddess must Odysseus make sacrifices?

Who is the first “shade” that they see?

What does this once-human, former shipmate, ask of Odysseus?

Which relative does Odysseus discover here, has died? How did she die?

What prophecy does Tiresias give?

Note that Odysseus also encounters Oedipus and Jocasta.

Who is Lêda?

Who is Ariadnê?

What does Agamemnon reveal?

What does Agamemnon say about the “intrigues of women”? What does he say about Helen? What advise does Agamemnon give about how one should regard or treat a woman?

What does Agamemnon say about Penelope? How does he later contradict himself?

What is said of/by Akhilleus?

Know about Orion, Tityos, Tántalos, Sísphos, and Herakles.

Book XII—Sea Perils and Defeat

What happens to the recently-fallen comrade’s body? How does Odysseus show honor?

Know about the Seirênês.

Know about Amphitritê.

Know about the Symplegades.

Know about Skylla and Kharybdis.

Know what will happen on Thrinákia—who lives there, and which animals no one must touch.

What does Odysseus do to save himself from the Seirênês?

How are his men saved from the fate normally wrought when one listens to the Seirênês?

What is the choice Odysseus has to make when they encounter Skylla and Kharybdis? Which one does he take?

What does Eurýlokhos say?

Why do the men start to starve? What events cause this?

Who is Lampetía?

What sin do Odysseus men commit?

What are the consequences?

Where does Odysseus end up at the end of Book XII?

Book XIII

What does Alkínoos offer and give to Odysseus?

What price do the Phiákians pay for helping Odysseus?

Athena intervenes early in the story, arriving in what human form?

Into what form does Athena change later?

Note her criticism of Odysseus: “’Always the same detachment! That is why / I cannot fail you, in your evil fortune, / coolheaded, quick, well-spoken as you are! / Would not another wandering man, injoy, / make haste home to his wife and children? Not / you, not yet’” (387-392).

What does Athena say about Odysseus’ wife?

What does Athena reveal about what has been going on in Ithaka?

Some "Odyssey" Notes and Questions

“Odyssey” Notes—

Book V:

Which character is known as “the Wayfinder”?

What does he order Calypso to do?

What is the name of Odysseus’ son?

What does Calypso say about relationships between immortal beings and mortal beings?

Why does Calypso call Odysseus “a dog”? What has Odysseus told Calypso to do? She protests, adding that “Fairness is all I think of. There are hearts made of cold iron—but my heart is kind.”

Odysseus is the son of .

Who is Calypso talking about when Calypso asks, “Can I be less desirable than she is? / Less interesting? Less beautiful? Can mortals / compare with goddesses in grace and form?” (220-222).

How does Odysseus answer the question?

Besides the materials necessary for building a raft, what does Calypso give him? Hint: it’s a particular garment.

Which god has it in for Odysseus? Why? What did Odysseus do to offend that god?

What eventually happens to the garment that Kalypso has given Odysseus?

What is the name of Kadmos’ daughter and what does she give to Odysseus?

What must Odysseus eventually do with this garment?

What is the name of the island upon which Odysseus lands?

What is the name of the people who live here?

Book VIII

Who is Alkínoös?

What story does the harper sing about?

What is the name of the bard that makes Odysseus cry?

What is the bard’s physical abnormality?

What is the name of the king’s favorite son?

Which of the Phaiákians insults Odysseus?

In order to lighten things up a little, the minstrel sings about Aphrodite, Ares, and Aphrodites’s cuckolded husband, also known as .

Who is Pontónoös?

During the Trojan war, Odysseus had fought with Akhilleus. Also note, “how one time they contended at the godfeast/ raging, and the marshall, Agamemnon, / felt inward joy over his captains’ quarrel; / for such had been foretold him by Apollo / at Pytho—hallowed height—when the Akhaian / crossed that portal of a rock to ask a sign—“ (81-86).

The young man challenge Odysseus to compete in what events?

What is the first of the athletic contests?

What is the name of the island on which Odysseus was exiled (with Kalypso) for seven years?

Book IX

Which army, “trained to fight on horseback,” were offended when Odysseus’ men got drunk and butchered their sheep and cattle? In response, they “unfleshed” Odysseus’ men.

What are the giant “louts” whose land is “unplanted and untilled, a wilderness, who live without a law to bless them”?

Which character / host does not adhere to the rules of the guest-host relationship? What is his name?

How does Odysseus trick this character? What does he do to him?

How is Odysseus able to (along with the remaining men) escape this giant?

What name does Odysseus give to this dangerous character?

What happens when Odysseus reveals his identity?

Week of April 26, 2010

Sorry, students. My internet service was down yesterday so I had to wait until I got to school today.

Monday/Tuesday:

Vocabulary test of final three chapters (plus classical roots). When finished, write out and sign the pledge and turn it in. Take out your textbooks and quietly read Books 8 & 9 of "The Odyssey," (pp. 126-151). Finish what you don't finish in class for homework. For some classes, we will continue our discussion of "The Overcoat."

Wednesday/Thursday:

Possible reading quiz on "The Overcoat" and "The Odyssey" so far. I have said this before, but I will say it again--do not use Spark Notes, Cliff's Notes, Pink Monkey, or any other kinds of so-called "study guides." Do not use a different translation of "The Odyssey." Any quizzes ortests will come from the version in your textbooks. The most common one is a really-cleaned-up version written in the 19th century. Perhaps a discussion of "The Odyssey." We will begin reading Book X and you will finish it for homework, pp. 151-164.

Friday:
Discussion of Book X. Start Book XI(pp. 165) and finish for homework over the weekend, along with Book XII & XIII (181-203).

Week of April 19, 2010

As I continue to grade Inferno projects (and because grades must be submitted by this Thursday morning!), I realize that I can not possibly write a vocabulary test.

For homework, read the first chapter (Book V) of "The Odyssey." It is in your orange books.

Therefore, the vocabulary test is deferred until next Monday/Tuesday. Meanwhile, we will do the following:

Monday/Tuesday

Finish "Hamlet." Watch more of the screen version.

Wednesday/Thursday

We will probably watch more scenes from Branaugh's "Hamlet." In addition, I will give you a copy of Gogol's famous short-story, "The Overcoat." Gogol is Russian. Though you have probably already covered that in global studies, I still want to do it now because it's a great short story and because I'd like to do something that is not so old. It's a quirky story and sad and funny at the same time. It will be good preparation for Kurt Vonnegut's famous novel, Slaughterhouse Five, something we will begin next week.

Friday

We will talk about the short story. Study for the vocabulary test which will take place on Monday/Tuesday.

Week of April 12, 2010

Monday/Tuesday

More "Hamlet" acted out in class. More "Hamlet" for homework. Let's see how far we get. Scenes from the Branaugh version.

Wednesday/Thursday

Ideally, we will finish "Hamlet." More of the "Branaugh" version.

Homework: Do the vocabulary review unit.

Friday: Go over vocabulary review. Prepare for a test (chapters 12-15) on Wednesday/Thursday.

Next Week: Bring your orange Nortons again. We are going to cover parts of "The Odyssey."

Week of March 29, 2010

Monday/Tuesday

I will distribute copies of the writers' memos. They are questions for you to answer regarding the process of writing your Infernos. Infernos are due any day between Monday and Friday. The writer's memo must accompany it, and it must be typed. That is why I saved it as a Word document and placed it on the "Shared" file.

Irish story--a short one and good for children--the Children of Lir. I'll probably read a poem of Yeats' too.

We will act out more of "Hamlet." I actually made a big piece of jewelry for Claudius. I want him to be more outrageous, greedy, and selfish.

We will probably watch part of the Branaugh video. Remember, I want you to watch critically. You should pay attention to what I say about set design, cinematography, and costumes. Remember the scene with the ghost on Friday? He was flashing back to the time when he and Gertrude were happily married. Branaugh shows a little too much familiarity between Gertrude and her brother-in-law, perhaps suggesting that they were a little too fond of each other before Hamlet Sr. kicked the bucket (at his brother's hand!). It's also interesting that King Hamlet Sr. and his wife are dressed in a rich crimson, whereas Claudius wears green. These are opposites on the color wheel and therefore reinforce Hamlet's comparison, "like Hyperion to a Satyr."

Homework: Depending upon how far we get, I will probably have you finish Act II.

Remember to bring your vocabulary books on Wednesday/Thursday, in case we have time to start chapter 15--the last chapter of the book.

Also, remember that your Infernos are due--any day this week.

Wednesday/Thursday

Happy April Fool's day!

We will review "Hamlet" so far and begin acting out Act III.

Do vocabulary exercise 15 for homework.

Friday:

Check vocabulary. Review "Hamlet" so far.

Week of March 22, 2010

Monday/Tuesday

Please try to remember to bring your yellow-green Nortons with you (Vol. III-VI).

We will begin class with a couple of Irish myths. Then I will direct you to a couple of poems by William Butler Yeats--poems that contain literary allusions to those myths. Remember, you are to employ allusions (I said Classical or Biblical but have approved other mythologies--like Norse--as well) in your Infernos.

We will get decked out, dressed up, and armed with plastic swords to read and perform, "Hamlet."

Homework: If we do not finish Act I in "Hamlet," you are to do it for homework.

Wednesday / Thursday:

Again, have your Nortons with you. We will perform and discuss Act II. We may get to see a scene or two from Kenneth Branaugh's 1996 version of "Hamlet."

Homework: Continue to work on Infernos and do vocabulary chapter 14 for Friday.

Friday:

Check vocabulary. Go over. Remember, your Infernos are due M-F next week. If you are going out of the state, country, or planet, then you need to have had it in my hands by today. Bon Voyage! :)

Week of March 15, 2010

Monday/Tuesday

For first and fifth period, we will meet in room 234, then go to the computer lab. For seventh, there will be a sign on the door directing you to the computer lab. Similarly, period 6 will meet in 234 and period 8 will be directed to the particular computer lab. At the end of the period, print out a double-spaced copy to bring to class on Wednesday/Thursday for more peer-editing (before or after the test for shadow-mentors).

Wednesday/Thursday

Vocabulary test. Peer-editing. Start writing down answers to "Writer's Memo"--eventually to be typed. Homework: Do chapter 13 of vocabulary and, if you have time, continue to work on Contemporary Infernos.

Friday: Check vocabulary. Go over. Weekend Homework: TBA (It might just be Infernos, but I have not decided yet. We still have other material to cover.

A couple of changes and some reminders

This Wednesday/Thursday, there will be a quiz on cantos 26-34.
You must also bring a draft of three cantos--typed and double-spaced. I would like for you to bring two drafts, but a minimum of one is required. I am counting the peer-editing session as a quiz grade and students that do not have the required materials will lose 25 points at the start.

This Friday (March 12): Vocabulary review unit is due.

Because of the plays, sports, and other activities, I have arranged for another class period in the computer lab on Monday and Tuesday.

Next Wednesday and Thursday (March 17th and 18th), there will be a vocabulary test on chapters 10-12 (including classical roots).

The final Inferno product will now be due the week before spring break. That is, any of the days between Monday and Friday. Because you have an entire week, however, I will not accept any late work. If you do not have it in my hands by Friday, April 2, 2010, I will grade only what I have in your portfolio so far. As I have not been collecting any subsequent drafts, that will not amount to much.

Week of March 8, 2010

Monday/Tuesday:

Meet in room 234. Then we will go to the computer lab. I will try to print out a copy of the rubrics for the project and we will decide on a proper due date. Work all period on this project, and then study for the quiz on cantos 26-34. All the notes are now on line.

I am trying really hard to give comments on your Infernos on the shared file. I worked on several this weekend and will upload them on Monday and Tuesday, so keep checking.

Bring your Contemporary Infernos (printed out, double-spaced) to class on Wednesday/Thursday. I would like to use that day to peer-edit. We will not be going to the computer lab, however. From now on, you must work on this at home.

Wednesday / Thursday:

Reading quiz on cantos 26-34. Go over in class. Let's use this period to peer-edit in our classroom. Bring at least one copy of your work. If you do not have a copy with you, you will lose 25 points from the start, so it is important that you bring your work with you.

Homework: Do the review unit of vocabulary. Remember also what this means: there will be a vocabulary test next Wednesday/Thursday. That also means that your Infernos will not be due that early.

Friday: Check that students have completed the work. Go over. Question/answer peer-review time on Infernos. For homework, study your vocabulary, including classical roots. The test will be on Wednesday/Thursday

Rubric for Inferno

This is what I am considering, though it may be refined:

Category:

• Strong opening; interests the reader. It has a good "hook." Vivid. It puts the reader into the action. That is worth 5 points.
• Individual stories have clear beginnings, middles, and ends. Each story can stand alone. The end of each story, however, has a transition that leads nicely to the next level. The work comes together as a whole as well as a series of narratives. 20 points.
• Character development: (Less important in the prologue but of paramount importance n the cantos). The writer uses strong dialog, facial expressions, gestures, and movement. Overall, the character comes to life. Whether you are depicting the narrator, the guide, or a sinner, I should be able to get a good sense of who he/she is and was. Overall, you do more showing than telling. Don't tell me this is a bad guy and why. Show me. Develop the character. 20 points.
• Setting: Vivid and interactive. Characters act upon the setting they encounter and perhaps the setting acts upon the various characters. I should be able to see, hear, feel, and maybe even smell the setting. Look at what Dante does. 20 points.
• Each Canto (not necessarily the Prologue) includes a simile. 5 points.
• There are at least two mythical allusions (which can also be similes). I prefer Biblical or Classical, but am open to others, provided that you run them by me first. If it includes a world mythology that I do not know, you must also include footnotes. 5 points.
• Voice: This applies to all characters, but even more so to the primary characters--the narrator and the guide. Their voices should come across as real. That might mean that characters use a different register of diction, depending upon the character's class, time, and education. Make your character believable. Chances are, you will be best served by being yourself anyway. Tell the story as you would to a friend or a group of friends, instead of a teacher. That means that you want your audience to be mesmerized by the story. You're the center of attention and everyone wants to hear more. If you are using slang or I.M. talk, you must remember that I am old. You probably need to use a footnote so that I will get it. 15 points.
• It has to follow Dante's paradigm. In other words, everyone is suffering for something that he/she has done on earth and the punishment fits the crime. 10 points.
• I will deduct additional points for improper punctuation, paragraphing, bad sentences, weak diction, format, and other mechanically-related items.
• I will also deduct 10 points per day for any Inferno not turned in on time (on a date to be determined this week. On-time means that you have all of it, research, research notes, rough drafts, notes written on a napkin at your favorite restaurant, etc.). All late papers (and if you have the final draft but nothing else, it will not be accepted) will include a "Late Work Form" and as such, given directly to the teacher or to another English teacher (who will sign and date it) in my work room. I will also call any parent of any student who does not have the work on the day that it is due.
• I have not revised it yet, but you will also include a writer's memo. Basically, it's a list of questions that you have to answer regarding your process and your final product. It will count as a quiz grade. Again, you will have plenty of notice before it is due. And it definitely will not be due the week of March 15th, as we have a vocabulary test that week.

Inferno Cantos 32-34--Teacher Notes

Inferno Notes—Cantos XXXII – XXXIV (32-34)

Canto XXXII (32):

Circle Nine: Cocytus (Compound Fraud)

Round One: Caina (The Treacherous to Kin)

Round Two: Antenora (The Treacherous to Country)

Describe the lake (Cocytus). These treacheries represent the denial of what feeling?

Why are they punished as they are?

Know that Caina is named for Cain. These treacheries involved .

Note too that the sinners here are as far away from God as possible and that this is part of their punishment.

Be ready to describe the fate of the sinners in Caina.

The second round is Antenora, named for Antenor. Who was Antenor? The treacheries in this realm involved .

Be ready to describe the fate of the sinners in Antenora.

Whose head does Dante accidentally kick?

Who are the muses? Who is Amphion? This information can be found in the footnotes on p. 1131.

Note this description: “We stood now in the dark pit of the well, / far down the slope below the Giant’s feet, / and while I still stared up at the great wall, / I heard a voice cry: ‘Watch which way you turn: / take care you do not trample on the heads / of the foreworn and miserable brethren.’ / Whereat I turned and saw beneath my feet / and stretching out ahead, a lake so frozen / it seemed to be made of glass. So thick a sheet / never yet hid the Danube’s winter course, / nor, far away beneath the frigid sky, / locked the Don up in its frozen source: / For were Tanbernick and the enormous peak / of Pietrapana to crash down on it, / not even the edges would so much as creak” (16-30).

Now a wonderful metaphor that also describes the sinners’ fates:

“The way frogs sit to croak, their muzzles leaning / out of the water, at the time and season / when the peasant woman dreams of her day’s gleaning--/ Just so the livid dead are sealed in place / up to the part at which they blushed for shame, / and they beat their teeth like storks. Each holds his face / bowed toward the ice, each of them testifies / to the cold with his chattering mouth, to his heart’s grief / with tears that flood forever from his eyes” (31-39).

This is pretty cool: “…I saw two clamped together / so tightly that the hair of their heads had grown together” (41-42).

And this vivid description (something I want you to emulate): “They strained their necks, / and when they raised their heads as if to reply, / the tears their eyes had managed to contain / up to that time gushed out, and the cold froze them / between the lids, sealing them shut again/ tighter than any clamp grips wood to wood, / and mad with pain, they fell to butting heads / like billy-goats in a savage mood” (44-52).

Know who Mordred was (mentioned as “not him whose breast and shadow a single blow / of the great lance of King Arthur pierced with light” in the footnotes).

Again, here is a part that reminds me of the Suicides (and the subsequent Wizard of Oz):

“As we approached the center of all weight, / where I went shivering in eternal shade, / whether it was my will, or chance, or fate, / I cannot say, but as I trailed my Guide / among those heads, my foot struck violently / against the face of one. Weeping, it cried: ‘Why do you kick me? If you were not sent / to wreak a further vengeance for Montaperti/ why do you add this to my other torment?’” (73-81).

Who is this sinner? How does Dante respond to this plea/ complaint? How is it different from the way he treated the suicides?

Note how Dante and this sinner fight:

“’And who are you who go through the dead larder / of Antenora kicking the cheeks of others / so hard, that were you alive, you could not kick harder?’ / ‘I am alive,’ I said, ‘and if you seek fame, / it may be precious to you above all else/ that my notes on this descent include your name.’ / ‘Exactly the opposite is my wish and hope,’ / he answered. ‘Let me be; for it’s little you know / of how to flatter on this icy slope.’ / I grabbed the hair of his dog’s ruff and I said: / ‘Either you tell me truly who you are, or you won’t have a hair left on your head.’ / And he: ‘Not though you snatch me bald. I swear / I will not tell my name nor show my face. / Not though you rip me until my brain lies bare’” (88-102).

Who does this guy turn out to be?

Great description: “Leaving him then, I saw two souls together / in a single hole, and so pinched in by the ice / that one head made a helmet for the other. / As a famished man chews crusts—so the one sinner / sank his teeth into the other’s nape / at the base of the skull, gnawing his loathsome dinner” (124-129).

Note Dante’s manipulations: “’You there,’ I said, ‘who show so odiously / your hatred for that other, tell me why / on this condition: that if in what you tell me / you seem to have a reasonable complaint / against him you devour with such foul relish, / I, knowing who you are, and his soul’s taint, / may speak your cause to living memory, / God willing the power of speech be left to me’” (133-140).

Canto XXXIII (33):

Circle Nine: Cocytus (Compound Fraud)

Round Two: Antenora (The Treacherous to Country)

Round Three: Ptolomea (The Treacherous to Guests and Hosts)

Remember what a big deal it was to the Greeks—that whole thing about guests and hopes? It looks like Dante thought it was important too. The abuse of such relationships happens in “Macbeth.” Remember, poor King Duncan gets killed by his host—Macbeth!

Know about Count Ugolino and Archbishop Ruggieri. Know about their fates now.

Who was Ptolomaeus of Maccabees? What did he do? Be specific.

How are those in Ptolomea punished?

Who were Friar Alberigo and Branca D’Oria? What was their sin on earth? How are they punished in Ptolomea?

Note: this is the only time that Dante has a sinner in Hell—one whose body is still walking the earth. You cannot do this—but how does Dante explain it?

Note how this sinner speaks reluctantly: “The sinner raised his mouth from his grim repast / and wiped it on the hair of the bloody head / whose nape he had all but eaten away. At last / he began to speak: ‘You ask me to renew / a grief so desperate that the very thought / of speaking of it tears my heart in two. / But if my words may be a seed that bears / the fruit of infamy for him I gnaw, / I shall weep, but tell my story through my tears. / Who you may be, and by what powers you reach / into this underworld, I cannot guess, / but you seem to me a Florentine by your speech’” (1-13).

Who is this guy? How did he and his sons die? (It’s in the footnotes). Note that he recognizes Dante by his Florentine accent.

Dante even makes us feel sorry for him: “’The father and sons had raced / a brief course only when they failed of breath / and seemed to weaken; then I thought I saw / their flanks ripped open by the hounds’ fierce teeth. / Before the dawn, the dream still in my head, / I woke and heard my sons, who were there with me,/ cry from their troubled sleep, asking for bread. You are cruelty itself if you can keep / your tears back at the thought of what foreboding/ stirred in my heart; and if you do not weep,/ at what are you used to weeping? –The hour when food / used to be brought, drew near. They were now awake, / and each was anxious from his dream’s dark mood. / And from the base of that horrible tower I heard / the sound of hammers nailing up the gates:/ I stared at my sons’ faces without a word./ I did not weep: I had turned stone inside. / They wept. “What ails you, Father, you look so strange,” / my little Anselm, youngest of them cried. / But I did not speak a word nor shed a tear: / not all that day nor all that endless night,/ until I saw another sun appear’” ( 33-54 ).

What subsequently and began to happen to the members of this family?

As Virgil and Dante pass into Ptolomea, the sinners’ fates differ somewhat. How do they differ? Be specific.

Know about Friar Alberigo. This is the only place where someone that walks the earth is already in Hell. Note how Dante manipulates him:

“And I to him: ‘If you would have my service, / tell me your name; then if I do not help you / may I descend to the last rim of the ice’” (115-117).

“’What! Are you dead already?’ I said to him. / And he then: ‘How my body stands in the world / I do not know. So privileged is this rim / of Ptolomea, that often souls fall to it / Before dark Atropos has cut their thread. / And that you may more willingly free my spirit / of this glaze of frozen tears that shrouds my face, / I will tell you this: when a soul betrays as I did, / it falls from flesh, and a demon takes its place, ruling the body till its time is spent’” ( 121-130).

Who is Atropos? It is in the footnotes.

Canto XXXIV (34):

Circle Nine: Cocytus (Compound Fraud)

Round Four: Caina (The Treacherous to Their Masters)

The Center: Satan

Describe Satan as Virgil and Dante see him from a distance.

Know how sinners are punished here.

Who is this realm (Judecca) named for? What sin does this represent?

How is Satan’s appearance “a grotesque parody of the Trinity”? Describe him.

Note that the poets use Satan as a kind of ladder. C. S. Lewis describes this as the first work of science fiction.

Note how scared Dante is: “Do not ask, Reader, how my blood ran cold / and my voice choked u with fear. I cannot write it: / this is a terror that cannot be told. / I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath: / imagine for yourself what I became, / deprived at once of both my life and death” (22-28).

Note the wonderfully vivid description of Satan: “The Emperor of the Universe of Pain / jutted his upper chest above the ice; / and I am close r in size to the great mountain / the Titans make around the central it,/ than they to his arms. Now, starting from his part, / imagine the whole that corresponds to it! / If he was once as beautiful as now / he is hideous, and still turned on his maker, well may he be the source of every woe! / With what a sense of awe I saw his head / towering above me! for it had three faces: one was in front, and it was fiery red; / the other two, as weirdly wonderful, / merged with it from the middle of each shoulder / to the point where all converged at the top of the skull; / the right was something between white and bile; / the left was about the color that one finds / on those who live along the banks of the Nile. Under each head two wings rose terribly, / their span proportioned to so gross a bird: / I never saw such sails upon the sea. They were not feathers—their texture and their form/ were like a bat’s wings—and he beat them so / that three winds blew from him in one great storm: / it is these winds that freeze all Cocytus. / He wept from his six eyes, and down three chins/ the tears ran mixed with bloody froth and pus. In every mouth he worked a broken sinner / between his rake-like teeth. Thus he kept three / in eternal dinner” (28-58).

Which of the three souls suffers the most and why?

What are the names of the other two? What did they do to end up here?

This is the science-fiction moment: “Then, as he bade, I clasped his neck, and he, / watching for a moment when the wings / were opened wide, reached over dexterously / and seized the shaggy coat of the king demon; / then grappling matted hair and frozen crusts /from one tuft to another, clambered down. / When we had reached the joint where the great thigh / merges into the swelling of the haunch, / my Guide and Master, straining terribly, / turned his head to where his feet had been/ and began to grip the hair as if he were climbing;/ so that I thought we moved toward Hell again./ ‘Hold fast!’ my Guide said, and his breath became shrill/ with labor and exhaustion. ‘There is no way / but by such stairs to rise above such evil.’ / At last he climbed out through an opening in the central rock, and he seated me on the rim; / then joined me with a nimble backward spring. / I looked up, thinking to see Lucifer / as I had left him, and I saw instead / his legs projecting high into the air” (70-90).

Where are Dante and Virgil when they emerge?

What do they see?

Dante makes an allusion to Lethe. What is Lethe, in classical mythology? What does it symbolize here?

Again, note the vivid description of Satan: “’O My Master, / explain to me my error in all this: / where is the ice? And Lucifer—how has he / been turned from top to bottom: and how can the sun / have gone from night to day so suddenly?” / And he to me: “You imagine you are still / on the other side of the center where I grasped / the shaggy flank of the Great Worm of Evil / which bores through the world—you were while I climbed down, / but when I turned myself about, you passed/ the point to which all gravities are drawn’” (102-112).

“’You have your feet upon a little sphere / which forms the other face of the Judecca. / There it is evening when it is morning here. / And this gross Fiend and Image of all Evil / who made a stairway for us with his hide / is pinched and prisoned in the ice-pack still. / On this side he plunged down from heaven’s height, / and the land that spread here once hid in the sea/ and fled North to our hemisphere for fight; / and it may be that moved by that same fear, / the one peak that still rises on this side / fled upward leaving this great cavern here./ Down there, beginning at the further bound / of Beelzebub’s [another devil] dim tomb, there is a space / not known by sight, but only by the sound / of a little stream descending through the hollow / it has eroded from the massive stone / in its endlessly entwining lazy flow” (118-135).

What special holy day is it when Dante and Virgil emerge?