Dante's Inferno Creative Writing Assignment
Dante's Inferno Creative Writing Assignment
Part I. Creative Writing Paper 2 pages maximum (Staple this sheet to back.)
Choose ONE of the following:
A. Send a Modern Person or Persons to Dante's Inferno
Dante's hell is not a bizarre book of arbitrary, horrible punishments in another world but a clinically accurate unmasking of human corruption in this world. Corruption, for Dante is always a matter of choice, for sin is Hell, and one can sin only by choice. The horror is that no characters in Hell express a wish to get out. They are held there by their own continuing choice.
What does the blind pursuit of desire make of a society? What does choice to live by violence do to a nation? What becomes of a people who live by fraud and malice? As you look around at our society in the United States and around the world, think about the characters and situations in the Dante's vestibule of Hell and in circles one through nine. Choose one of those circles and give it a modern population using the characters as symbols of evil actions performed by people's free choices and the consequences of those actions for the individual and for the larger group. Remember, you must base your essay on facts, not personal prejudice. Some possible scenarios might be the looting and violence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, prison riots, dishonest public figures, bank or business scandals, the drug scene, arson, civil and international wars.
Dante's Inferno entails the Law of Symbolic Retribution. Fit the punishment to the crime.
B. Your Own Canto
Create a circle of Hell of your own. Decide where it will fit in Dante's structure, e.g., 8 1/2, or wherever you choose.
Plan your circle carefully. Select the location and describe the structure, the nature of the punishment, why it suits this particular crime, and then the sinner whom you think should or will receive this punishment. Choose your sinners from history, literature, or the contemporary political scene. Do NOT use friends, enemies or neighbors. You may also describe types of people instead of using names.
Part II. Analytical Paragraph 1/2 page maximum
Explain how Dante would react to your ideas in the writing prompt that you chose to address. In other words, advocate for the accuracy of your ideas in terms of how they would fit with The Inferno as Dante crafted it. Why would he support your ideas?
Guidelines
• For either prompt, your description and explanation must fit with Dante's overall scheme. In other words, you must attempt to show that you understand Dante's approach. Your ideas must be able to blend with his. You can approach this through diction, syntax, content, imagery, conflict, setting, characterization, and theme.
• You may also draw on the material about the Seven Deadly Sins for your ideas since Dante certainly would have studies these.
Evaluation _____Originality and depth; _____Detail and theme; _____Fits with Dante's ideas;
_____Vivid imagery and language _____Convincing content _____Appropriate organization
_____Fully addresses the assign. _____TWO pages max. plus one brief paragraph
_____Free of sentence-level errors; _____Correct format. _____Clear proofreading
Comments: _____ out of 50 pts.
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