Meeting Dante and Hell

            We learned not only about our own cantos, but about cantos 1-18 as well. We were given Monday and Tuesday in ALA to research more on our chosen cantos, and for me, I didn't have to stress about working on the visual and/or Prezi presentation on those days too because I don't present until March 7th. Regardless, I have a lot of work to do still, and I have only started to work on the writing part. I finished paraphrasing Canto XXV last week on Friday, but I still have to write everything else, make the visual presentation, and create the Prezi presentation all this week. I had no time to do any of this project over the weekend because of my other two projects I had in various classes, and the four performances I had from being a part of the school musical. Now I have no excuses, and every night from now until this upcoming Friday, I will be working on Dante's project from hell.

            The first two days of last week as I said were research and work days, but then on Thursday and Friday, the class started presenting, starting with Canto III, since Mrs. Cawlfield did Cantos I-II. By the end of Friday, we had gotten through cantos 1-13, and from these presentations I have learned about each and every one, besides cantos 8 and 13 as the presenters were gone, and the progression of Dante's journey through hell. It is interesting on how Dante tells this epic story, what his reactions are for each punishment in each level of hell, and of course the reactions of my classmates. From Canto I and on, the punishments overall, only get more sinister, evil, torturous, and dark. The ones that caught my attention the most in punishment were Canto X, and how the heretics have to burn in flaming tombs for eternity, or Canto XIII, where the suicidal people turn into trees and have to be pecked by Harpies forever, and finally cantos 14-17, where all the blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers have to suffer in a burning desert under raining fire forever. To me, for all the cantos I just listed and most of the rest of them, I think their punishments in Dante's hell are way too severe and torturous, and honestly believe a lot of the 'sinners' in this hell shouldn't be portrayed as a part of hell. Lots of the sins that were sinful back then are outdated in a sense, and are just a part of modern society and/or the lives of people today. It was cool to learn about cantos 1-18 in this presenting way, as we did the rest up to the 18th canto today in class. It may be more pressure and nerve-racking as time goes by, but being one the last to present is nice because not only do I have the time to do it, but I also have seen many presentations and I have a better sense of what exactly to do and what the final product should look and be like. Last week with presentations was a success, and I am soon ready to be a part of this week's presentable success.