Dante 39;s Inferno Cover
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I have taught Dante's Inferno to sophomores for several years andtry to read almost the whole poem. The journey is part of the point, so I trynot to rush it, but I acknowledge that students can become fatigued. It ispossible to reference Purgatorio and Paradiso as you go toillustrate the structure of the entire work. Sophomores do well withInferno, and the text is wonderful if it can be read in full. If not,judicious selection of cantos is essential, with you providing some bridging.You don't say how many weeks you have or how much you have your students readper night, but the following is what I would do.
I think a full day on canto 1 will feel hurried. Students need to learn howto read the layers of allegory, the contrapasso, the role ofguardians, and the reasons for the groupings, especially why fraud is moredamaging than violence. Cantos 2, 3, 4, and 5 all feel like they need a day.Then you can begin doubling up based on the core idea. (Anger and Gluttonyshows that we ultimately get what we want, though it doesn't always seem asdesirable when we see it for what it truly is.) I think the suicide canto isunbelievably beautiful and the last few are essential.
Skipping the cantos that explain the logic of the Inferno, simony,astrology, alchemy, schismatics, and maybe barrators would be fine. I tend tostress the self-reflective aspect of the poem and Dante's musing on his poem asa means of redemption, so I like to use the sodomy canto, Geryon andUlysses.
If you really have to cut, I'd focus on the first five cantos, then pick oneor two key illustrations of appetite, malice, and fraud. Then be sure to givethem the last two cantos. Ugolino and Satan are very necessary to theirunderstanding.
Mccarney, Margaret. "Which cantos of Dante's Inferno are essential to cover the redemptive theme for sophomore high school students?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 15 Apr. 2019, -inferno/questions/if-i-cannot-teach-dante-s-inferno-in-full-what-394725.
Indeed, you are correct in asserting that the "Paradiso" component of Dantehas to be addressed. I might pose a different approach to teaching it, ifyou cannot teach the whole thing. Perhaps, addressing the historicalcontext of Dante might be appropriate. This would allow you the chance toexamine the work as both a work of spiritual and political value. Danteis mindful of the political context in which he is writing, which is why manypeople in the different levels of the inferno are actual people in Dante'ssetting. This might give students a background into the understanding ofthe work and then analyzing the different levels of the inferno can helpreemphasize this. I think that if you can get through the ideas of how Danteclassifies and categorizes hell, this might be very resonant with first yearhigh school students. In this process, you can also bring in specificCantos that you think are significant while students will still be able thefull effect of the work. Another interesting application would be forstudents to create a modern version of Dante's work. If placed in amodern setting, who would be Virgil? Who would occupy the differentstratas? Would new levels of hell be needed to be invented? I havealways thought that this is a fairly interesting assignment to give to studentsin the composition of their own take off on the Inferno.
Kannan, Ashley. "Which cantos of Dante's Inferno are essential to cover the redemptive theme for sophomore high school students?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 29 July 2010, -inferno/questions/if-i-cannot-teach-dante-s-inferno-in-full-what-394725.
Dante's Inferno is an action-packed journey through the world of Inferno, based on the first canticle of Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. In this adaptation Dante is re-imagined as a templar knight, a veteran of the crusades, who comes home to discover his beloved Beatrice has been killed. At that moment the murderer stabs Dante in the back as well. Dante is however able to resist Death, who wants to take him down to hell, and robs him of his scythe. With these new powers he can descend into the inferno by himself to track Beatrice whose soul has been captured by the devil. Lucifer plans to marry her soul, which should have gone to the heavens instead, to flee from hell and overthrow God. To prevent this from happening Dante has to travel through the nine circles of hell and master their demons to finally undergo his toughest test. Matching the original Inferno theme of recognizing and rejecting sin, he has to face his own past, his own crimes and his own sins to free Beatrice. Through the journey he often meets the poet Virgil who explains the different circles and drawn flashbacks show how Dante sinned in each circle during the crusades.
The gameplay is largely similar to the God of War games. Dante's preferred weapon is a scythe and he commands magic through a holy cross he carries which has been given to him by his beloved Beatrice shortly before her death. This magic utensil sends out rays of light that kills all evil it touches. Dante even can tame some demonic beasts and use these to his own needs. Players however have to choose between a holy and an unholy path. When grabbing enemies or encountering trapped characters (including a large number of historical figures) Dante can choose to punish or absolve them. Either choice is rewarded with unholy and holy experience points respectively. This allows Dante to level up in one of the two tech trees and spent the souls he has collected there. It is not possible to max out both sides, so a certain path needs to be chosen. The unholy side focuses on the powers of the scythe while the holy side focuses on the cross.
With each level new abilities can be purchased. For the unholy path most of these are centered around stronger scythe attacks, while the holy path focuses on the ranged abilities of the cross. There are also general abilities such as expanding the health or mana meter, extending the redemption meter, or providing additional defence against attacks. Dante has multiple combo attacks, he can dodge, block and revenge, attack from the air, grab and throw enemies, and perform acrobatic stunts such as sliding down large spines, hanging and swinging from ropes, or clinging to specific walls. These stunts are often used to solve minor environmental puzzles. Fighting enemies also fills up a redemption meter, which can be activated when it is maxed out, granting faster movement and attacking speed. During his journey he will also master four strong forms of magic, also enhanced through the tech tree and those depend on a separate mana meter to execute. The currency to buy new abilities is souls of the enemies he defeats. Souls are gathered automatically when killing enemies, and both health and mana is largely replenished through shrines. Many large battles feature quick time events (QTEs) where the player needs to press the correct buttons when prompted, to defeat a large enemy. These also appear as a mini-game when you need to absolve souls of major characters.
A final way to extend his abilities is through relics. These are collected throughout the journey and are fitted in a limited amount of slots (initially two). These provide additional assistance such as resisting magic, making attacks stronger or regenerate health and mana. By equipping them the relics can level up two times to render them more effective. Since the amount of slots is limited they often need to be switched according to the situation.
After completing the game a new game mode called Gates of Hell Arena is unlocked. It is an arena where the player needs to defeat different waves of enemies, similar to what was later introduced in the Dante's Inferno: Trials of St. Lucia DLC.
The PSP version is not a port, but was developed alongside the main console versions. Enemies and general level design are identical, and only some minor features have been cut, like the puzzle mini-game to absolve condemned souls.
The Good
The art design is terrifyingly beautiful. From the landscapes to the design of the creatures in the game, it's clear that a lot of Tender Love and Care went into the art design.
The most debatable plus to Dante's Inferno is the nudity. It COULD have been used to enhance a mature story but nudity is really only used in Dante's Inferno for shock value or visual appearance only (the Lust Circle of Hell portrayed in Dante's Inferno). Still, it's nice to see them try to advance a part of video games that is considered taboo.
The Bad
The story is pretty much a gutting of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The mature and sophisticated story was replaced with a typical video game/God of War formula. Brute Neanderthal warrior must rescue the love of his life (if you call a mild physical attraction a good enough reason to rescue somebody from Hell, but whatever) from the clutches of an evil one-dimensional villain who has no motives except to be an A whole. Seriously, you can't butcher something any more without being a short-tempered assassin at a blind amputee convention.
"Blah" pretty much sums up the gameplay. It's not bad, but it's not good, either. It's like the developers made a really good gameplay test demo, but stopped right there. Dante has a scythe and a holy-cross-laser-beam thing, both of which you can upgrade with holy and unholy points, but instead of each weapon having two halves which might have worked, the scythe is unholy and the cross is holy. (DUH) The thing is while the scythe is more visually satisfying to use, the cross is more effective because you can spam it as a long-range projectile and never get hurt. So, basically it comes down to if you would rather watch paint dry or beat up handicapped orphans, your choice. The puzzle are brain-dead easy (moving the box on the platform type of stuff), and the platforming either doesn't work because the camera is PMS-ing or it's just way too easy, like if there were no enemies in Super Mario Bros 2.
The Bottom Line
If you like weird and beautiful art design, Dante's Inferno is up your dark and very unusual alley. If you can enjoy the Raisin Bran gameplay and the paper-thin story line, I would recommend at least renting Dante's Inferno to see what the deal is. Have fun in hell.