Dante's Inferno, is an allegorical poem telling the story of Dante's journey through hell, led by Virgil the Roman poet. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine circles of suffering located within the center of Earth. The arrangement of the poem takes the reader step by step through greater and greater sins. ... Dante is forced to battle his own sin, as well as the sins of those in Hell. ... Entrapped in the forms of trees, rooted forever in a single spot, the suicides basically endure a living death, in which they are helpless against their attackers, the Harpies. ...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

(V, 1842-6) When liminally translated, this passage says to love him who, out of true love, died upon a cross and rose and sits in heaven; for he will not deceive any living creature who on him lays all his heart. ... In the above example, Jesus Christ will not "falsen- any living creature who trusts in him. ... This is an extremely powerful position as it is the final thought we read, and it tends to stay in our minds longer than does the rest of the poem. ... When reading the poem, one may wonder why Chaucer even bothers putting these last six stanzas in the poem. ... So why would Chau...

• Word Count: 3564
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

What he understood about the Christian world was that you cannot live a perfect sin free life or sin free contemplation because we were all born sinners who sin everyday. ... " (Vaught, 21) His soul desired the sin. ... (Nino, 95) Augustine learns that God can conquer all sins. ... " (Bloom, 73) We do not know specifically what sins Dante experienced, but his story represents personal experiences of past sins and temptations. ... His personal sins are shown and represented throughout the poem. ...

• Word Count: 2063
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School