Inferno (Italian for "hell"), is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem "The Divine Comedy." ... In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine circles of suffering located within the Earth. ... The poem starts on Maundy Thursday in the year 1300. ... The ferry is piloted by Charon, who does not want to let Dante enter, for he is a living being. ... These three types of sin also provide the three main divisions of Dante's Hell: Upper Hell (the first 5 Circles) for the self-indulgent sins, Circles 6 and 7 for the violent sins, and Circles 8 and 9 for the malicious s...

• Word Count: 817
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

(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