3/25: XXIII - XXV

 
Brain Drop: Choose your own adventure

Bernie Madoff was an extremely successful operator of a wealth management business that eventually became a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Madoff was arrested in 2008 after admitting that his business was actually a massive Ponzi scheme. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme is now considered the largest financial fraud in U.S. history, ruining the lives of thousands of people by defrauding them out of billions of dollars. Madoff claimed sole responsibility for the scam. 

What circle of hell do you think Dante would confine Madoff to? Why? What is the symbolic retribution (poetic justice) Madoff would endure?

James Verone, an unemployed 59-year-old with a bad back, a sore foot and an undiagnosed growth on his chest, limped into a bank in Gastonia, N.C., this month and handed the teller a note, explaining that this was an unarmed robbery, but she'd better turn over $1 and call the cops. That, he figured, would be enough to get himself arrested and sent to prison for a few years, where he could take advantage of the free medical care...

Would Dante damn James Verone to bolgia seven of the Malebolge? Why or why not?


Group Work:

Each group will be responsible for three tasks.

Task 1: Detail the events of the canto and explain their significance

Task 2: Provide any necessary information (critical vocabulary, historical notes, etc.). Why is this information necessary?

Task 3: Respond to the question attached to your group’s text assignment. 

Group One: Canto XX – Why does Virgil scold Dante in this canto? Why does this canto discuss the history of Virgil at some length?

Group Two: Canto XXI – This canto (along with the following) is oftentimes known as one of the “Gargoyle Cantos.” Why? What role do the gargoyles play?

Group Three: Canto XXII – According to Ciardi, the “Gargoyle Cantos” are unique: “At no other point in the Commedia does Dante give such free rein to his coarsest style.” What is meant by “coarsest style? Find examples. Why does Dante deploy this “coarse” style?

Group Four: Canto XXIII – Why might the Malacoda lie to Virgil and Date? How does Virgil react? If we take Virgil to represent “human reason,” what might this scene suggest about Dante’s thoughts on human reason?

Group Five: Canto XXIV – Dante is surprised that Fucci, “a man of blood and anger,” is punished in the eight circle for thievery. What do you make of this distinction? Does Fucci suffer a fitting retribution?

Group Work will be assessed thusly:

Student did not share information: 0 Points

Student did share information, but not in a way which substantially contributes to the concerns of the text (Example: student simply reiterated a plot point from a previous canto): 3 Points

Student shared information that substantially contributed to the intellectual conversation: 5 Points

EVERYBODY MUST PARTICPATE!