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The assignment

A 200/12 journal is a paragraph comprised of 200 words or 12 typed lines.

For each canto of Inferno we read, you will be presented with another text that may be read as a "side by side" to that canto. The canto and the side by side text may treat similar themes, address similar philosophical or literary problems, or share similar literary devices. There is no one "correct" way to compare the canto and the piece. It will be up to you to decide how the pieces "talk to each other."

The two pieces may also "disagree with each other." The questions they pose may be similar, but the answers each piece offers may be very different. It may be more interesting to address where the pieces clash rather than where they agree.

After reading the canto and the side by side piece, you will write a 200/12 journal comparing the two. We will be reading six cantos, so you will end up with six 200/12 journal entries.

After each journal entry, you will be invited to pose burning questions. I may also ask you to share the general idea of your entry for discussion. Be ready.

Tips for thinking to write and writing to think:

Be "text rooted"

• Concentrate on the words in each piece-- their connotations, their metaphorical values, and the tone they establish. You can devote an entire entry to this kind of close analysis.

Focus on literary devices

• What is the most prominent image or metaphor in each piece?

Focus on tone

• What is the speaker's (or the author's) attitude toward the subject matter?

Focus on irony

• What is ironic or paradoxical about each piece?
• Does the piece's conclusion surprise or bother you because it was not what you expected?

You do not need to cover all of these issues in such a short entry, but you should think about them.

Write to think.

A sample entry on Canto 5 and "I Died for Beauty"

Francesca, the damned lover, and the speaker in “I Died for Beauty” approach their fates with the same haughty attitude, and the same self-satisfied, self-serving tone. They believe that they died for some romantic purpose that validates their self satisfaction. Francesca is even disdainful of God, who does not deserve her prayers because he is not her “friend” (5.88-93).. The speaker’s arrogance in “I Died for Beauty” is less apparent, but her dying for beauty suggests that she is as pleased with herself as Francesca is.

The irony of both poems is present in the attitude and tone of the authors. Dante allows Francesca to boast of her uniqueness, but judges her as “soulless.” The speaker of “I Died for Beauty” inadvertently reveals the futility of her arrogance when she says her companion and she reveled in their arrogance until they were forgotten when the “moss covered up [their] names.”

Both poems are about short-sighted humans who believe their judgment is superior. Both poems are also about how the universe always punishes that arrogance with death, or even worse, with obscurity.

Note how the entry is text rooted, how it treats the irony and tone of the poems, and how it offers an understanding of the work as a whole without summarizing the plot. Note also how the entry is brief and to the point. It is not concerned with plot summary or trivial details. This entry is in no way perfect, nor should it be understood as an exhaustive treatment of how the two poems can be read together. It is an exercise in precise and focused thinking expressed clearly and economically.