Dante – HW 5/12-5/21

Tuesday (5/11) Discuss Inferno cantos 33-34: Ugolino, cannibalism as treachery, Satan, Judas, and transition back to the wood.
HW: Introduction to Mandelbaum Purgatorio (your book, pp. viii-xxx).

Wednesday (5/12) Introduction to Purgatorio. Discuss geography of purgatory, philosophy (redemption vs. reincarnation), and language/form of the poem.  Begin reading Canto 1 aloud in class.
HW: Read and annotate Purgatorio background materials (packet) and cantos 1-2.

Thursday (5/13) NO CLASS

Friday  (5/14) Discuss Purgatorio cantos 1-2.
HW: Read and annotate Purgatorio cantos 3-5.  OPTIONAL: Read and annotate John Freccero’s article “Manfred’s Wounds and the Poetics of Purgatorio” (handout).

Monday (5/17) Discuss Purgatorio cantos 3-5.
HW:  Read and annotate Purgatorio cantos 7, 9, 10.

Tuesday   (5/18) Discuss Purgatorio cantos 7-10.  Character analysis of Sordello; significance of dreams, gate and the P’s (allegory).
HW: Read and annotate Purgatorio cantos 13, 16, 17.
Remember to bring the following for the Cloisters field trip tomorrow: bag lunch, notebook, pencil, and Metrocard (if you will be travelling home alone).

Wednesday (5/19) QUIZ: Cantos 1-17.  Discussion: Purgatorio cantos 13-17.
Field Trip to the Cloisters: Depart school 10:45 am for 1:00 tour.    Dismissal from the museum by 2:30 pm.
HW: Read and annotate Purgatorio cantos 21-22 and 28-29.

Thursday (5/20) NO CLASS

Friday (5/21) Discussion: Art of the Commedia.  Debrief Cloisters trip; compare artistic representations of Hell and Purgatory; consider visual representations of women (Leah, Rachel, Mary, Matilda, Beatrice); description of the pageant (canto 29).
HW: Read and annotate Purgatorio cantos 30, 31, 33.  Optional reading: Twayne’s Author Series, Chapter 6, Part III “The Earthly Paradise.” Available through LREI library website or at this link.