Behind History a Story about Faith Rinngold

by | Apr 26, 2021 | art

Write an essay in which you make an argument (something you want to prove to your reader) about a work of art that you find compelling. All essays can be considered “persuasive” since the author is atMake sure that your essay has a thesis statement. The thesis statement tells your reader what you plan to prove to your reader in your essay. The thesis statement—usually the last sentence of your first (introductory) paragraph—is like a map of the main argument that you will make in your essay. It has to be something more complex than that which can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” It should be specific enough that you can answer the question or address the ideas in the length of your paper: 1200 words. What you choose to argue about the artist, the artwork, and the historical and cultural context in which they worked is up to you. However, you must present your own original ideas about the artist and artwork instead of only presenting others’ ideas.

Take a look at the assigned readings for the course and identify the authors’ thesis statements to get ideas about how you might begin to formulate your own original thesis statement on the artist that you’ve chosen.

Do research on the artist, their artwork, and the time and place in which they worked. Contextualize the work of the artist in your essay. To contextualize their artwork, you can ask for example: what is the historical, cultural, political and/or religious context in which they worked? How did the context in which they worked affect their artwork and/or how did their artwork affect the society in which they worked? Artists aren’t merely products of their time; their work can change society.

Remember: this is an art history course. Do not write a biography of the artist’s life. Focus on your analysis of the artwork. Everyone’s life experiences inform, but do not necessarily define or determine, their work in any field.

Be sure to describe and analyze one work of art by the artist and give your interpretation of it. To analyze a work of art, focus on how it is made (what Elements of Art and/or Principles of Design are the most prominent and to what effect?) Be sure to give the title, medium, and date of the artwork and describe it for someone who may be unfamiliar with the work. Give your interpretation of the artwork. One way to think about your interpretation is to ask: What do you think the artist is trying to say or convey to the viewer? Include (an) image(s) of artwork that you mention in your essay.

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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