Write a culture analysis on a mediated text ( a film, tv show, video game, music, etc)
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.
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.
Sample Solution
The culture analysis I will be discussing is the song “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5, featuring Cardi B. The song was released in 2018 and has been widely popular since then. This culture analysis will look at how the representation of gender roles, female empowerment, and strength have evolved over time as society progresses into a more modern age.
Sample Solution
The culture analysis I will be discussing is the song “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5, featuring Cardi B. The song was released in 2018 and has been widely popular since then. This culture analysis will look at how the representation of gender roles, female empowerment, and strength have evolved over time as society progresses into a more modern age.
This theme is further explored within the verses where Cardi raps about how she doesn’t need anyone else but herself to be happy: “I don’t need no money–just somebody who cares / All I really want is somebody who hears my prayers/ Someone unafraid just live out loud” These lines emphasize the importance of self-love and finding strength within oneself without depending on another person or material wealth—something that wasn’t typically seen in earlier songs about relationships or love stories.
Moreover, there are several references throughout this track that highlight female agency such as Cardi B’s verse which talks about her hard work ethic (she worked all night) and success without relying on any man; also in later parts of the song there is a line saying “these days girls hit harder than boys ever did” indicating how much powerful women have become over time thanks to feminism movements pushing for equal rights across genders.
Overall “Girl Like You” provides us with an insight into modern societal norms regarding gender roles —it calls out outdated ideas associated with female submissiveness while simultaneously celebrating strong independent women making it clear that we are living in an age where equality between genders is finally being achieved .
