Summary of the movie (Star Tribune): Species collide once again in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” The movie takes place 10 years after a virus wiped out most of the
human race and chimpanzees took over the planet.
You will be required to write an essay about the movie and how the content relates to this class. In the first section of the course you learned about evolution,
evolutionary theory, and genetics. In the second section of the course, you will be learning about primates, particularly apes. You will learn about their social
structure, taxonomy, physical traits, derived traits, mating strategies and conservation status and current conservation strategies. In the third section, you will be
learning about hominid evolution, human variation and biological adaptations. You MUST use biological terms in your 1-page typed essay and underline the terms (i.e.
natural selection, evolution, mutation, genes, DNA, selection, reproductive advantage, common ancestor, species, sub-speciesextant, extinct, primates, reproductive
strategies, empathy, compassion, aggressive, dominance hierarchy, political leader, male alliances, male patrols, mother-infant love, con-specifics, K-selected,
immunity, dominant inheritance, recessive inheritance, bipedalism, interbreeding, inbreeding, genomes, mtDNA studies and findings, biological adaptations, etc.)
- Provide a short synopsis of the premise of the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. (Approximately one paragraph – single-spaced)
- Address the following questions: (double-space) (Body of essay)
• Is chimpanzee behavior correctly depicted? – explain. Provide “3” behaviors observed naturally in the wild.
• Is chimpanzee behavior incorrectly depicted? – explain. Provide “3” behaviors observed in the movie that are notnaturally observed in the wild.
• How is it possible for some humans to survive the virus? How is it possible that chimpanzees are able to not develop the virus, move upright, talk, etc.?
- Do you think it is possible for chimpanzees (or other animals/or robots!) to take over humans in the future? Explain. (Conclusion)
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.
