For your final essay, which will use techniques of analysis and reflection, I ask that you write a retrospective analysis about what you have learned and how
you have learned it. You have several resources for this endeavor, including (but not limited to): the course syllabus, the course readings, drafts of your
essays, rhetorical analyses of your essays, and feedback from professor on your writing. Your essay will be first person in voice and self-reflective in tone. It
will use your own writing in any of its forms as evidence backing up your final analysis of the semester’s work.
You definitely should make specific references to your own writing, even quoting from it, as part of your essay content. You should also make use of any of
the reading and writing strategies we have tried as a way to prepare for this essay.
Here are further steps/questions to consider:
1.Reread the syllabus. It makes specific references to principles of writing that will govern our work for the course and specific goals for the semester. Ask
yourself if these principles and goals mean something to you now that it is enhanced or deepened compared to several months ago.

  1. Reread your drafts and final essays. Are there any patterns in terms of changes and improvements in your writing? Were some assignments more
    difficult/more rewarding/more reflective of your writing strengths? Were some elements of writing stronger in some places than in others?
    5.Consider all the reading and writing strategies that we tried this semester. Are there patterns in terms of your responses to such strategies or your ability to
    use them effectively?
    These questions are not meant to be responded to in order, resulting in a final essay that seems to be nothing more than rote responses to each question.
    Instead, try freewriting to each question; try thinking of your own questions; try imagining the shape and content of your essay by making use of your
    strongest and most interesting responses. Let these questions help you get started. See where they take you.
    Requirements: Your essay must be at least 500 words and contain more than five paragraphs. Each support paragraph needs to focus on ONE central idea.
    Use specific details and examples to illustrate your points. If you turn in a paper that simply answers the questions listed above in a disconnected way, the
    highest grade you will receive is a 70. Your essay needs to be a thoughtful reflection of the work you have done this semester.

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.

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 Studies4(8), 487.

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

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