Dante's Inferno: The Self-Help Book?

Today my English teacher charged me with the task of answering several questions about Dante's Inferno.

1: How can I use Inferno to identify and fix some of my own "sins"?

2: How can I use Inferno as a means of self improvement?

I believe that Dante's Inferno has probably been used by many a person as a mirror into one's soul. Even though this novel is about Heaven and hell; it seems to be more about humanity more than anything else. The sins in Dante's time seemed much more cut and dry then they would be now, but with stories like the one of Francesca and Paolo Dante he seems to be questioning how cut and dry these sins actually are.

Because my values are different than Dante's I find it hard to identify with any of his chosen "sins", and because I don't believe in using Hell as a sort of deterrent from sin, the punishments had no effect on of me, but I did identify with the fact that a lot of these "sins" are things that are basically human, and it is easy to lose self-control, and I think that is a way that everyone can use Inferno as a means of self improvement.

It seems that a lot of Dante's sins could've been avoided if the person had a little more self control. For example, the people stuck in the 7th circle of Hell, the ones that are guilty of the sin of violence, could have been saved if they had a little more control over their anger. A lot of my "sins" like laziness, and forgetfulness could be overcome if I had a little more self-control and self-discipline.

Another interesting lesson that I took from Inferno is the value of one's trust. The last circle of Hell is saved for those who are betrayers, and Dante's pity for the damned seems to wear off as he hears of their plight. I believe this is because being a trustworthy person is probably one of the most important traits a person can have, and that betraying someones trust is probably the worst thing one can do, and I want to strive to be an extremely trustworthy person.

Sure Dante's sins may not be extremely relevant in today's times but, the Inferno is full of timeless life lessons that almost anyone who reads it can benefit from.

Rise of the Phantom

Love Never Dies: The Phantom Sequel

One of my absolute favorite musicals of all time is Phantom of the Opera by Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber. Phantom of the Opera is the story of Erik(The Phantom of the Opera), and Christine Daae, a Soprano Prima Donna at a French opera house. Theirs is a story of torment, love and pain, and is one of the greatest tales to ever grace Broadway, West End, and many other theatres across the world. I am also a fan of Andrew Lloyd Weber. I think he is an artistic genius, and I believe that this show is just another example of my opinion.

While many people believe that Phantom is arguably the best show ever, Sir Lloyd Weber was not satisfied with how his "magnum opus" ended. So, he got together with several other prominent figures in the theatre world and wrote a "sequel" to Phantom entitled Love Never Dies. I don't know much about the plot of this new musical, but I really would like to see it performed one day. This little tidbit from NPR was written before Love Never Dies premiered on Broadway, and it basically tells the background of the musical, a bit of the creative process, and how some of the people involved felt about the project.

This little story inspired me because, I've read some of the reviews for this show, and they weren't that great. While it did receive some more favorable reviews, most of the ones I saw were less than kind, but when I listened to this and heard Lloyd Weber talking about it, and then I read another article in which it was stated that Lloyd Weber is proud of this work, and then I thought that this is what art is meant to accomplish. It is meant to inspire people, and this story inspired me because even though your work may not become a huge success, you can still be proud of what you have done, and I think that's the mark of a true artist, to have the ability to love everything you do.

It's a Good Day When Green Day's on Broadway.

Since my senior project is on theatre and education, I thought I'd put up an article about theatre. Now, I don't know how many Green Day fans there are in Senior Project, me not being one of them, but I can appreciate Green Day's talent as artists, and ability to appeal to the masses.

Speaking of Green Day, I don't know how many people know, but at the moment there is a musical out featuring the music of Green Day's American Idiot album called, "American Idiot." It is apparently doing very well on broadway, and has received mixed reviews from various theatre critcs, but the big news about American idiot is the fact that Green Day's lead singer and gutarist, Billy Joel Armstrong, has reprised his role in the musical. The musical is an ensemble piece that focuses on the story of American youths who have wasted their minds on the boring and sterotypical genre of American life. I think it's very interesting to have the person who wrote the music perform in the show, it's like having Bono play Norman Osborn in Spiderman the musical, and I think that it would be an extremely interesting show to see, and is definately on my list of shows to see.

Read the Article Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/theater/10idiot.html?_r=1&ref=theater

A Play by any Other Name Would Sound Just as Sweet

I was looking through YouTube looking for videos that had to do with theatre when I stumbled upon this little gem; it is a video version of the Othello Sparknotes. I find this interesting because I've always appreciated Sparknotes for the service it provided students. I remember when I was learning a bit of Shakespeare in my 7th grade Advanced English class. I could hardly understand what Shakespeare had written, and my teachers explanation left a lot to be desired, but once I found Sparknotes and it's companion, No Fear Shakespeare, Shakespeare has always been a breeze for me when we studied it in my English classes.

I like how this YouTube user made sort of an audio book for the Sparknotes summary, and even had illustrations to accompany it. While his narration was a bit dry, I see a lot of potential in this idea. The beauty of Shakespeare isn't the archetypal themes he presents through his literature, but the language which he presents it in. However, if you do not understand Shakespearean English you can not truly appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's writing. Shakespeare's writing has such beautiful prose, poetry, and is filled with hilarious puns and one-liners, which can be lost on the average student, but with the help of things like Sparknotes, No Fear Shakespeare, and this video students can first learn to appreciate the story Shakespeare has written, understand it, and then value the beautiful way it was written.

Dante's Inferno

La Divina Commedia(The Divine Comedy) is a three part epic poem written by Itallian Poet Dante Alighieri. The inferno is the first of the three parts. It chronicles Dante's journey through Hell. In this poem, hell is split into nine different levels, each level holding a punishment that corresponds with the damned one's sin, but to understand the Inferno, we must first understand Dante, and the world he wrote The Divine Comedy in.

http://prezi.com/ua3kger4vsq1/dante-alighieri-the-man/

The Many Masks of Theatre in Education.

In my senior project, I am looking at ways acting can be used to teach English, and am always curious to see how different artists convey archetypal themes in literature and theatre. While suffering the web, doing some research, I stumbled upon two very interesting sites. The first one, http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/using-drama-texts-classroom, talks about using drama texts in the classroom to engage students in literature, and help decipher the difficult language an author might be using to get across their point.

The second site, http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/drama.htm, talks about the importance of using drama in the classroom because it can help promote literacy in students, and talks about how teachers can facilitate effective dramatic activities, and it also speaks about using drama to help students learn how to speak, and read aloud better. It also states that drama can help build a vocabulary. It talks about several other activities a teacher can use to incorporate drama into a lesson plan, and I believe this is exactly what I was looking for because it reinforces my belief that the stage can sometimes be the best teacher.