Bullying is a massive issue in todays society. Bullying has lately led to many deaths across the country, of girls and boys who are killing themselves over nasty comments. Bullying strikes me right at the heart. Morally, it goes against everything I am for. Bullying needs to stop right away, before more lives are lost.

An article from the New York Times reports that more and more kids, and teens are committing suicide over online bullying. Tyler Clementi was one of these victims. He suffered cyber bullying, and in return killed himself earlier this year. Another question in the article that many people are asking is, "What is the punishment for this kind of action."The article goes on to talk about the fact that one in four college students that are gay, have been harassed about there sexuality before. In my opinion things like this should not even exist. There is nothing that outrages me more then turning on the new in the morning and seeing, yet another teen, so hurt by words, that they had to resort to killing themselves. I see that schools are trying to step it up by things like 'anti bullying campaigns', but there is still more to do. We need to start off in the homes of these children and look at the parents. Children should learn from the beginning that bullying leads to punishment, not more attention. Teens and children, should also learn to report bullying before it gets to far. Reporting it, could be a way to save a life.

Bullying is very unique to our modern society, because now it is something that we look down on. Dante does not address bullying in his novel the Inferno. I do believe that Dante, if he was present in our modern society, would side with me in this issue. In fact, I think he would make a special spot in his novel to put bullying. His punishment would hopefully be very harsh for the souls that would be in "circle 10: Bullying".

Bullying is something that is spreading fast and I believe that with the support of more parents and more schools, that it could be quickly put to has much of an end as possible. Dante, may have not written about it in his novel, but I truly do believe that he would have sided with me on the issue. Teens like Tyler Clementi did not have to die at the hands of other teens. They should be punished here in this life, and in Dante's Inferno.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q81bsGI-JcY

Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/weekinreview/03schwartz.html?ref=bullies

Circle 7: Round 1
verses: 1-15

The scene that opened from the edge of the pit
was mountainous, and such a desolation
that every eye would shun the sight of it:

a ruin like the Slides of mark near Trent
on the bank of the Adige, the result of an earthquake
or of some massive fault in the escarpment-

for, from the point on the peak where he mountain split
to the plain below, the rock is so badly shattered
a man at the top might make a rough stair of it.

Such was the passage down the steep, and there
at the very top, at the edge of the broken cleft,
lay spread the Infamy of Crete, the heir

of bestiality and the lecherous queen
who hid in a wooden cow, And when he saw us
he gnawed his own flesh in a fit of spleen.


The diction and imagery in the post above, taken from Circle Seven: Round One verses 1-15, uses diction and imagery to show details about the sinners and their environments. Dante uses such vivid descriptions to portray his feelings and thoughts on the sinners, by explaining there environments in a way that relays what the sinners have done.

Dante uses many vivid words to describe the places he visits in Hell. Dante uses the word "desolation", in line two of stanza one, to describe the overall area of Round One of Circle Seven. The word desolation, gives the reader an eerie feeling of disgust. Compared to other sections of Hell Dante describes this circle in more a of mild diction. Dante also uses the words "badly shattered" in stanza two. The words shattered are usually related to something that is broken or ruined, and this may also be portraying his idea of the sinners there and how they themselves are ruined and broken. The words give the reader a easy stencil to draw a picture in their heads of what Dante is seeing.Overall Dante uses negative, eerie words to describe Hell and its residents.

Dante uses imagery many times through out his book to give the reader vivid thoughts about his journey through Hell. In the last stanza Dante says "gnawed his own flesh", while describing the Infamy of Crete. Dante uses these words to put a imagine in the readers head of scariness and disgust. The image of flesh, makes me think of dead, or routing. The word gnawed, gives me the image of a animal that is very angry. The image that Dante portrays, describes his feelings towards this particular creature, which is that he is scared and disgusted by this animal like being.He uses a detailed imagery to give a reader a feelings towards the creatures and places he encounters.



Prompt 1

Prompt 1:

1) What does the inscription on the gates of Hell imply about the divine perspective on the sinful and about the place of Hell in God's plan? Consider, for instance, the phrase "PRIMORDIAL LOVE" -- how does Hell being formed with love seem strange to our modern ears? How does the inscription indirectly explain why the damned are so eager to cross Acheron and receive their punishment?

The gates of Hell's inscription, states that all who enter must leave hope behind. Dante describes hell has a place where the sinners want to be punished. In life the sinners in Hell did not let God into there life, or did not follow is divine rulings. The sins are what take away there hope. God takes away the only thing that they could possibly have in Hell which is hope. . Virgil describes the people in hell by saying “souls who have lost the good of intellect.”(18) The quote shows Dante’s view of all the people in Hell, which is that they are all not intelligent, for not following the ways of God. I believe this explains Gods view of the sinners, for he takes away everything they have. The inscription also describes God's view on hell that it is a hopeless place and that those who enter need to face there sins, because they will have to live with them for eternity.

We as average Americans are raised and instilled upon that Hell is a place to fear. Most Christians work everyday to avoid this place. . Dante even mentions that the cries of the people in Hell made his soul “spill into tear” (18). This shows that even Dante doesn’t find it to be a pleasant place or a place he wants to go. We often reference Hell when symbolizing bad things. This natural fear of Hell describes our strange feelings towards Hell being referenced with love. It is very difficult for us to see any relation to hell and love which Dante seems to make a connection with. The quote “Primordial Love” indirectly explains the sinners’ eagerness, by giving them fair knowledge that things are going to get better and that they will have to pay for there sins. This goes along with that all sinners, as part of there punishment, have to want to be punished. After giving up all hope at the gates and wanting to be punished the sinners have nothing else but to be eager to start there eternity of endless pain.

http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv
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