Choose one of the following topics, and develop it into a two-page essay (double-spaced), with relevant citations from the text.
1. Contrappasso is Dante's term for the Law of Retribution, which is the relationship between the sin and its consequences in the after-life. Discuss how Dante employs it in Inferno.?
2. The rituals based on the Christian Sacraments are key elements in the structure of Purgatorio. Discuss how Dante portrays them through examples from the text?
3. Discuss the symbolism of the dreams in Dante's works (you should use the three dreams in Purgatorio).
Note: In case you are confused on how to handle citations from the text. Here is how to do it: if the citation comes from Inferno 14, ll 30-32, you write: (Inf. 14, 30-32).
Textbook:
1. Dante''s Vita Nuova, translated by Mark Musa
2. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (Translation, J. F. Cotter)
3. Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron. trans. M. Musa, New York: Norton, 1977