The inferno commentary

Jasmine, Bolden
Ms. Peifer
Hour 3
1/22/12

English 10IB commentary: The Inferno

I stood now where the souls of the last class

(with fear of verses tell it) were convered wholly;

they shone below the ice like straws in glass.

Some lie stretched out; others are fixed in place

upright, some on their heads, some on their
soles;another, like a bow, bend foot to face.

When we had gone so far across the ice

that it pleased my guide to show me the foul
creaturewhich once had worn the grace of
paradise,he made me stop, and, stepping aside he said:

"now see the face of Dis! This is the place

where you must arm your sould against all
dread."do not ask, Reader, how my blood ran cold

and my voice choked up with fear. i connot write
it: this is a terror that connot be told.

I did not die, and yet i lost lifes breath:

i imagine for yourself what i became,

deprived at once of both life and death.

This passage explains how Dante feels about being in the inner most circle of hell and what he sees down there. In the 9th circle of hell Dante reacts differently then he has in the past circles. he is so filled with fear that he cant even explain it. In the passage similies are used along with characterization to explain how horendous the ninth circle is and how Dante feels about being in that place of hell.

In this passage similies are used to help really create a picture in your mind of how it looks in the ninth circle of hell. Similies are used mainly to describe how the people under the frigid ice are placed amongst eachother. " They shown below the ice like straws in glass."( Ciardi 283, 12) this quote tells about what the sinners in this circle are places beneath the ice. Further in the passage it states " another, like a bow, bends foot to face." (Ciardi 283, 15)  this quote tells more about how the people look under the ice, but it really gives you an idea about how they are placed bent and put into cruel possistions below the ice. The similies used in this passage really give the reader an idea of how terrible it is to be in the ninth circle of hell. In Canto 33 it tells of how people are placed in the ice with there heads still above the ice, but to be frozen completely underneath the ice unable to move or talk you are truly being tortured and the similies they use let us no how terrible it would be to have been in the ninth circle of hell versus being in the circles 1-8. It lets us know this is the worst circle to be in.

Characterization is show in the quote i chose. Characterization is used to let us understand the way Dante feels and by understanding how he feels we are able to experience how ratched this circle of hell is compared to the others. " Do not ask, Reader, how my blood ran cold and my voice choked up with dear. i cannot write it: this is terror that connot be told." ( Ciardi 283, 22-24) seeing as Dante can barely begin to explain the amount of fear that he is feeling in this circle we know it is terrifying, because in the other eight circles Dante explains how he feels bad for the people or how he is upset with the way the people are treated. In this circle Dante can only explain how he becomes stiff and scared of everything happening around him and we have never seen him feel this way in the rest of the circles of hell. Towards the end of the passage i chose Dante states a quote that really stands out " i did not die, and yet i lost lifes breath: image for yourself what i became, deprived at once of both my life and death" (Ciarde 283, 25-27) this quote really stands out amongst the others it tells us of a feeling that Dante has that makes almost no sense. To feel that you are not dead but not alive either is very hard to comprehend, but we can still understand that he is terrified and in a place of being terrified. Dante has not felt the way that he feels in this circle before and by using characterization  you can really see this.

This passage stands out amongst the others it tells us what the ninth circle of hell looks and how Dante feels being down there. It lets us know that Dante is feeling something that we have never seen him feel before and also tells us how these people are brutally placed below the ice. The similies really stood out and described the people in ways the mind could only imagine. Characterization is used in a way that leaves us wondering and trying to feel and understand completely how Dante feels. This passage really depicts the true terrifying aspects of the deepest circle of hell.



Beowulf commentary

Jasmine Bolden

Ms.Peifer

hour 3

english IB 10

12/15/11

English 10IB commentary: Beowulf

The hero observed that swamp-thing from hell, 

the tarn-hag in all her terrible strength 

then heaved his war-sword and swung his arm:

the decorated blade came down ringing

and singing on her head. But he soon found 

his battle-torch extinguished: the shining blade

refused to bite. It spared her and failed

the man in his need. It had gone through many 

hand-to-hand fights, had hewed the armor

and the helmets of the doomed, but here at last

the fabulous powers of the heirloom failed.

Hygelac's kingsman kept thinking about

his name and fame: he never lost heart.

Then, in a fury, he flung his sword away.

The keen,inlaid,worm-loop patterned steel

was hurled to the ground: he would have to rely

on the might of his arm.

(Beowulf 1518-1534)

This quote depicts Beowulfs perseverance and strength. It states that even though his sword had failed him, he was still able to defeat this creature from hell. Not only does Beowulf have the strength to conquer Grendels mother, he has the heart. Personification and characterization are the literary devices used to emphasize Beowulf's greatness perseverance and heart in this passage, in which are the reasons he succeeds in his battles.

This passage uses plenty of literary devices. One type of literary devices that it uses is characterization. Throughout the whole story Beowulf, characterization is used to allow the reader to fully understand the ways of the different characters. " The swamp-thing from hell the tarn-hag in all her terrible strength"(Beowulf 1518-1519) this quote lets us know about this creature that Beowuld is defeating. It describes how terrible Grendels mother is and makes it so we are able to get a good picture of her in our minds. Later in the quote a chose it states " Hygelac's kinsman kept thinking about his name and fame: he never lose heart" (Beowulf 1529-1530)  This quote says alot about Beowulf. Beowulf knows he has the title of being such a great man, and he knows he has fame, as stated in the quote, this tells us that Beowulf does have confidence and does not want to let his towns people down. This is where is true heart is shown and he decides to fight the beast with his own hands. " He would have to rely on the might of his arm" (Beowulf 1533-1534) this shows that Beowulf will not give up no matter how hard the battle gets and it shows his endurance and perserverence.

There is alot of personification used in this passaged to really draw the reader in and excite them also it is used to let us get a good picutre of these characters and what is going one. one item described using personification is Beowulfs great sword/blade " The decorated blade came down ringing and singing" (Beowulf 1521-1522) you know this is personification because swords do not literally ring and sing, they just use these words to describe how hard and swift this sword came down upon the beasts head. Quoted further it states " The shining sword refused to bite" (Beowulf 1521-1522) this daws you in because the sword that was supposed to be so great came down upon her head yet it did not pierce her skin, which leaves the reader wondering what will come next. Overall personification and characterization help the reader really visualize and understand with detail what is going on in this section of Beowulf.



This passage is a main quote in which depicts Beowulf's dedication to protecting his town. Beowulf is known to be mighty and powerful as a warrior, and many quotes in Beowulf state that, although not many talk about the heart he also has. In this part of the story Beowulf is left defenseless and odds are against him, but despite the fact that he did not have a sword and Grendels mother had him on the grown he still won the battle. Beowulfs heart and desire are the reasons he won the battle. He may have strength but if he didnt believe he could have killed Grendels mother non of his strength would have mattered and he would have beent he one getting defeated.

Antigone paper: Creon is guilty

Creon is guilty of unintentional man slaughter for the deaths of Antigone, Haimon, and his wife Eurydice. Creon drove all three of these people to kill themselves. Creons over confidence and pride, is what caused him to lose his own family members, pushing them to the point where they felt they needed to commit suicide.

Antigone was creons neice(and daughter in law) and all she wanted was to give her brother polynieces a proper burial, but creon was against this idea because he believed that polynieces was a traitor and that he did not deserve a proper burial. As a consequence for Antigone creon sent her away to a far off cave. Eventually Creon changed his mind " I've changed my mind since I'm the one who tied her up I'll go and set her free myself" ( Sophocles 1243). Although by the time Creon had gotten there, it was too late, Antigone had already hung herself.

Haimon being Antigones fiance was torn up about the fact that his soon to be wife had been killed. Soon after the messanger came to town sharing the dreadful news that, Haimon had killed himself. " by his own hand angry at his father for the murder" ( Sophocles 1310). Once Eurydice had heard about her sons death she killed herself also. The messanger shared this news with Creon " She killed herself with her own hands she stabbed her belly once she heard her sons unhappy fate" ( Sophocles 1460)

Creon did not expect for any of these murders to happen that is why they are named unintentional man slaughter, but because of the way Creon treated Antigone these tragic deathes were the result.

My name is Jasmine

Hey, my name is Jasmine Bolden i am a sophomore at Central Senior High School. I enjoy central very much I have met a very diverse group of people in the past two years and I have also formed great bonds with very many young adults. High School has been very tough the work load is quite a-lot but i still manage to achieve good grades and also balance school with my social life. I have lived in St.Paul my whole life and think of it to be a very safe environment, i have one older sister Michaela, my mother Wendy, my step-dad Raymon, and my energetic dog Coley. I am very close to my family and life has just been such a joy.

I really like helping unfortunate people and would really like to do that for a living, I'm not quite sure what specifically i want to do but helping people is definitely in my future. Some of the things that i would really like to do is go to a third world country and help them with their education, i would like to work at a homeless shelter, and help people in less fortunate cities in the united states with their education too, i want to teach people that violence is not the answer and that learning to control your emotions and actions can help solve a-lot of problems, i know im only one person but i think tha ti