The Inferno

All of these artful creations all try to express the horrors of Dante's Hell. The music was dramatic and sinister, attempting to create feeling of fear Dante must have felt. The art was more literal, taking scenes from the story and brining them to life. The first video explains the historical 'why', why would Dante write about such horrible things? Dante seemed to be living in his own hell, his city and the people he loved were taken from him and he felt betrayed by the Pope.

I have read many Allegories and they all have similar ideas and events, though not nearly as dark and vengeful. I think the Inferno is very relatable, whether you've lost your way in life, or you hate someone, this poem can be for anyone. This work creates inspiration because of the many ways it can be interpreted. It can be religious, symbolic, literal, or even just a story or myth. It's what people are able to take out of this universal tale that makes it so inspirational.

Shipwrecked

Robinson Crusoe loves making money. Against his father's advice, Crusoe travels the world in search of his fortune. He starts frequenting London for business, but eventually his ship is seised by pirates, who dump him off the coast of Africa. But luckily, a friendly captain finds him and takes him the Brazil, where Crusoe starts plantations. To get slaves for labor, Crusoe heads to Africa, but is shipwrecked on an island. Crusoe struggles at first, but discovers how make a shelter, finds a dog, grows wheat, farms the native goats, and dry's grapes to make raisins. He will eventually fight cannibals and rebellious sailors.

Characters:

Robinson Crusoe: The main character and protagonist. He loves money, he travels all over to make money. He's selfish, he leaves his entire family and goes against his father's advice. His friends die on a ship wreck while traveling with him.  He's not afraid to take risks. That one's kind of obvious.

Friday: Major character. Crusoe saves him from the cannibals and names him after the day in which he was saved. Since this time Friday serves Crusoe and helps him fight the sailors later. Friday is loyal and loves Crusoe very much.

Widow: A friend of Crusoe's, saves his money for him while he's away. She seems very kind and honest. She is a minor character, but serves an important purpose for Crusoe. He gives her a large sum of cash in the end.

Friendly Captain: The captain who saves Crusoe after the pirates ditch him. Takes Crusoe to Brazil where he finds his fortune. Minor character. He is a kind and friendly man. He is Portuguese, which is why he takes Crusoe to Brazil. Brazil is important to this story because that's where Crusoe makes his fortune, while he's stuck on an island his plantations are making lots of money.

This book takes place in the late 1600's. Slavery is a common thing in this time, we see this once Crusoe goes to Brazil. Once his plantations get going he goes to Africa in search of slaves. He seems to regard Friday like a slave, and makes him his own, personal, servant. This book reflects the time well, by the way Crusoe thinks and behaves, and by the way the other Europeans act too.

I give this Book a 3. It's was tough to read, with how it's worded and the slow beginning, but I really like the plot and the realistic struggle that Crusoe faces on the island.

Semester Reflection

          I did read different literature than my peers this semester because of my stay in Tanzania, but my favorite read was The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. I like the poetic format and I enjoy his sense of humor. Whenever I think "what was it like in the middle ages", I never thought people would have a sense of humor like Chaucer's, considering all the dirty jokes he wrote.
     
  My favorite part of class was reading. I love to just sit and read and the stories we read were very interesting and unique.

          I learned that people from, like, two thousand years ago were quite similar to people now. They had super heros, they had comedies, they had dramas, they even had and used swear words. I always thought these things were fairly recent, but all these things have been around for a very, very long time.

The Canterbury Tales

          The Canterbury Tales is a middle-ages era text written by a man named Chaucer. Chaucer died before he could finish it, but it is still considered by many to be the most important piece of British literature today, as it vividly describes the life of people in the middle-ages. This story is about nineteen Pilgrims who go on a journey to visit the shrine of a martyred pope.

                                                                  The Cook

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            Chaucer doesn't have much to say about the Cook. He is an older man (I can guess because of his knee ulcer and career expertise), he makes amazing food, and drinks a lot. But Chaucer seems to put this man in a semi-favorable light because of his artful cuisines and refined palate.

            Lines 390- 394 "For boiling chicken with a marrow bone, sharp flavoring-powder and a spice for savor, he could distinguish London ale by flavor, and he could roast and seethe and broil and fry, make good thick soup, and bake a tasty pie."

Soon to be cast away.

I'm excited to say that I'll be started Robinson Crusoe today! It would've been yesterday, but I forgot to stop by the library. I have attempted to read this book before, but I never got around to finishing it. I have loved this story for a very long time, there used to be a TV show called Robinson Crusoe and it was my favorite waste of time. Looking back, the show wasn't even that good, but for some reason I was in love with the story.. and still am!

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