Canto V Lesson Plans
Amanda Aurigemma
1 / 13 / 15
Canto V
Summary:
Dante and Virgil now go into the Second Circle of Hell, where people are punished for lust. The punished are stuck in a continuous windy storm in which they can never land. In this circle, Dante and Virgil encounter many people such as Dido, Cleopatra, Achilles, Paris, and many more. Most importantly, Paolo and Francesca, a couple that is swept through the storm together, talk to Dante and share the tragic story of their love and how it led them to this circle of Hell. So overcome with emotions, Dante once again faints.
Vocabulary:
Word: lamentation (n.)
#93
Definition: passionate expression of grief or sorrow
Context:
“Now I have come/ to Hell’s full lamentation, sound beyond sound” (Lines 26-27).
Word:
dalliance (n.)
#108
Definition: a casual romantic relationship
Context:
“On a day for dalliance we read the rhyme/ of Lancelot, how love had mastered him”
(Lines 124-125).
Word:
pander (n.)
Definition:
immoral or distasteful desire
Context:
“That book, and he who wrote it, was a pander ” (Line 134).
#109
Diction:
Word:
grim
Word Slash to the 5th Degree: stern/unrelenting/ghastly/unforgiving/strict Context:
“... and that grim sorter of the dark and foul…” (Line 9).
#88
Word: anguish Word Slash to the 5th Degree: agony/heartbreak/torment/misery/woe Context:
“... I felt my senses reel/ and faint away with anguish …” (Lines 137-138)
#110
Amanda Aurigemma
1 / 13 / 15
Symbols and Motifs:
Example:
Choir of Anguish (Line 25)
#91
Meaning:
The “choir of anguish” represents the collective cries of unbearable suffering from those stuck in the Second Circle of Hell
Example:
my Teacher (Line 70)
#102
Meaning:
Dante looks up to Virgil, so while indirectly at first, Virgil has always served as Dante’s teacher… in both worlds.
Epic Conventions:
#95 -- “As the wings of wintering starlings bear them on/in their great wheeling flights, just so the blast/wherries these evil souls through
1 / 13 / 15
Canto V
Summary:
Dante and Virgil now go into the Second Circle of Hell, where people are punished for lust. The punished are stuck in a continuous windy storm in which they can never land. In this circle, Dante and Virgil encounter many people such as Dido, Cleopatra, Achilles, Paris, and many more. Most importantly, Paolo and Francesca, a couple that is swept through the storm together, talk to Dante and share the tragic story of their love and how it led them to this circle of Hell. So overcome with emotions, Dante once again faints.
Vocabulary:
Word: lamentation (n.)
#93
Definition: passionate expression of grief or sorrow
Context:
“Now I have come/ to Hell’s full lamentation, sound beyond sound” (Lines 26-27).
Word:
dalliance (n.)
#108
Definition: a casual romantic relationship
Context:
“On a day for dalliance we read the rhyme/ of Lancelot, how love had mastered him”
(Lines 124-125).
Word:
pander (n.)
Definition:
immoral or distasteful desire
Context:
“That book, and he who wrote it, was a pander ” (Line 134).
#109
Diction:
Word:
grim
Word Slash to the 5th Degree: stern/unrelenting/ghastly/unforgiving/strict Context:
“... and that grim sorter of the dark and foul…” (Line 9).
#88
Word: anguish Word Slash to the 5th Degree: agony/heartbreak/torment/misery/woe Context:
“... I felt my senses reel/ and faint away with anguish …” (Lines 137-138)
#110
Amanda Aurigemma
1 / 13 / 15
Symbols and Motifs:
Example:
Choir of Anguish (Line 25)
#91
Meaning:
The “choir of anguish” represents the collective cries of unbearable suffering from those stuck in the Second Circle of Hell
Example:
my Teacher (Line 70)
#102
Meaning:
Dante looks up to Virgil, so while indirectly at first, Virgil has always served as Dante’s teacher… in both worlds.
Epic Conventions:
#95 -- “As the wings of wintering starlings bear them on/in their great wheeling flights, just so the blast/wherries these evil souls through