When I first came to Central this year of "08" I was nervous at first about how my classes and the teachers would be. Although at the same time I was also excited to meet new people and new teachers and learn new things. The first day of school was pretty boring most of the time because as usual most of the teachers just gave out syllabus' and talked. But as the quarter went on things were pretty well and then the end of first quarter came I was pretty nervous to see how my grades were so far. Some of the teachers gave 1st quarter finals but some didn't. I don't think that we should have had first quarter finals. I prefer to have the end of semester finals. That goes along with that I prefer to have semesters than quarters too.
After the first quarter of the year I was doing pretty okay. As second quarter rolled around I was feeling pretty confident. My grades were okay just as I like it. Second quarter was not as difficult just that we had more assignments of course, I mean at times I felt overwhelmed with too much work at once but I guess that's what I get for taking some advanced courses. My overall grades for first semester was mostly "a's" and "b's" which I really thought I would have a "c" for sure but I turned out to have a "b" instead. I am content with my grades for finals. Now it is the third quarter and I'm excited to start fresh and get on with the "new" stuff. I hope this quarter is more exciting and more interesting. Let's go second semester!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Inferno Commentary
Mai Lee
Ms. Peifer
English 10 IB Hr. 04
08 January 2009
Inferno Commentary
(1) A monstrous clap of thunder broke apart
the swoon that stuffed my head; like one awakened
by violent hands, I leaped up with a start.
And having risen; rested and renewed,
I studied out the landmarks of the gloom
to find my bearings there as best I could.
And I found I stood on the very brink of the valley
called the Dolorous Abyss, the desolate chasm
where rolls the thunder of Hell's eternal cry,
so depthless-deep and nebulous and dim
that stare as I might into its frightful pit
it gave me back no feature and no bottom.
Death-pale, the Poet spoke: "Now let us go
into the blind world waiting here below us.
(15) I will lead the way and you shall follow."
And I, sick with alarm at his new pallor,
cried out, "How can I go this way when you
who are my strength in doubt turn pale with terror?"
What do you think the real place of Hell looks like? Will it be as torturous and evil as thought of? There are many perspectives of how hell looks like but the main one is that it is where all the bad or sinners go to; a fiery burning underworld. But of course we are never ever going to be sure what goes on there and even if there really is a place like that. It is just a belief that makes us think that there is such a place. In The Inferno, John Ciardi uses, personification, imagery and some hyperbole to show us the way Hell is like in his perspective.
In the lines 1-18 in canto four, Dante is just beginning his journey to Hell. He has just awoken to find himself and the other poets on the edge of their destination, Hell. Dante thinks that the poet is scared to go but he is actually not. As a way of showing this Ciardi uses imagery by saying "How can I go this way when you/ who are my strength in doubt turn pale with terror?" (17-18). Here he describes the fright in the poet's face by using the term "pale with fear". Another imagery that he used was "that stare as I might into its frightful pit/ it gave me back no feature and no bottom" (11-12). This images shows us that he was afraid of Hell, now looking down at it, but he actually saw nothing when he looked.
Ciardi started out this chapter using personification to describe Dante's awakening. He write that "A monstrous clap of thunder broke apart/ the swoon that stuffed my head; like one awakened" (1-2). In this quote you can imagine how loud the thunder was. Ciardi personifies the thunder and says that it was as loud as a monstrous clap. It is like a person clapping except here her actually says that the thunder is making the noise. Anothe example of personification is when Dante said "the desolate chasm/ where rolls the thunder of Hell's eternal cry" (8-9). This quote is talking of hell and the noises it was making. When he uses the term "hell's eternal cry" we can hear the loudness and cries coming from the underneath the Earth. The underworld sounds like a thunder as loud as a wave of people.
Another technique that Cardi uses is hyperbole. When the poet says he will lead them to Hell the author uses the word "Death-pale" (13) to describe his face color. This was a good choice of words instead of just saying the plain word "white". it also lets us know that he is frightened and not just turning pale. Also when Dante is saying "so depthless-deep and nebulous and dim" (10) which he is describing how he is seeing Hell right now. Using hyperbole for the word nebulous which simply means unclear.
This passage is effective in the terms of language because everyday we use these techniques to speak and have conversation. The techniques used in the passage give us a better sound when we say things and it will sound more interesting to the ear. Also this passage is important to the story because it is when Dante is actually waking up to find he is almost in Hell. It is how his journey through Hell begins. if it were missing and all of a sudden he just appeared in Hell at the beginning of the story, many people would probably question "how did he get there" and more. Overall, Ciardi did a good job on translating this passage to make it sound nice to the ear and to read it out loud.
Works Cited
The Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. London: Signet Classics, 2001.
Ms. Peifer
English 10 IB Hr. 04
08 January 2009
(1) A monstrous clap of thunder broke apart
the swoon that stuffed my head; like one awakened
by violent hands, I leaped up with a start.
And having risen; rested and renewed,
I studied out the landmarks of the gloom
to find my bearings there as best I could.
And I found I stood on the very brink of the valley
called the Dolorous Abyss, the desolate chasm
where rolls the thunder of Hell's eternal cry,
so depthless-deep and nebulous and dim
that stare as I might into its frightful pit
it gave me back no feature and no bottom.
Death-pale, the Poet spoke: "Now let us go
into the blind world waiting here below us.
(15) I will lead the way and you shall follow."
And I, sick with alarm at his new pallor,
cried out, "How can I go this way when you
who are my strength in doubt turn pale with terror?"
What do you think the real place of Hell looks like? Will it be as torturous and evil as thought of? There are many perspectives of how hell looks like but the main one is that it is where all the bad or sinners go to; a fiery burning underworld. But of course we are never ever going to be sure what goes on there and even if there really is a place like that. It is just a belief that makes us think that there is such a place. In The Inferno, John Ciardi uses, personification, imagery and some hyperbole to show us the way Hell is like in his perspective.
In the lines 1-18 in canto four, Dante is just beginning his journey to Hell. He has just awoken to find himself and the other poets on the edge of their destination, Hell. Dante thinks that the poet is scared to go but he is actually not. As a way of showing this Ciardi uses imagery by saying "How can I go this way when you/ who are my strength in doubt turn pale with terror?" (17-18). Here he describes the fright in the poet's face by using the term "pale with fear". Another imagery that he used was "that stare as I might into its frightful pit/ it gave me back no feature and no bottom" (11-12). This images shows us that he was afraid of Hell, now looking down at it, but he actually saw nothing when he looked.
Ciardi started out this chapter using personification to describe Dante's awakening. He write that "A monstrous clap of thunder broke apart/ the swoon that stuffed my head; like one awakened" (1-2). In this quote you can imagine how loud the thunder was. Ciardi personifies the thunder and says that it was as loud as a monstrous clap. It is like a person clapping except here her actually says that the thunder is making the noise. Anothe example of personification is when Dante said "the desolate chasm/ where rolls the thunder of Hell's eternal cry" (8-9). This quote is talking of hell and the noises it was making. When he uses the term "hell's eternal cry" we can hear the loudness and cries coming from the underneath the Earth. The underworld sounds like a thunder as loud as a wave of people.
Another technique that Cardi uses is hyperbole. When the poet says he will lead them to Hell the author uses the word "Death-pale" (13) to describe his face color. This was a good choice of words instead of just saying the plain word "white". it also lets us know that he is frightened and not just turning pale. Also when Dante is saying "so depthless-deep and nebulous and dim" (10) which he is describing how he is seeing Hell right now. Using hyperbole for the word nebulous which simply means unclear.
This passage is effective in the terms of language because everyday we use these techniques to speak and have conversation. The techniques used in the passage give us a better sound when we say things and it will sound more interesting to the ear. Also this passage is important to the story because it is when Dante is actually waking up to find he is almost in Hell. It is how his journey through Hell begins. if it were missing and all of a sudden he just appeared in Hell at the beginning of the story, many people would probably question "how did he get there" and more. Overall, Ciardi did a good job on translating this passage to make it sound nice to the ear and to read it out loud.
The Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. London: Signet Classics, 2001.
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