Hum 103   Dante Course             Take-home Midterm Exam                   Spring 2005

Directions:  Please choose three of the following questions; answer each of those three
in a typed, double spaced essay of 300-500 words (one page minimum, 2 pages maximum
per question).  Please refer directly to the poem, as well as to the broader context covered
in lectures.   This is an open book and notes exam.   Due at lecture Tuesday May 17^th.

I.          "love is the seed in you of every virtue
             and of all acts deserving punishment."          (Purg.17, 103-105)

How does Virgil's discourse on love function to explain (or not explain) a character, the structure,
the moral foundation, the very nature of Dante's Purgatory? Depending on how deeply you dig into
the text, you may choose to address only one single and perhaps minute aspect of the Purgatory.
Be specific. Base your arguments on and cite the text.

II. Comment on the following lines in their immediate context and in the Purgatory at large. You  
     do not need to explicate every word or verse.  Choose a theme or idea or word from the
     passage that allows you to make your insightful observation about the passage and an
     interesting connection to the poem.

"Now who knows where, along this mountainside,”
 my master, halting, asked, one finds a rise
 where even he who has no wings can climb?"
 While he, his eyes upon the ground, consulted
 his mind, considering what road to take,
 and I looked up around the wall of rock
 along the left a band of souls appeared
 to me to be approaching us - but so
 unhurriedly, their movements did not show."        (Purg. 3, 55-60)

III. Discuss the notion of fame that Dante explores in Inferno and in Purgatory.
       Be specific. Cite the text.

IV.  Comment on one or both of the following quotes.  What do they tell us about Dante’s
       understanding of the relationship of church and state, or Papacy and Empire? 

“Ah Constantine, how much foul harm was fostered,
 Not by your conversion but by the dowry
 Which the first wealthy father took from?”  (Inferno 19, 115-117

“For Rome, which made the world good, used to have
 two suns; and they made visible two paths--
 the world's path and the pathway that is God's.
 Each has eclipsed the other; now the sword
 has joined the shepherd's crook; the two together
 must of necessity result in evil.” (Purg 16, 106-111)

V.  Throughout the poem, Dante discusses the actual political issues of his time, taking strong
      positions on both past and present events.    Choose one (or at most two) of the following --  
      Florence, Italy, Papacy, Empire – and draw on a few specific episodes, characters or        
      passages from  the poem to discuss:  What’s the matter with Italy?   
                                                                     What went wrong and who’s to blame?