1. Exemplar Thesis statements
Dante and medieval literature quiz 2018

3. Analyze the difference

4. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT = tHESIS
HOW: a literary convention (language, structure, technique, or style choice the author makes)
WHAT: ideas the author conveys through their writing
SO WHAT: what the writing results in OR the importance of the writing OR a (non-cliché) universal truth

5. How did Virgil—and his writing—influence Dante?
Dante quiz thesis prompt: On your answer sheet, write a thesis statement in response to one of the following prompts: (5 pts)
How and to what effect did Dante use ONE of the following literary conventions in the Inferno: irony, allusion, or symbolism?
How does Dante’s Inferno—and the poetic conventions he used to write the poem—reflect the values of his era?
How did Virgil—and his writing—influence Dante?

6. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
Dante uses symbolism in the Inferno by masking his sins under the guise of deadly beasts to try and promote himself as a protagonist who has achieved moral redemption.

7. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
Dante’s use of irony in the Inferno through contrapasso portrays the sinfulness of the people in each level, creating a mood of fear.

8. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
In the Inferno, Dante uses symbolism to depict the sins and suffering that Hell contains, connecting to the reader’s emotions, indirectly telling the audience to stop sinning.

9. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
In the Inferno, Dante’s use of vernacular to depict the hierarchy of sins within the nine circles of Hell illustrates how churches used fear to gain control through submission.

10. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
In the Inferno, Dante’s use of tercets and terza rima allude to the Holy Trinity and reflect Dante and his era’s dependence and faith in God and Christian values.

11. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
Dante uses the symbolism of the raging wind in the Inferno whenever Dante goes deeper into hell, depicting his chaotic journey to find moral redemption through understanding the sins of God’s traitors.

12. HOW + WHAT + SO WHAT
Virgil, and his epic poem The Aeneid, greatly influenced Dante’s construction of hell and religious subject matter through his own pious protagonists’s educational journey through the underworld, showing how the significance of writing influences.