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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In four pages this paper considers the significance of the vernacular in each of these classical literary works. Five sources are listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGdivcant.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
mean slang or colloquialism, but initially it defined the languages other than Latin that were being spoken and written during the Middle Ages. In his essay, "De Vulgari Eloquentia,"
Italian epic poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) argued a convincing face in support of the vernacular as an important literary tool. In his masterpiece "The Divine Comedy" ("La Divina Commedia"),
Dante deviated from the Latin literary tradition and instead composed his prose in his native Florentine dialect. Through example, Dante demonstrated the power of vernacular to reflect the authors
culture and predominant literary style of a particular era. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?-1400) was obviously a student of Dante because he, too, utilized vernacular by "adopting English for his own
writing at a time when other English writers were still writing in French or Latin" (Koff and Schildgen 105). His collection of stories entitled The Canterbury Tales introduced English
and its cultural norms to an international audience for the first time. In Italy during the thirteenth century, the allegorical or mythological form
originated by the ancient Greeks was popular (Chance 20). Therefore, it was no surprise that Dante employed this form in "The Divine Comedy." His Italian allegory depicts the
Christian hereafter that is subdivided into cantos of Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (purgatory), and Paradiso (paradise). To legitimize his vernacular, he has the pilgrim and narrator Dante guided through the
souls journey by Virgil, the Roman poet who pioneered the technique of presenting myth in allegorical form in "The Aeneid." By naming the poet after himself and with the
inclusion of Virgil, Dante masterfully illustrates how vernacular can be applied in incorporating classics into a more contemporary style of poetry. He also places himself in the company of
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