This week's major assignment is a 900-word essay comparing The Odyssey with either The Song of Roland or Dante's Inferno. Students must write an in-depth analysis using their own ideas, quotes, paraphrases or summaries from the epic poems. Although The Odyssey and Dante's Inferno were written nearly 2,000 years apart, both works are epic poems that explore humanity's relationship with the divine, use journey as a metaphor for maturation, and reveal cultural values about leadership and the appeal of temptation. The paper must compare and contrast how one of these topics is developed in The Odyssey and Dante's Inferno, while contextualizing the examination in each work's cultural values, philosophies, and

1. The major assignment for this week is to compose a 900-word
essay comparing
The Odyssey
with either
The Song of Roland
or Dante’s
Inferno
. In this paper you will write an in-depth analysis using your
own ideas and excerpts from the epic poems in the form of
quotes, paraphrase, or summary.
Although nearly two thousand years separate
The Odyssey
and Dante’s
Inferno
, both works are epic poems that:
Explore the relationship between humanity and the divine.
Employ journey as a metaphor for maturation.
Reveal and teach cultural values about leadership.
Caution audiences about the appeal of temptation.
Contemplate the nature of immortality.
Compare and contrast how one of these topics is developed in
The Odyssey
and Dante’s
Inferno
. Be sure to contextualize your examination in the cultural
values, philosophies, literary movements, and ideas that typify
each work. Use literary perspectives to enrich your analysis.