- The Experience

Discussion: Why is Hell so much of a daily part of our lives?

Reading:

• "What the Hell is Hell?"

Image One: WORLD WAR I: “WAR IS HELL . . .”

Discussion: What is Hell? Perhaps it depends on whom you ask.

Reading:

• “Hell” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (1st half)

Film: Segment from Lewis Milestone, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

• Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (2nd half)
• All Quiet on the Western Front - Movie review
  

Discussion: Great Writing, Persuasive Criticism

Readings from George Orwell:

• “Why I write”
• George Orwell writes: Facsimile of p. 1 of Brave New World (handout)
• Mystery Facsimile
• “Politics and the English Language”
• Review of Sartre (preview)

An Excursus into the past. From the Twentieth Century to the Fourteenth Century and back. The goal today is to understand how different depictions of Hell reflect the age when they are created.

For today’s class, we will meet in the Special Collections Room of Hesburgh Library. Notre Dame is a powerhouse in Italian studies and has one of the finest collections of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Tracy Bergstrom, the library’s expert on this collection, will introduce us to depictions of Dante’s Inferno.

Before we meet, read the three cantos closely. The more you understand the cantos, the easier it will be for you to interpret the artistic depictions we see. For background, read through the short section from Turner’s History of Hell.

Readings:

The Inferno of Dante:

• Canto 1
• Canto 3
• Canto 33

Also:

• Background Reading: Alice Turner, The History of Hell (preview)
• Browse one of the many illuminating Dante sites

Image Two: THE HOLOCAUST: “A LIVING HELL . . .

Discussion: What is Wiesel’s depiction of Hell? And how does it differ from those we have already considered?

Reading:

• First half of Elie Wiesel, Night (preview)
  

Discussion: According to Wiesel’s arguments in Night and his Nobel Lecture below, how should we respond to Hell? Again, how would this response differ from the other works we’ve considered?

Reading:

• Second half of Elie Wiesel, Night (preview)
• Elie Wiesel, “Hope, Despair, and Memory,” Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1986

Discussion: More Great Writing

Film: Selections from Leni Riefenstahl’s phantasmagoria, “Triumph of the Will”

Reading:

• The Triumph of Hitler: “Triumph of the Will”

Image Three: LIFE ITSELF: “LIFE IS HELL . . .”

Photo by flickr.com user Dru! Some rights reserved.

Discussion: Existentialism, Version I: “A World Without God”

Reading:

• Jean-Paul Sartre, “The Wall” (preview)

Discussion: Existentialism, Version II: “A World With God”

Reading:

• Flannery O’Connor, “The Lame Shall Enter First” (preview)