Well, for whatever reason, I messed up the slides for my part of the education presentation last week. And in my flusteredness (my word) I also left off an important point as I spoke: Dante was writing about writing, which was a new concept. In his work The Vida Nuova Dante writes a collection of sonnets about the girl he loves from afar, Beatrice. But before, during and after all these sonnets, Dante discusses what exactly inspired him, but more importantly, how we, the readers, should read and understand his poems. It is an amazing work that gives us a look into the mind of a great poet and his writing process. So sorry I left it out last week. What differentiates Dante from other writers of commentary in the Middle Ages is that there were scholars writing commentary on the Bible and on the Classics, but Dante was one of the first writing commentary on his own works.
The second example is The Letter to Can Grande, in which Dante is instructing his benefactor and patron how and why he wrote The Divina Comedia -- and how to read it. There is an excerpt in the documents section of our text (education section). Give it a look/see-- or sign up for Dante for the spring!
I am attempting to post the pictures that I should have had in the slide. Keep a lookout-
See you this afternoon : )
How lovely that you bring up Dante in this context. I appreciate it greatly! It's a nice reminder of how influential Dante was and is!
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