Dante’s Fourfold Method to understanding literature Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Candy Stanton

Literal Level (Historical) The things that are actually happening in the story on the surface level. Summarize what the author is saying.

Political Level This is the level on which human beings relate to one another in a community and in the world. Exercising or seeking power in the governmental or public affairs of a state, municipality, etc.: OR of, pertaining to, or involving the state or its government. How is the individual interacting with community in this piece? What is the political implications of what the writer is communicating?

Moral or Psychological Level The way in which the self relates to the realm of ethics. Morals: of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical Psychology: the science of the mind or of mental states and processes What values does the writer base their argument on? How do they use ethics to support their argument?

Spiritual Level The universal level on which a person relates to the cosmos, the way of the pilgrim soul. Can be fate or religious spirituality. How does the writer appeal to a higher authority or things that do not have a material nature?