Allegory a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Famous examples… Animal Farm The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The Lorax The Wizard of Oz?? Robocop!?

Charon

Structure of the Divine Comedy How many major parts? Three – Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso What are the parts divided into? Cantos What are the cantos divided into? Stanzas – more specifically, tercets Tercet – three-line stanza

Dante Alighieri Widely regarded as the world’s greatest poet of ideas His father educated him in classical and Christian literature. Wrote The Divine Comedy, which is an allegory detailing his spiritual journey toward religious salvation. Was exiled for political reasons (he opposed the Pope) which is a fate worse than death in medieval times.

Terza Rima ABA BCB CBC DED… Interlocking form The only time the form changes is at the conclusion of the poem, where a single line that rhymes with the second line of the final tercet stands alone; the rhyme scene at the end of the poem looks like this: “xyx yzy z(z).”