Virtual Tour of Hell

Dante’s Divine Comedy continues to influence our culture’s view of hell, and yet most people haven’t read this important work of literature. From the popularity of figures such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hellboy, it’s easy to see that teenagers find the afterlife a fascinating topic.

Why not use their natural curiosity to introduce them to this vivid work of tremendous depth and insight?

Here are a couple of great resources to help you introduce this epic to your students:

Dante’s Inferno – A Virtual Tour of Hell

The World of Dante

Don’t let its age fool you–Dante’s Inferno is still one of the most captivating, readable, and thought-provoking works of literature in the world. Its division into relatively short cantos make it easy to use as a read-aloud. I started reading it once to a group of eighth graders with the intention of giving them a taste of it, but they wouldn’t let me stop until I had finished the entire Inferno. Students from that class still come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed it, and how vivid it is in their minds still.

But don’t take my word for it–try it yourself.