Translation/ Memorization exercise. (For both students of Italian language and English literature) Along with the first verse of the Inferno ("Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita/mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, che la diritta via era smarrita"). Each student picks a verse to memorize in Italian based upon their initial attraction to the sound, rather than entirely depending upon the meaning of the English translation. After choosing a favorite verse, they should try "translate" (or summarize) it themselves, leaning heavily upon the Longfellow and Mandelbaum translations and having them both present at the same time by selecting them at the beginning of their hypertext reading. Students should be able to link their verse reading to the specific verse they have chosen for a week or so by sending the audio file to Digital Dante. This exercise should be accompanied by a brief explanation of terza rima and the prosody of the Divine Comedy.

Terza Rima -- the interlocking rhyme pattern aba, bcb,cdc...

The form supports the containment of discrete thoughts within the stanza while still producing the effect of constantly pulling the reader onward. In English, this forward movement is often better rendered in a prose, rather than a verse translation.