Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Boccaccio (Extra Credit)

Read Boccaccio's account of the plague in Florence at the link below. What can you tell about Boccaccio's values and concerns from this account? In what ways might seeing the kinds of things he describes affect his writing and his general view of life?

6 comments:

  1. I think that as he tells of the short term effects of this plague he wonders what the long term effects will be. He tells of a community or a society losiing its will to work, play or even interact because each lives in fear and does not believe he can count on a future. As he describes daily scenes of dead and dying we get the sense that human life is being devalued. He is saddened by the decline of an attitude of caring about others or even about oneself. If I would have read his writings at that point in time, I would have to wonder if the world was coming to an end.

    Darcy Mammenga

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  2. I think when the disease starts he feels like there is no hope for people. He talks about having bad deaths, and God punishing people by giving them this death. However, I don't believe this is true. I use to believe everything happens for a reason, but no I don't I'm just not sure why bad things happen. He explains that everything in society will soon fall apart. He also says people won't be able to trust each other, and this will bring bad things. He seems to care alot about people and the future, but he also seems unsure what to believe in.

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  3. I think when the disease starts he feels like there is no hope for people. He talks about having bad deaths, and God punishing people by giving them death. However, I dont believe this is true. I use to believe everything happens for a reason, but now I don't I'm just not sure why bad things happen. He explains that everything in society will soon fall apart. He also says people won't be able to trust each other, and this will bring bad things. He seems to care alot about people and the futre, but he also seems unsure what to believe in.

    Thomasina Rohrbach

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  4. I believe that he is talking about the decline of the human spirit when one is affected by the disease. They automatically assume they will die, and most of them did, when the symptoms appear that what's the point of trying to live a better life when the end of this one is just around the corner. Why should we take care of the fields and the animals when we could die tomorrow? Isn't that question still relevent today? I think he is saddened by this view that most of the people take. What's the point? Someone had to have a point because civilization still continued. I think he is asking, where is your heart? You would truly abandon your own flesh and blood to save your own? What's life without friends and family?

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  5. Boccaccio is concerned for what lies ahead in life. He worries for the people who are living their life as if there is no future for them. They do not care about anything. When the plague begins, people's attitudes change from caring for one another to completely avoiding one another. The way families fell apart over the plague could be a sign of how Boccaccio feels family life is really becoming, distant and rare. He begins to question what will happen in the future. He discusses the effects of the plague at the current time, but he wonders what the future will bring for the rest of society. When people automaticaly believe they are going to die and don't do anything about it, this is a sad situation.
    Nichole Anderson

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  6. 3. I realize that he is stressing about the decline of the human spiritual value when disease comes. He mentions the dignity of human is not depend on your family background but the one’s talent or ability. In this book he pays a warm tribute to love. When disease and death befell, he thinks true love can be got away from this plague disaster as he described. He criticizes corrupt churches and their corrupting influence, discussing the effects of the plague just like their corrupt society at that time. I think he questions what the future will be as it goes, asking people for revolution. He tries to appeal to the young people to recognize how sad of current situation they are and fight for a bright new life.
    Ran Zhou

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