English 2026 spring

absolute will (paradise IV)

the perfect, unwavering, and sincere desire of the soul to do good and align with God's will,

Allegory

a narrative, picture, or art form that uses symbolic characters

anthimeria

a rhetorical device and linguistic process involving the substitution of one part of speech for another

appollinarianism (confessions VII.25)

a 4th-century Christian heresy proposed by Apollinaris of Laodicea that argued Jesus Christ had a human body and human soul, but a divine mind

Barrator (Inferno XXI-XXII)

corrupt politicians, public officials, and grafters who sold public offices, took bribes, and used their positions for personal financial gain.

Canicle(cantiche)

a hymn or song derived from the Bible used in church services.

Canto

Italian for song

contrapasso (Inferno XVI)

the principle in Dante’s Inferno where the punishment of souls either resembles or contrasts with their earthly sins.

Defamiliazizion

an artistic and literary technique that presents common, everyday objects or situations in strange, unfamiliar ways to overcome habitual perception and force a new, deeper perspective.

Deixis

a linguistic concept referring to words whose meaning is fixed but whose referent changes based on context

Eversores

a gang of rowdy, destructive students in Carthage whom Augustine knew during his youth

Griffin

a legendary creature featuring the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion, combined with the head, wings, and front talons of an eagle.

Harrowing of hell

the theological belief that Jesus Christ descended into the realm of the dead (Hades or Limbo) between his Crucifixion and Resurrection to free the souls of the righteous 

Loquaciousness

the quality of being very talkative, chatty, or wordy.

Manichaecism

a major 3rd-century dualistic religion founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the Sassanid Empire,

Mock heroic

a form of satire that treats trivial, mundane subjects with the elevated language, grand style, and elaborate conventions of classical epic poetry.

Multiplicity/unity

represent the relationship between the diverse, separate parts of reality and the single, cohesive whole.

Mystic rose

most commonly refers to a central concept in Dante Alighieri's Paradiso, the final book of the Divine Comedy.

Neologism

a newly coined word, phrase, or expression that is emerging into common usage but has not yet been fully accepted into the mainstream language.

Neoplantonism

a newly coined word, phrase, or expression that is emerging into common usage but has not yet been fully accepted into the mainstream language.

Panderer

someone who caters to or exploits the weaknesses, vices, or base desires of others, typically for personal gain or profit.

Perversion

the alteration of something from its original, rightful, or normal state into something abnormal, harmful, or immoral.

Preteritio

a rhetorical device where a speaker or writer brings up a subject while pretending to ignore or pass over it.

Primum moblie

the outermost, swiftest sphere in the Ptolemaic/Aristotelian geocentric model of the universe.

Reflexive verb

a verb where the subject and the object are the same entity,

Region of dissimilarity

a philosophical/theological concept from Saint Augustine representing the soul's distance from God, and a quantitative/technical measure used to identify areas of difference in spatial data or image processing.

Simonist

a person who practices or defends simony which is the buying, selling, or corrupt exchange of ecclesiastical offices, spiritual benefits, or sacraments.

Synaesthesia

a harmless, usually inherited neurological phenomenon where stimulation of one sense triggers involuntary experiences in another,

Tercet

a three-line stanza or complete poem, often used in poetry to create tight, rhythmic, or interlocking structures.

Transhumansization

trasumanar (meaning "to pass beyond the human") in Canto I to describe the, at times, ineffable transformation his soul and body underwent while ascending through the heavenly spheres.