The Nine Layers of High School
School Creative Project
Create your own version of Inferno by adapting Dante’s structure to the high school setting.
Create a hierarchical system of classes and sinners at high school; you can have a special place
for your biggest pet peeves or sins that you feel high school students are most guilty of, organize
them with a purpose, decide on a punishment for the crime (that is an example of symbolic
retribution), and create monsters/creatures to represent each circle. Remember that the creatures
are symbolic – they represent the true nature of the sin. Do not use people you know in your life;
instead use famous people, celebrities, characters, monsters, or villains. However, the person you
choose for your guide to help you through your Inferno can be someone from your life.
Remember to explain why you have chosen this person.
Approach the above assignment via writing, typing an organized and visually-pleasing format.
Use a poster to draw colorful visuals to “preview” each of your circles of high school to
accompany your writing. If you are not artistic, create a power point, keynote, Prezi or a different
presentation format that is well organized and highly visual.
Be creative with your inferno, and think about different ways that high school can be segmented.
Remember the 9th circle represents the worst sin, irritation, or pet peeve in your eyes.
Warning: Be mindful and respectful of other people’s feeling. Yes, you do have freedom of
speech and a right to form your own opinion, however, this is not a platform to be hateful or
cruel; use your judgment when choosing your words. Students who use profanity or highly
derogative words or pictures will receive an automatic zero.
Inferno Examples
Poor Example: Guide: Whitney Houston
Place: gossiping room
Crime: gossiping
Punishment: tongues cut out they mouth
Overseer: Joan Crawford
Analysis: they can’t use their tongues to spread gossip anymore
Good-Fair example: Guide: Whitney Houston is my guide because she fell into a lot of temptation in life and has
now seen the errors of her ways.
Place: The Gossipers Chambers filled with people wearing mask
Crime: the sinners are guilty of spreading rumors and misinformation about others
Punishment: the sinners wear mask while they wait in line to have their tongues cut out repeatedly.
Overseer: Joan Crawford walks around the room laughing and whispering in people’s ears making fun of everyone’s
pain.
Analysis: These sinners took their gossip to the extremes and now they will endure having their tongue cut out
repeatedly for eternity. The sinners are wearing mask because they wore fake smiles in real life.
Exceptional example: Guide: Whitney Houston is my guide because she fell into a lot of temptation in life and has
now seen the errors of her ways. She will help me resist the temptations that I am about to face.
Place: Room 666; The Gossipers Chambers filled with people wearing scary clown mask with smiling faces and
tears that cry vinegar.
Crime: the sinners are guilty of spreading rumors and misinformation about others
Punishment: the sinners are tied to beds and must endure labor pains over and over for eternity
Overseer: Joan Crawford walks around the room laughing and whispering in people’s ears making fun of everyone’s
pain.
Analysis: The term gossip originates from the bedroom at the time of childbirth. Giving birth used to be a social
(ladies only) event, in which a pregnant woman’s female relatives and neighbors would gather and they would
chatter and talk about others. These sinners took their gossip to the extremes and now they will endure the labor
pains that others originally used for their excuse to gossip. The sinners are wearing clown mask because they wore
fake smiles in real life and they cry tears of vinegar because they were so mean and nasty to others. Joan Rivers a
famous TV personality known for her gossiping ways is the perfect warden for this room.
The Nine Layers of High School Creative Project
CATEGORY
Setting: Journey
Characters: Sinners
Exceptional (A)
Good (B)
Fair (C)
Poor (D)
Many vivid, descriptive
words or drawings are
used to describe your
inferno.
The sinners are named
and clearly described.
Readers can describe the
Sinners accurately.
Some vivid,
descriptive words or
drawings are used to
describe your inferno.
The sinners are
named and described.
Most readers would
have some idea of
what the sinners
looked like.
It is fairly easy for
the reader to
understand the crime
the sinners
committed.
The reader can figure
out a few details but
the author didn't
supply much detail.
The sinners are
named. The reader
knows very little
about the sinners.
The reader has
trouble figuring what
the layout is and
there is no visuals
It is hard to tell who
the sinners are.
It is fairly easy for
the reader to
understand the crime
the sinners
committed but it is
not clear how
The punishment to
the crime is a little
hard to understand.
It is not clear what
the crime is that the
sinners committed.
There is not enough
guards, and it is
unclear why the
guard was chosen.
It is no guard
The structure is a
little hard to follow.
The transitions are
sometimes not clear.
Ideas and scenes
seem to be randomly
arranged.
The structure
contains a few
creative details
and/or descriptions,
but they distract from
the purpose. The
author has tried to
use his/her
imagination.
There is little
evidence of creativity
in the structure. The
author does not seem
to have used much
imagination.
Problem/Conflict :
Crime
It is very easy for the
reader to understand the
crime the sinners
committed.
Solution/Resolution:
Punishment
The punishment is easy
to understand, creative,
symbolic and is logical.
There are no loose ends.
Guard/Guide
There is an appropriate
guard and it is always
clear why the guard was
chosen.
Organization
The structure is very
well organized. One idea
or scene follows another
in a logical sequence
with clear transitions.
Creativity
The structure contains
many creative details
and/or descriptions that
contribute to the reader's
enjoyment. The author
has really used his/her
imagination. The layout
shows evidence of
student thinking and
creativity. A creative
approach to crime and
punishment.
The punishment to
the crime is easy to
understand, creative,
symbolic and is
somewhat logical.
There is an in
appropriate guard but
it is always clear why
the guard was
chosen.
The structure is pretty
well organized. One
idea or scene may
seem out of place.
Clear transitions are
used.
The structure
contains a few
creative details
and/or descriptions
that contribute to the
reader's enjoyment.
The author has used
his/her imagination.
Layout shows some
evidence of student
thinking and
creativity. Some
creative
Journey: your visual
Guide: who will accompany you alongside your journey; explain the reason why you chose this person.
Crime: what are the sinners guilty of, use a sinner to show an example of the sin for the audiences benefit?
Punishment: what is the punishment for the crime; use creative details, symbolic monsters or meanings.
Overseer: who guards over (or tortures) the sinners and how do they relate to the crime committed?
Analysis: explain how the punishment fits the crime
No punishment is
attempted or it is
impossible to
understand.