Unit 6 The Renaissance and Rationalism

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Unit 6The Renaissance and Rationalism

• Rebirth and Exploration
• 1300-1800

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From The Godly Feast/ by Erasmus

• Of course Sacred Scripture is the basic
  authority in everything yet I sometimes run
  across ancient sayings or pagan writings-even the
  poets-so purely and reverently expressed, and so
  inspired, that I cant help believing their
  authors hearts were moved by some divine power.

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KWL

• What do you know about the Renaissance period?
• What do you want to know about the Renaissance
  period?
• What have you learned about the renaissance
  period?

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Historical Background

• The Renaissance, which means rebirth, is a
  period that saw many changes and innovations.
  Among them were the rediscovery of
• Classical art and literature
• The exploration of regions of the globe that were
  previously unknown in Europe
• The discovery that the earth revolves around the
  sun
• An upsurge in trade and invention

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Historical Background

• The rebirth lasted in Italy from the early 1300s
  until 1550, and gradually extended its influence
  northward.
• In England, it lasted from 1485 to 1625.

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Cultural Movements of the Renaissance

• Humanism advocated a return to classical
  studies and ideals. It began in Italy in 14th
  century with the first famous writers were
  Petrarch and Boccaccio.
• The humanist viewed the classics as a source of
  moral and practical wisdom.
• The humanist movement influenced great Italian
  artists Michelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci.

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Cultural Movements of the Renaissance

• Age of Rationalism or enlightenment spanned the
  seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
• Reason was accepted as the greatest authority in
  art, thought, and politics.
• Philosophers challenged folk wisdom, attempting
  to replace traditional lore with formal laws
  based on the analysis of natural phenomena.
• There was a renewed focus on nature throughout
  society, and encouraged curiosity in the sciences.

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Cultural Movements in the Renaissance

• Industrial Revolution people employed reason
  not only to advance theory but also to regulate
  and enhance their daily existence.
• Improvement of the steam engine lead to
  industrial production
• Inventions such as the syringe, air pump, mercury
  thermometer, mainspring clock, and cotton gin
  provided effective new ways of solving problems.

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Literature of the Renaissance

• Literature was a branch of rhetoric, the art of
  spoken language for teaching, giving pleasure and
  persuading.
• During the Renaissance period, there were a lot
  of elaborate speeches written.
• The literature also was used as a form to
  persuade readers to do good. It was used to
  train the will by increasing mans horror of evil
  and by strengthening his resolve to act well.

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Literature of the Renaissance

• The Machiavellian concept(crafty and deceitful)
  emerged based on Machiavellis book The Prince in
  which readers were taught that Rulers were saved
  not by their goodness, but by their strength,
  cunning, and ability.
• Many works moved from being written in the formal
  language of Latin, to the vernacular, or native
  language. Works appeared in French, Italian and
  Spanish.

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Literature of the Renaissance

• Many of the works from this time period were
  modeled after old forms, to create new meaning.
• Petrarch noted, we must write just as the bees
  make honey, not keeping the flowers (works of the
  other writers) but turning them into a sweetness
  all our own, blending many different flavors into
  one, which shall be unlike them all, and better.

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Literature of the Renaissance

• Invention also impacted the literature of the
  period. The creation of movable type by
  Gutenberg allowed for the widespread distribution
  of the Bible.
• Newspapers began to grow in popularity which led
  to the creation of Public Opinion.

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Literature of the Renaissance

• Some of the famous works of this time period
• Italian or Petrarchan Sonnets
• Shakespearean Sonnets
• Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote

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Unit 6 Literary Focus Sonnets

• Sonnet a fourteen-line lyric poem that is
  written in iambic pentameter.
• Types of Sonnets There are two major types of
  sonnets. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet is
  named after the Italian poet Petrarch. The
  English or Shakespearean sonnet is named after
  William Shakespeare. The main difference between
  the two is the rhyme scheme.

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Characteristics of Sonnets

• Common Themes love, lost love, and the
  admiration of a fair-haired beauty are a few of
  the more common themes in early sonnets.
• Examples
• Love is in all the water, earth, and air,/And
  love possesses every living thing.-from Spring
  by Petrarch.
• Love is not love/Which alters when it alteration
  finds..-from Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare

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Characteristics of SonnetsLiterary Devices

• Alliteration the repetition of initial
  consonant sounds. Ex. For the wind to toy and
  tangle
• Consonance the repetition of final consonant
  sounds in stressed syllables containing
  dissimilar vowel sounds. Ex. Let me not to the
  marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments

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Literary Devices Continued

• Personification giving human characteristics to
  nonhuman subjects. Ex. The rose/ in her
  beautiful youth
• Simile using the words like or as to compare
  two dissimilar things. Ex. in loves soft
  bands,/ Like captives trembling at the victors
  sight

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Literary Devices Continued

• Metaphor speaking of a subject as though it
  were something else as a way to compare and
  contrast two dissimilar things. Ex. The sky
  folds its wings over you, / Lifting you
• Conceit a startling and often elaborate
  comparison between two apparently different
  things. Often, this extended metaphor forms the
  controlling idea of the entire sonnet. Ex. For
  her who carried in her little hand/ my hearts
  key to her heavenly sojourn

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Sonnets continued

• Sonnet Sequences a series of sonnets that allow
  the poet to trace the development of a
  relationship or examine different aspects of a
  single theme.
• Petrarch wrote a series of sonnets to a lifelong
  love named Laura.
• Shakespeares 154 sonnets are the most famous
  sonnet sequence in the English language.

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Petrarchan Sonnet

• The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet consists of an
  octave (eight-line stanza) and a sestet (six-line
  stanza).
• The octave rhyme scheme is usually abba abba.
• The sestet has the rhyme scheme of cdecde, or
  cdedce, or cdcdcd.
• The octave states a theme or asks a questions
  that the sestet answers or resolves.

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English or Shakespearean Sonnet

• Consists of three quatrains (four-line stanzas)
  and a final couplet (two lines).
• The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.
• Each of the three quatrains explores a different
  aspect of the poems subject.
• The couplet presents a concluding comment.