1. Renaissance

3. “rebirth” country of origin=Italy
renewed interest in ancient Greek/Roman civilization
turning away from Medieval focus on God to focus on man and his intellectual abilities

4. Exploration & Discovery
In addition to exploring art, the Renaissance era was a time of territorial exploration and discovery. Knowledge was expanding in the areas of science, geography, transportation, building, etc.
Results of this exploration:
*learning about other cultures
*trading with others
*economic & political links with others

5. Elizabethan tastes and attitudes
Art and Literature old+new
OLD = “rebirth” classics
NEW = humanism philosophy
*elaborate patterns
*complicated ornamentation & design
in LITERATURE . . .
verbal patterns for ear and eye
Artifice = word of praise, positive extension of the root word ART
Emphasis was on the human skill, ingenuity, ability to improve on the natural world.

6. Humanism Philosophy Root word= human
Belief=we should celebrate and emphasize human abilities and achievements
VERY elaborate patterns, designs, decorations, embellishments etc. (Today’s BLING!)
IN EVERYTHING: literature, wallpaper, song/music, lace, art, gardens, clothing, architecture

7. Elizabethan chain of being
*named for Queen Elizabeth
*complicated system of ranking for everything
*high end=all SPIRIT, no MATTER
*low end=all MATTER, no SPIRIT
*Man has a choice--Be more spiritual, more angel-like, or less spiritual, more inanimate.

8. Renaissance literature
Drama
highly popular
all social classes attended plays
rich in balcony
poor on ground for penny (“groundlings”)
long performances
no artificial lighting or complicated stage decorations
actors only
theatres closed often because of disease
Shakespeare’s theatre called The Globe

9. Renaissance literature
Sonnet--in Italian sonneto = “little song”
*three types: Italian (Petrarchan)
English (Shakespearean)
Spenserian
*requirements: 14 lines
10 syllables per line
5 accented syllables per line (rhythm pattern)
rhyme scheme (pattern of rhyme)
two parts separated by a volta (“turn”)

10. Reading Renaissance sonnets
read it more than once
pay attention to the defined words
look for use of figurative language
paraphrase a quatrain at a time
(or other line grouping as appropriate)
locate the volta
--change in rhyme scheme
--strong mark of punctuation
--shift in meaning
state the theme/overall idea in one sentence

11. Prose vs. Poetry Line breaks for a reason Condensed language patterns
rhyme
rhythm
line length
stanza
spacing
Condensed language
LOTS of meaning in a little space
HOW?
FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE

12. Figurative Language Simile Metaphor Symbol Allusion
Personification
Comparison-- using as, like, than
Comparison- not using above
One thing represents something else
Reference to earlier work reader is expected to recognize
Greek Roman mythology, Bible, folk tales
Giving human characteristics to non-human things