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Grade Level: 11 Subject: English Topic: The Renaissance

Welcome to the Renaissance Page! The Renaissance is an age rich in both history and literature. It was a time of exploration, expansion, discovery, and creativity.

1. View the Renaissance PowerPoint and complete the exercises that follow.

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2. King Henry VIII is often remembered for two things: his six wives and changes in the church. View the following to videos about Henry and his wives. (Please overlook the typing errors!)

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This is another perspective of Henry and his wives from Horrible Histories.

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3. Go to the following link and use the tree about the wives of Henry VIII.

[|The Wives of Henry VIII Interactive Page] Answer the following questions about Henry's wives and children: a. Which wife bore him a son? What happened to her? b. Henry was deceived by a picture of which wife? c. With which wife did he have six children, but only one survived? d. Name Henry VIII's three heirs who were named to succeed him to the throne?

4. Listen to the podcast episode 4 "The Court Life of Henry VIII" from Heather Teysko's Renaissance English History Podcast series. Take notes that will be used in a later research project.

[|Episode 4: "The Court Life of Henry VIII"]

Music from the Renaissance
Many of the instruments that were used during the Renaissance and still used today; however, they also had some very unusual instruments that can be seen and heard at Renaissance Faires.

5. Go to the following site and click on the various instruments to see what they look like and to hear their sounds:

[|Renaissance Instruments]

6. Identify the instruments below:

The pictures are public domain pictures.

7. Answer the following questions about figurative language after reading the indicated selections.

Figurative language, also referred to as figures of speech, goes beyond the literal meaning of words. Examples of figures of speech include similes, metaphors, personification, and, allegory.

Below you will find the definition of different figures of speech and questions about some of the Renaissance selections. Answer the questions for each example.

a. A simile compares two objects or ideas directly, using "like" or "as."

Reread Edmund Spenser's Sonnet 30 from //Amoretti, page 218//. Explain the following simile: "My love is like to ice, and I to fire."

b. A metaphor is an implied comparison that identifies one object with another without using "like" or "as." Reread William Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, page 226, and Sonnet 116, page 228.

In Sonnet 73, what four metaphors does the speaker use to describe himself? What contrast is implied between the speaker and his beloved?

c, Personification is giving animals or inanimate objects human characteristics.

What metaphors does Sonnet 116 use to describe the steadiness of love? How is time personified in this poem?

d. An allegory is a story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts. Reread Edmund Spenser's "The Fowle Duessa" from //The Faerie Queene, page 222.

What does Duessa represent? Why does Spenser create such a hideous picture of Duessa?//

8. Themes in Renaissance Poetry

Choose ONE of the following to use for a short essay.

a. One of the major concerns of the Renaissance writers was the rapid passage of time. Discuss how this theme is treated in the lyrics of the Elizabethan and Cavalier poets and in the poems of Marvell and Donne.

b. Consider John Milton's comment in //Paradise Lost// about the mind" "The mind is its own place, and itself/Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." In an essay, explain this idea within the context of //Paradise Lost// and as it relates to your own experience and understanding.

9. from John Donne's // Meditation 17, page 251 // Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, Morieris. [Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.]

Listen to the recording of "No Man Is an Island" and Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock." Think about the message of both songs as well as the message in John Donne's essay "Meditation 17." Complete the writing assignment below. Developing Writing Skills Narrating an Autobiographical Incident. Donne contends that no one lives in isolation, that “No man is an island.” In the Simon and Garfunkel song “I Am a Rock,” the opposite viewpoint is taken. Write an essay in which you describe a personal experience that illustrates or refutes John Donne’s theme that no one lives in isolation. Your essay must be written in final draft form: unlined paper, one-inch margins, dark blue or black ink if handwritten, 12-point font (Arial, New Times Roman, Times) if composed on a computer, and double-spaced.

This is a personal narrative so your composition must contain a story from your personal experience that illustrates either that no person is an island or that each person is alone.

Blog Question
Which poem's message in Collection 3: Love, Death, and Time, pages 214-265 do you think is still applicable in today's society? Explain how it still applies today.

My references for this section include the books listed at the end of my PowerPoint as well as the websites listed throughout the assignment.