Focuses on the 3 sonnets

1. The English
Renaissance
(Unit 2)
1485-1650

2. The Coming of the Renaissance
 The Renaissance was a flowering of
literary, artistic and intellectual
development that began in Italy in the
fourteenth century.
 Renaissance means “Rebirth”/ “Revival”

3. What started the Renaissance
 Religious devotion of the Middle Ages gave way
to interest in the human being’s place on this
earth
 Universities introduced a new curriculum.
– Humanities: including history, geography, poetry, and
languages
 Invention of printing made books more available
 More writers began using the vernacular

4. Figures of the Renaissance
 Mostly Italians
 Petrarch, Spenser, Shakespeare (poets)
 Leonardo Da Vinci, a painter, sculptor, architect,
and scientist

5. Renaissance Man
 Da Vinci typifies a Renaissance man—a
person of broad education and interests
whose curiosity knew no bounds.
• A person who encompassed a wide range of
interests and abilities.
– Modern Renaissance Man= Jay-Z

6. The Protestant Reformation:
Questioning the Catholic Church
 Many followers began to question the authority of the
church.
 Power/Wealth of Catholic Church led to corruption.
 German Monk (Martin Luther) wrote 95 arguments
against the hypocrisy and nailed it to the door of the
church.
 Luther wanted the church to reform itself BUT protesters
went further splitting off from Rome into Protestant
churches.

7. Henry VIII’s Reign
 Pope refused Henry VIII an annulment so
he broke with Rome in 1534 and declared
himself head of the Church of England.
 His son Edward VI took over.
– During his reign a group of radical Protestants
believed the church needed even further reform
and sought to “purify” it of all Roman
practices. (Puritans)

8. Bloody Mary
 Mary, Edward’s half sister; a Catholic took the
throne.
 Mary restored Catholic practices to avenge her
mother.
 Mary persecuted Protestants: she ordered the
execution of some 200 Protestants during her
reign, strengthening anti-Catholic sentiment in
England.
– This earned her the nickname Bloody Mary

9. Elizabeth I
 After Mary’s five year reign, her half-
sister, Elizabeth came to the throne.
 Elizabeth was the last of the Tudors. (She
died unmarried and childless)
 Exercised authority but remained sensitive
to the public’s opinion.
 Steered a middle course in religion.
– Reestablished Church of England and used as
a buffer between Catholics/Puritans.

10. Compare/Contrast the Churches
Roman Catholic Church of England Puritans
Strong Church Hierarchy =King/Queen Less Hierarchy
Hierarchy-Pope of England
“Smells & -Focused on faith Plain Services
Bells”=Elaborate Mass
Transubstantiation is Says it is the Body of Symbol & Reminder
literal Christ but just remember
it; not the host

11. Elizabethan Poetry
 Perfected the sonnet and experimented
with other poetic forms
 Philip Sidney wrote the first Elizabethan
sonnet cycle (a series of sonnets that fit
together as a story)—Astrophel and Stella
 Edmund Spenser wrote a long epic, The
Faerie Queen, in complex nine-line units
now called Spenserian stanzas

12. Spenserian Sonnet
 A variation on the English sonnet
 Consists of three four-line units called
quatrains, followed by two rhymed lines
called a couplet.
 Each quatrain addresses the poem’s main
idea, thought, or question, and the couplet
provides an answer or summation.

13. Rhyme Scheme
 (abab bcbc cdcd ee)
– Links the 3 quatrains
 What makes your heart ache?
 Think-Pair-Share all the things that can
cause a heartache in a loving relationship.

14. Sonnets
 Means “Little Song” in Italian
 14 line lyric poem with a complicated
rhyme scheme and a very defined
structure.
 The rigid form challenges poets.
 Perfect poem to use to express emotion,
especially love.

15. Francesco Petrarch
 Composed over 300 poems to a woman in
which he never had a relationship with.
– Love at first sight in church.
– Identified her as Laura
 Wrote in vernacular, which closely
reflected the way people actually spoke
 Composed The Canzoniere, a collection of
366 poems, most of them were sonnets
about Laura.

16. Petrarch Themes
 Most of Petrarch’s themes were
– Unrequited love
– Desperate love
– Eternal love
– Tragic love

17. Petrarchan Form
 14 lines divided into two distinct paths
 The octave
– First 8 lines
– Introduces a situation, presents a problem, or
raises a question.
– Rhyme Scheme: abbaabba

18. Petrarchan Form
 The sestet
– The last 6 lines
– Where the speaker comments on or resolves
the problem or question. Its rhyme scheme is
usually cdcdcd or cdecde
 Metaphor
– Makes a comparison between two unlike
things
– Does not use the word like or as.
– Makes the sonnet so emotionally powerful.

19. William Shakespeare
 Shakespeare changed the pattern and rhyme
scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet, creating the
English, or Shakespearean, sonnet
 “Master of the English sonnet”
 Sonnets broke conventions of his time:
– More complex
– Less predictable
– Addressed death, change, etc… Not just love

20. The Shakespearean Sonnet
• Includes 3 quatrains & a couplet
• Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
• Compare to Spenserian
• A turn, or shift in thought
• (in the 3rd quatrain or couplet)
• Uses lots of Imagery

21. Prewrite
 Can LOVERS see CLEARLY?
 According to an old saying “Love is blind”
but is this true? Love can cloud one’s
perceptions of a lover, but usually those
clouds drift away over time. Is it possible
to see a person’s faults clearly and still
love him or her?

22. On a piece of paper….
 Work with PARTNER, list several
fictional lovers from movies, books, TV,
etc. For each couple answer the question
“Did they see each other clearly?” Discuss
the reasons for your answers. What
conclusions can you draw about the way
love is portrayed in fiction?

23. EXAMPLE
Fictional Couple Did they see each other clearly?
Why or Why not?
Edward & Bella Yes, they both accept one another for
(Twilight) who they are.
Ted & Robin No. They both want different things
(How I met your mother) which leads them to see one another’s
flaws. They are not meant to be if they
can’t accept one another and agree to
have the same needs and wants out of
life.