Name: Fatima Saleem

Roll number: F2020119118

Instructor Name: Wasim Haider

Course: History of English Literature

Course code: LR101

Section: A

Date: April 12, 2021.

Quiz No. 1

Question:

To what extent and in what ways may the Renaissance be regarded as a turning point in

the Western intellectual and cultural tradition?

Renaissance literature is from one of the remarkable literatures from history.  “Renaissance” means
“rebirth” in the French language. Renaissance literature is basically the revival of the old roman cultures
and classical Greeks. The renaissance came after the dark ages, which was a depressed time in history.
The renaissance brought about changes in everything in Society including schooling and the arts. Some
of the most notable philosophers and scientists were also born during this period who helped shape the
modern world. Renaissance period is also the birth of famous writers of history like William
Shakespeare, Sir Thomas More, Desiderius Erasmus, and many more. Michelangelo and Leonardo da
Vinci were two famous Renaissance artists Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci who was a
Renaissance artist. Renaissance Literature themes are individualism, faith in reason, education and
antiquity.

The Renaissance changed the world in just about every way one could think of. It had a kind of snowball
effect: each new intellectual advance paved the way for further advancements. The Renaissance is
perhaps one of the greatest turning points in all history, and even more so in Europe. It was a comeback
of classical culture and ideas, a relaxed life where people could think and create marvelous art. It was a
time when people did not regress as they were not overtaken by barbarians or any other culture.
Because classical culture was found again, that meant that the sciences, types of government, art, and
vast portions of literature were found, creating more intelligent individuals who were more apt to
question and discover. The Renaissance was also key, as it was when humanism started. Humanism, the
concept people are worth studying, they are worth something to society, and each one is unique and
different, means that the value of humans went up. When people began to study others, it resulted in
more stable societies with better governments, and far better conditions. It would almost be easier to
say how the Renaissance wasn't a turning point, because civilization changed as a whole.

The Renaissance may be regarded as a turning point in Western intellectual and cultural tradition
through its science, philosophy, art, and social behavior and manners. The Renaissance provided a spirit
of experimentation, curiosity and objectivity in science, which set the template for current research
efforts today. Second, the Renaissance gave birth to new and more modern forms of art and artists.

It was a rehabilitation of classical learning and a rediscovery of ancient Rome and Greece.  Renaissance
artists and scholars looked back to this Classical past.  They deliberately rejected the scholarship and
religious thought of the middle Ages.  For them, the Middle Ages were a Dark Age.  Nothing original and
creative had happened since the fall of Rome.  They sought to imitate the art of Classical Greece with its
realistic depiction of the human form.  They thought that the classical Latin written by Vergil, Cicero, or
Julius Caesar was much superior to the Church Latin spoken during their own time. The Roman Catholic
Church became less influential in the daily lives of people and man became more secular. These are just
some of the elements that show how the Renaissance was the cornerstone of today’s modern Western
world. They wanted to purify Latin of its medieval corruptions.  In the process of doing so, ironically,
they helped to destroy the living Latin of the Middle Ages and turned it into the dead language which it
is today.

The Renaissance was a rebirth of the human spirit, a rebirth of creativity.  While taking the classical past
as its model, the Renaissance was one of the most creative periods in human history, comparable only
to the Golden Age of Hellenic Athens in the fifth century before Christ. The Renaissance changed the
world. You might even say it created all of what we now know as modern life. The extent in which the
Renaissance might be regarded as a turning point in Western tradition is the substructure of the
Western world today. The modern ideas of science, politics, art, and social behavior were molded out of
the complex speculations of the Renaissance. By embracing the curiosity of the scientists and exploring
human anatomy and the natural world, Europe would never have discovered America or medicines to
one deadly disease. The Renaissance was a critical turning point in intellectual and cultural society of
the Western tradition.