City College of Calamba

Department of Teacher Education

WLIT201- World Literature

Week 5
Bachelor of Elementary Education
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

THE RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION LITERATURE

“Good design is a Renaissance attitude that combines technology,

cognitive science, human need and beauty to produce something”
- Paolo Antonelli
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson the students
should be able to:
a. Recognize important historical events
that helped shaped the time period.

b. Analyze a Renaissance sonnet using.

c. Evaluate the worth of a literary piece

using the classical view.
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

RENAISSANCE PERIOD (1485-1660)

 The Renaissance which means
“Rebirth”
(ri-again, nascere-be born) is a cultural
movement from the 14th century to the
17 th century beginning in Florence, Italy
from the Late Middle Ages and later
spreading to Europe.
 The Renaissance started in Italy in the
1300s and ended by 1550. It then
extended to northern England from
1485-1565.
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Department of Teacher Education

RENAISSANCE: A PERIOD OF REDISCOVERY

 Florence is considered as the birthplace
of the Renaissance. It is one of the
known fiefs and city States.

 Wealthy bankers and merchants

sought prestige and status through
their patronage of Literature and other
forms of arts.

 It is said that the intellectual

transformation that happened during
the period paved the way to the
Modern Era.
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

RENAISSANCE: A PERIOD OF REDISCOVERY

As a cultural movement, it involves
the rediscovery and rebirth of the
following:
 Classical Art and Literature
 Return to Humanism: As a
source of moral pratical ideals
and wisdom
 The exploration of the regions of
the world unknown in Europe.
 An upsurge of trades and
invention
 Gradual development of
education
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Department of Teacher Education

The Rebirth: A background

 In Florence, access of scholars to
classical texts proliferated the
growth of the movement.
 Proactive participation in
economic activities such as
trading made the dissimenation
and exchange of ideas.
 The growth of Humanistas-
teachers of the humanities
involve in the teaching
humanistic arts helped
propagate the development of
the period.
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE

 Humanism is a world view that celebrated human and

rationality- mankind’s ability to make and act upon empirical
observations of the physical world.
 Humanists scholars and artists recovered classical Greek and
Roman texts and aspired to create a modern world rivalling that
of the ancient times.
 Reason was accepted as the greatest authority, in art thought
and politics.
 There was a renewed focus on nature throughout society and the
raising of curiosity towards science and innovations.
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Department of Teacher Education

Literature in the Renaissance Period

 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 man’s horror
of evil and by strengthening his
resolve to act well.
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

Renaissance Literature
• The Machiavellian concept(crafty
and deceitful) emerged based on
Machiavelli’s 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.
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

Renaissance Literature
• 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”.
• 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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Department of Teacher Education

Literature in the Renaissance Period

 Some of the famous works of this time period: Italian or Petrarchan

Sonnets, Shakespearean Sonnets, Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote
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Department of Teacher Education

Literature 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.
• Common Themes: love, lost love, and
the admiration of a fair-haired beauty
are a few of the more common themes in
early sonnets.
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SONNET: Literary Devices

• Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
• Consonance: the repetition of final consonant sounds in stressed syllables
containing dissimilar vowel sounds.
• Personification: giving human characteristics to nonhuman subjects.
• Simile: using the words like or as to compare two dissimilar things.
• Metaphor: speaking of a subject as though it were something else as a way to
compare and contrast two dissimilar things.
• 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.
• Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets are the most famous sonnet sequence in the English
language.
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Department of Teacher Education

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SONNETS: Literary Devices

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A SONNETS: Literary Devices

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A SONNETS: Literary Devices

• Although Petrarch is accredited with perfection of the sonnet, Shakespeare still made
changes in sonnet form and composition 200 years after Petrarch's death.
• While Petrarch’s sonnets focused mainly on one hub, Shakespeare developed many
subjects within his themes such as insomnia, slave of love, blame, dishonesty, and
sickness.
• Despite creating complicated plots, Shakespeare also manages to place ulterior motifs
among his two lovers, building new poetic form where Petrarch left off.
• Petrarch’s sonnets were dedicated solely to Laura. She is thought to be an imaginary figure
and a play on the name Laurel, the leaves with which Petrarch was honored for being the
poet laureate and the very same honor he longed for in his sonnets as a “Laurel Wreath”.
• The Focus of love within Petrarch’s sonnets contains a unique contrast with
Shakespeare’s. Petrarch wrote his poems to a beloved from afar. His interactions were
based only on his viewing Laura; his love for her was purely invented. Shakespeare on the
other hand shared a reciprocal love with both his lovers; the objects of his love were
“articulate, active partners.”
 City College of Calamba
Department of Teacher Education

End of Week 5