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Document-Based Activities
The Renaissance

Document-Based Essay Part A

DIRECTIONS Examine the following texts and pictures. Underline key words and make notes in the margin if you wish. Then use the documents and what you have learned in your studies to answer the questions. Your answers will help you write an essay about the Renaissance. Document 1 Before You Read: The following words in the document below may be new to you: regal, courtly, appropriately, dread, inglorious, scorns, antiquity, delusion. You

may want to look them up in a dictionary. On the coming of evening, I return to my house and enter my study; I take off the days clothing, covered with mud and dust, and put on garments regal and courtly; ... I enter the ancient courts of ancient men ) where, received by them with affection,. I feed on that food which ... I was born for, where I am not ashamed to speak with them and to ask them, the reason for their actions;.... for four hours of time I do not feel boredom, I forget every trouble, I do not dread poverty, I am not frightened by death; entirely I give myself over to them. Niccolo Machiavelli, 1513 O inglorious age! that scorns antiquity, its mother, to whom it owes every noble art. ... What can be said in defense of men of education who ought not to be ignorant of antiquity and yet are plunged in darkness and delusion? . Francesco Petrarch, 1366 1 a. According to Petrarch, why were some educated people living in darkness?

1 b. In what ways do both these letters reflect Renaissance values?

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2a, What scientific instrument is shown in the picture?

2b. Explain how Galileos instrument and studies of the skies contributed to the

success of Europeans during the Age of Exploration?

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Name Activity 5, The Renaissance, continued

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Document 3 Before You Read: The following words in the document below may be new to you: illustrious, emboldened, excellency, besieged, founded, armoured, unassailable, serried, ordnance. You may want to look them up in a dictionary.

Most illustrious Lord.... I am emboldened without prejudice to any one else to put myself in communication with your excellency, in order to acquaint you with my secret... 1. I have plans for bridges, very light and strong and suitable for carrying very easily, ... And plans for burning and destroying those of the enemy. 2., When a place is besieged I know how to cut off water from the trenches 3. I have plans for destroying every fortress or other stronghold unless it has been founded upon rock. 5. I have also plans for making cannon, very convenient and easy of transport, with which to hurl small stones in a manner almost of hail 7. Also I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the serried ranks of the enemy 8. I can make cannon,, mortars, and light ordnance, of very beautiful and useful shapes, quite different from those in common use. 9. In short, as the variety of circumstances shall necessitate, I can supply an infinite number of different engines of attack and defence. 10.And if it should happen that the engagement was at sea,I have plans for constructing many engines ... and ships which can resist the fire of all the heaviest can
from The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.

Published by Reynal & Hitchcock, 1945. 3a. What kind of services is Leonardo da Vinci offering in this letter? -

3b. What does this -letter tell us about the spread of new ideas and inventions during the Renaissance?

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Leonardo da Vinci, "Sketch of a Flying Machine"

4a. What modern machine is modeled after this sketch?

4b. What are some ways this machine is used today?

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Activity 5, The Renaissance, continued

Document 5 Before You Read: The following words in the document below may be new to you: monumental, victorious, superhuman. You may want to look them up in a dictionary.

The unique qualities of Michelangelos art are fully present in the David, the earliest monumental statue of the High Renaissance. Michelangelos David looks challengingnot a victorious hero but the champion of a just cause. Michelangelo had just spent several years in Rome, where he had been deeply impressed with the emotion-charged, muscular bodies of Hellenistic (Greek) sculpture ... The heroic scale; their superhuman beauty and power, and the swelling volume of their forms became part of Michelangelos own style and, through him, of Renaissance art in general. from History of Art. A Survey of the Major Visual Arts
from the Dawn of History to the Present Day

by H. W. Janson. Copyright ' 1962 by H. W Janson. Reproduced by permission of Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 5a, Which sculptures did Michelangelo study and use in his own work?

5b. Based on the information in this passage, what were some characteristics of Renaissance sculptures-?

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vity 5, The Renaissance, continuedD

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7a. In designing the church of San Lorenzo, the architect Brunelleschi used round arches and columns. How can you tell that Brunelleschi used mathematical ratios, perspective, and balanced proportion in his design?

7b. In what ways does the churchs design reflect the Renaissance values of harmony, classical Greek and Roman balance, and simple beauty?

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8a. In what European city was the first book printed?

8b.. In what ways was the spread of printing tied to the spread of ideas and

knowledge?

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CAdIVI4I 5, The Renaissance, continued D

Writing A Document-Based Essay Part B
DIRECTIONS Write an essay about the Renaissance. Include an introduction, a body of several paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Using at least four of the sources in Part A, provide facts and details that support your response. You may draw on any additional knowledge you have acquired about the subject. HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In the early 1300s, a movement known as the Renaissance began in Italy and spread throughout Europe. It was a time of discovery, invention, and renewal. The Renaissance changed the way Europeans saw themselves and their world.
TASK

Discuss two Renaissance values or ideas that are reflected in the art produced during that period.
GUIDELINES

Provide a thorough response to the Task. Be sure to cover all parts of the assignment. Use at least four of the sources in Part A and include specific information from them in your essay. Take advantage of relevant information you remember from your textbook and class work. Organize your essay in a clear and logical way. Support your statements with facts and information that address the topic. Write a conclusion that sums up your ideas,
NOTE:

Do not simply restate the Task or Historical Context. Your essay should include much more information.

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