Art: Craig Lane
English: Alissa Vovakes
Spanish: Diana Baldwin
Social Science: Arthur Schmidt
Contents: Introduction
Culminating Activity
Introduction to Subject Area
Unit Calendars
Lesson Plans
We have chosen the Renaissance for our Thematic Unit because we believe it represents a critical moment in human history. The ideas that were forged in the Renaissance and the events that took place represent the underpinning of the world we have created today. The Renaissance recreated classic Greece and Rome and set the foundation of the so-called Western Culture.
Renaissance is a French word that means rebirth. It is defined as an artistic movement that flourished in Italy and extended to the rest of Europe mainly in the 15th century. Its ideological foundation is humanism. Humanists were scholars who dedicated their study to Roman and Greek culture. They sought the ideal of human perfection in the arts, in literature, in politics and in religion. This ideal of harmony based on unity, purity and perfection will be instrumental in shaping the minds of modern man.
The Renaissance represents also the fundamental transition from the Middle Age into the Modern Age. The complex problem at the heart of the cultural history of medieval Europe was how the 3 great monotheistic religions: Christianism, Islam and Judaism struggled to define what they were and what they might become. The European kingdoms did not choose the paths of tolerance. They chose instead to go down the modern path, defined in the spirit of the humanist of the Renaissance by an ethic of unity and harmony, and which is largely intolerant of contradiction. The consequence was the rise of single language and single religion nations, a transformation that conventionally stands at the beginning of the modern period and leads quite directly to our own era.
At the same time a series of factors and causes merged together propelling the Renaissance man into a new world: The geographical situation of Spain and Portugal along with the Atlantic winds; the technological discoveries; and the culture of exploration and adventure inherited from the late-medieval Western Christendom.
In a world centered in technology it might seem irrelevant to dedicate a Thematic Unit to the Renaissance. However, underlying our sophisticated technological advances are the same struggles: the three monotheistic religions are still incapable of living together. The events of Sarajevo, the perpetual war in the Middle East and finally the terrorist attack of September 11 prove unequivocally that history is alive and cyclical.
At the same time the idea of perfection recreated in the Renaissance is still very much part of our collective unconscious. It is perhaps one of the most limiting aspects of Western civilization, because it never happens. Human nature never advances. We are trapped in the illusion of progress, because every new solution generates its own problems. The negatives effects of the so-called progress are evident. For example, industrialization in the 19th was nasty, brutish and quick. Many cities and urban centers turned into incubators of filth, violence and sickness. Later, the discovery of new energy sources has always multiplied pollution.
Also the Renaissance idea of harmony based on perfection, unity and purity led to quite directly to the ideologies of nationalism and racism. The ideas of racial purity developed in the in 15th and 16th century positioning white skin at the top of the purity pyramid, took yet a step further in the 19th and 20th century by adding to the ideology a scientific basis. This problem of racial purity is alive. As individuals we must examine our own prejudices and core beliefs and honestly admit our part in perpetuating the ideology of racism.
Along with the idea of purity and perfection came the concept of fame. Greeks created the idea of individualism. The idea that one individual by its own feats or deeds become the best among its equals. Today many people believe that this idea is also very dangerous because it can destroy the community by creating antisocial individuals who pursue at any cost their own success.
In addition, the tradition inherited directly from Greek of omitting women from the public eye, or the tradition of excluding her of any activity outside of the domestic sphere continues directly throughout history. However, against all odds we will examine in this Thematic Unit some outstanding women who made their way to the top.
Our
main objective is to make the Renaissance a personal and group experience that
will resonant in the mind and the hearts of the students, provoking an internal
dialogue of connections from the past into the present.
For this purpose we will revise and reinterpret the historical, social, scientific, artistic and linguistic aspects of the Renaissance as it reflects present day values and as it speaks to the issues of our own time.
Consequently, it is not our intention to present the Renaissance in a traditional manner as a series of facts of cultural excellence, reinforcing a Eurocentric vision of the world. Our purpose is to make constant connections with the present, engaging students in critical thinking about the events that took place and their impact throughout the ages.
We will look at the Renaissance from the outside as a critical moment in Western History that projects itself into the past Classic Greek and Romeand into the future the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolutionshaping the minds of contemporary people.
· Students will be able to trace the complex causes that led to the rise of Western civilization and its supremacy.
· Students will be able to make direct historical, political, social, scientific, religious, economical and psychological connections from the period of Renaissance into the present.
· Students will gain a better understanding of the limits and limitations of Western civilization.
· Students will be able to identify the features of the Renaissance man that still live today in postmodern people.
· Students will become aware of their own values as they relate to the values of a Renaissance man.
Literacy content:
· Students will gain knowledge in the areas of Art, History, Spanish, English and Physics.
· Students will be able to make connections among the subject areas.
· Students will gain an overall perspective of the impact in the Renaissance in the present world.
· Students will experience group interactions, gaining social skills.
We will be teaching 11th grade students who are towards a higher learning level. Classroom size is about 30 students, and we will each be teaching 5 periods.
Demographics:
14% African American
35% Asian/Pacific Islander
25% Latino
25% Caucasian
1% Other
· Students from each 1st period class will create projects that will act as museum exhibits highlighting each of the specific subject areas.
· Students will work in groups of no more than 3 on their project for the ³museum² (possibilities might include: Elizabethan Theater models from English, Exploration routes and discoveries from Social Studies, Maps of Spain from Spanish, Science projects from Physics, etc).
· In Craigıs art class each student will already have designed and created a mask during his ³Identity and the Individual² section.
· The student groups will work together to layout a ³Museum² area in the gym or commons that will serve as the setting for the Masquerade Ball.
· On the last school day of the unit, all staff and parents will be invited to walk through the museum exhibit to see what our students have learned and created in the past 4 weeks.
· That evening, students will be invited to return in costume (wearing the masks they made in art class) for a Romeo-and-Juliet-style mock Renaissance Masquerade Ball taking place inside the ³Museum.²
Objective:
After learning about the Renaissance in class, students will create their own unique interpretative project that represents what they have learned. The Masquerade Ball will serve as a fun way to celebrate the close of the unit.
Assessment:
· Each group will be required to evaluate at least 3 other projects from different classes.
· Each group must turn in a group paper about the project, answering the questions:
-What did you learn? How did you get along? Who did what? What were the problems, if any? What would you like to change? Would you recommend this project for next yearıs class?
SUBJECT AREAS:
INTRODUCTION, CALENDAR UNITS & LESSON PLANS.
In Visual Arts students will gain an understanding of the artistic developments of Italy between fifteenth and sixteenth century and their relationship to the socio-cultural developments which characterized the Rennaisance in Italy. As students learn about and explore developments of the Rennaisance through art, they will be challenged to make connections between the humanist themes of the High Rennaisance and their resonnance in the culture we now find ourselves living.
Starting in Florence at the beginning of the fifteenth century and spreading throughout Europe, I will illustrate to the students how expression in the arts reflected progressive ideals and national identities which developed as mercantile city-states rose in influence and prosperity out of their Gothic/feudal pasts. The Arts in Florence during the Rennaisance- characterized by their emphasis on naturalism through scientific study of the outside world- reflected a new emphasis on the individual and human reason over the mystical theological purposes which were previously emphasized during the Medieval and Gothic periods.
We will examine the power of religion in Italy during the fifteenth century and the influence it had on the artistic output of the period. Although much of the artistic expression in Italy is characterized by deeply religious scenes, I will attempt to show how many of these works were informed by non-theological humanist themes revived from antiquity of the Roman and Greek empires and merely applied to the Church controlled aesthetic tastes.
Although Italy and the High Rennaisance will be the main focus of the unit, I will also compare and contrast art of the Italian Rennaisance with works of the same period from Asia and Africa in order to provide the students with a broader world perspective of the time period. Armed with this information, students will create their artwork utilizing themes we will be reviving from ³antiquity² (in this case: the Rennaisance) and apply them to modern issues.
During the first week we will examine portraiture and Iconography of the Rennaisance as a way of ³reading² an individualıs identity visually. Students will examine the use of visual metaphor in Rennaisance Iconography and allegorical painting and link these themes to the pageantry and masquerade of Italian society of the cinquecento. Utilizing the principles of identity reading, metaphor, and symbolism students will create a mask or ³alter ego² for themselves, which they will be able to wear to the masquerade ball at the end of the month.
With week two we will begin to look at the principles of western perspective as a construct of the Humanist philosophy (applying reason to the study of the natural world). To gain an understanding of this new form of realism, students will compare and contrast western perspective with Near East and Asian representations. The students will be challenged to see how eastern art was not more naïve; rather it simply employed different rules of representing space. By doing so I hope to show that western perspective is just one way to map reality, not the only way. Students will choose either the eastern or western method, and then create a tryptich shrine adhering to the standards of representation they choose to follow.
Week Three will examine the invention of the printing press and the role it played in catalyzing change in perceptions of individuality (Literature printed as entertainment, Bible translated from Latin to national language, etc.) as well as its contribution to shifts in power during the era. Gutenbergıs invention of the printing press made it possible to reproduce and disseminate news, ideas, and information (on posters called broadsheets) over wider areas. Because Europe of the 16th Century was still a largely illiterate population, these broadsheets had to be printed with accompanying images, which illustrated the main points of the text for those unable to read. Using examples of the Protestant Reformation of 1529 and the subsequent Counter Reformation launched by the Catholic Church as models, students will choose a contemporary issue (war, scientific discovery, environmental concerns, etc.) to create a propaganda poster which incorporates both words and images to depict their stance.
During the final week of the unit, students will get an opportunity to branch out into more abstract ideas of aesthetics and philosophy. We will examine visual and written examples of the artistic theories of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo and compare them with film critic Robin Woodıs analysis of Alfred Hitchcockıs VERTIGO. We will watch the film in class, and the students will have an opportunity to write about their impressions of the film. Students will be asked to either defend or refute whether they consider VERTIGO an adequate metaphor for the Rennaisance artistsı ³Quest for the Ideal.²
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Monday |
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Thursday |
Friday |
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T: Iconography and Portraiture O: Presention on masks and their various uses throughout world history. L: Students will pair up and interview each other about their interests, hobbies, heroes, as well as likes and dislikes. Students will generate an alter ego for themselves. |
T:*Iconography and Portraiture O: Students will experiment with role-play and ³getting into character.² Students will begin designng their masquer-ade mask. L: We will read a paragraph by Art Historian Bernard Berenson as a mental starting point for the activity. |
T:Iconography and Portraiture O: Students will continue working on masquerade masks. Students will see a short presentation on symbolism in Iconography. L: Ideas learned in the visual symbolism pre-sentation will be applied to the creation of their alter ego. |
T: Iconography and Portraiture O: Students will decorate their mask using visual metaphors developed during yester- dayıs class. L: students will discuss the advantages, disadvantages and responsi-bilities of having an alter ego. |
T: Iconography and Portraiture O: Students will finish decorating masks. L: We will watch the masquerade ball scene from Romeo and Juliet. |
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T:*Tryptich Shrines O: Students will compre-hend the differences be-tween western and eastern per- spective. L: Students will write a short story documenting the adventures of their alter ego. |
T: Tryptich Shrines O: In groups of three, students will choose which mode of representation to use with their story. Groups will begin designing and building their tryptich shrine. L: Continued discussion of visual symbol-ism and how to incorporate it into an allegory ptg. |
T: Tryptich Shrines O: Using a variety of media, student groups will depict three scenes from the stories of each of their alter egos on their shrine. L: Students will translate their written words into visual sym-bols and metaphors. |
T: Tryptich Shrines O: Groups will continue working on their allgeorical shrines. L: Students will create a legend for the visual symbols they incorporated and what they represent. |
T: Tryptich Shrines O: Groups will finish their shrine. L: Students will critically examine perspective and its function in mapping reality. |
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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T:Language and power O: Students will learn principles of design and the ways in which text and images can be combined to convey a persuasive message. L: Brain-storming exercise to choose issues they want to address in their propaganda poster. |
T: Language and Power: O: Students will compile images related to their issue. Students will begin writing the text, which either defends or refutes the issue. L: Students will generate a list of pros and cons, which surround the issue they have chosen. |
T: Language and Power O: Students will begin combining text and images onto their broadsheet. L: Students will develop a concise persuasive text to convey their take on the issue. |
T:*Language and Power O: Students will finish assembling their broadsheet. L: Students will see historical examples of propaganda posters and how they were employed to maintain power structures.Class will attempt to find links between language and power. |
T: Language and Power O: Students will post and discuss the broadsheet they have created. L: By creating a propaganda poster, students will gain an understanding of language and its relationship to power. |
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T: *Aesthetics O: Define Rennaisance aesthetics in art. Read Davinciıs notes and the poetry of Michelangelo in class. Veiw slides of artistsı work to illustrate the reading.
L: critically analyze works of art based on rennaisance ideals. |
T: Manıs Quest for the Ideal: Hitchcockıs Vertigo. O: Students will begin viewing Alfred Hitchcockıs VERTIGO (first 47 min.) L: As home-work, students will read the first fourteen pages of Robin Woodıs aesthetic analysis of the film. |
T:*Manıs Quest for the Ideal:Vertigo O: View second 40 minutes of VERTIGO. L: Students will discuss any questions from yestedayıs reading and finish reading the last fourteen pages as homework. |
T: Manıs Quest for the Ideal: Vertigo O: Veiw last 40 minutes of VERTIGO. L: Students will do a ten minute free write based on their impressions of the film, the analysis and theorize the applicability to a modern context. |
T: Museum Day and Masquerade Ball O: Students will guide tours of the Museum and evaluate each otherıs projects. L: Applying their knowledge of the subject as an assessment tool for the other projects. |
LESSON
PLANS:
Day 2: Role Play: Whoıs Line is it Anyway?
Day 6: Comparative Perspective
Day 14: Propaganda and Power
Day 16: Intro to Aesthetics: What the heck are these guys talking about?
Day 18: Ten minute Tally
50 minute period.
Purpose:
To expose students to the liberating possibilities of role playing and to get them excited about creating their alter ego.
Objectives:
Students will perform short improvisational roles.
Students will create an alter ego based on yesterdayıs interview.
Students will begin assembling an alternate identity mask to wear to the masquerade ball at the end of the month.
Materials:
Assortment of plastic masks, which will disguise from nose to forehead (approximately), collected from Halloween stores. Masks will have little or no decoration already on them.
Cloth, beads, paint, construction paper, string, wire, hot glue gun, fake hair, foam padding, etc.
Anticipatory set: (20 minutes)
An open area will be set up in the middle of the room before students arrive. In the same style as the improvisational television program ³Whoıs Line is it Anyway?² I will call three students forward at a time and assign them roles to play for the next 2 minutes. Some characters will be current (pop stars, athletes, movie characters etc.) and some will be hero and villain archetypes (a cowboy, a Roman God with the ability to hurl lightning bolts at will, etc.). I will also assign peculiar traits and situations that will provide silly hinderances to the process. Students will then act out their roles for the next two minutes.
Steps:
1. Anticipatory set (20 minutes)
2. Read a
short section of Bernard Berensonıs Italian
Painters of the Rennaisance:
"It has already been suggested that the Rennaisance was a period in the history of modern Europe comparable to youth in life of the individual. It had all youth's love of finery and play. The more people were imbued with the new spirit, the more they loved pageants. The pageant was an outlet for many of the dominant passions of the time, for there a man could display all the finery he pleased, satisfy his love of antiquity by masquerading as Caesar or Hannibal, his love of knowledge by finding out how the Romans dressed and rode in triumph, his love of glory by the display of wealth and skill in the management of the ceremony, and, above all, his love of feeling himself alive. Solemn writers have not disdained to describe to the minutest details many of the pageants which they witnessed." Followed by short discussion about text and alter egos (10 minutes)
3. Show all possible materials students may use to create a mask of their alter ego.
4. Students begin designing masquerade masks. They may either spend the rest of the period sketching ideas or they may begin working with the materials provided (20 minutes).
Students will discuss the paragraph by Bernard Berenson and identify the possibilities of role play garnered from the improvisation exercise. Students will receive class participation credit.
50 minute period.
Purpose:
Students will have the opportunity to see different ways of representing space. Students will compare and contrast principles of Western perspective with Eastern perspective.
Objectives:
Students will gain a broader understanding of art throughout the world during the cinquecento (fifteenth century).
Students will be able to identify the stylistic characteristics of both Western and Eastern representations of perspective.
Materials:
Powerpoint or slide presentation.
Projector and screen.
Anticipatory Set:
A picture of ³The Annunciation² by Carlo Crivelli (c.1482) and ³The Golden Valley Garden² by Chinese painter Qiu Ying (c.1500) will be projected on the screen when the students enter. They will spend the first five minutes of class writing all of the similarities and differences they see. We will then list those similarities and differences on the board.
Steps:
1. Anticipatory Set (10 minutes)
2. Continue with visual presentation. Show five to seven examples of Eastern and Western depictions of perspective. Show three to five examples of east and west altar pieces (some examples of altar pieces will overlap the discussion of perspective). Discuss terms such as one point perspective, birds eye view, worms eye view, foreshortening, heirarchy, attributes (identifying symbols of the saints), tryptich, etc. (20 minutes)
3. For the remainder of the period, students will write a short story about the life and adventures of their alter ego (30 minutes). If they need more time, they can finish the story at home.
Literacy and Assessment:
Students learn visual symbols used in both eastern and western art. Students will gain an understanding of perspective as a representational construct. Students will participate in class discussion during the presentation.
Day 14: Propaganda and Power
Purpose:
To help students see the connection between literacy and power.
Objectives:
Materials:
Anticipatory Set: (10 minutes)
A broadsheet will be posted at the front of the room when the students walk in. The text will be blocked off so that only the visual images will be visible. Students will be asked to try to determine the meaning of the poster by only ³reading² the visual images.
Steps:
1. Anticipatory Set (10 minutes)
2. In class readings and discussion about the readings (30 minutes)
3. Short answer questionnaire (10 minutes)
Literacy and Assessment:
Day 16: Intro to Aesthetics: What the heck are these
guys talking about?
Purpose:
Introduce students to the idea of aesthetics by allowing them to analyse their own judgements about art.
Objectives:
Students will judge the artistic merit of two bronze sculptures made at the beginning of the 15th century in Florence.
Students will give reasons why they chose one piece over the other.
Students will develop definitions for aesthetics, ideals, humanism, naturalism, etc.
Materials:
Anticipatory Set: (10 minutes)
Students will be be the judges in an art competition modeled after the Baptistry Door competition that took place in Florence in 1401. The bronze reliefs submitted by Filipo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti will be projected onto a screen side by side. Students will judge which one they like better and give reasons to support their decision.
Steps:
1. Students will judge art competition (15 minutes)
2. Students will read and discuss art theory written by Leonardo Davinci and Michelangelo. Examples of both artistsı work will be projected and discussed after each reading.
3. Students will identify the major themes running through the written and visual works. (30 minutes)
4. Hand out Robin Woodıs essay on VERTIGO and assign reading homework (5 minutes).
Literacy and Assessment:
Students will have the opportunity to read about art theory of the rennaisance as well as see the manifestation of the artistsı idealogies in their work. Students will be challenged to see the connections between the themes of Davinci and Michelangelo and Robin Woodıs assessment of VERTIGO.
Day 18: Ten minute Tally
Purpose:
To assess students comprehension of Robin Woodıs analysis as it relates to the film ³Vertigo²
Objectives:
Students will identify visual symbolism in Alfred Hitchcockıs ³Vertigo²
Students will attempt to extrapolate the possible meaning.
Students will discuss Robin Woodıs essay and decide whether they think it coincides with the major themes of the Rennaisance.
Materials:
A/V equipment (VHS and television)
Short answer and fill in the blank questionnaire.
Anticipatory Set:
Students will watch the second 40 minutes of ³Vertigo.²
Steps:
1. Watch the second 40 minutes of ³Vertigo²
2. Students will answer questions about visual symbols in Vertigo and attempt to assess their possible meaning.
3. Students will write a short essay stating whether they think Vertigo is an adequate reflection of the ideals we have learned about through looking at Rennaisance art (10 minutes).
Literacy and Assessment:
Alissa is instructing on Renaissance literature, its writers, and how they affected modern American literature. On the first day, students will be introduced to the Renaissance literature that was written during the period between 1485 and 1603, and the ideas that prompted such ingenious writing.
During the first week, Alissa will cover aspects of the Tudor and Elizabethan periods, discussing works like Spenserıs The Fairie Queene in detail and broadly reviewing the ideas of Hoby, Sidney, and Marlowe.
In the second week and beginning of the third week, Shakespeareıs MacBeth will be taught. Students will read the play and analyze the text. Specific learning activities will include acting out a groupıs modern adaptation of a scene, comparing and contrasting the movieıs interpretation of the play, and writing an original dialogue or extension of the play, all of which will further understanding and interpretation.
During the second half of the 3rd week, student groups will choose museum exhibit projects and begin working on those. Also, Renaissance womenıs literature will be introduced, including Elizabeth Iıs speeches and letters.
In the last week, Alissa will illustrate the impact of Renaissance literature on American literature, including feminist writing. Also, she will relate subject areas by having students write biographies of a Renaissance person they have learned about in another subject.
Assessment: Students will be assessed on their learning progress through homework done correctly and in-class work, including written work and group activities. Also, their attendance, participation, and effort will count for a quarter of their grade.
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Monday |
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Thursday |
Friday |
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*T:
Intro to Renaissance Literature O: Students will be able to recognize the different time periods and their major works. L: Students will understand that writing was an expression and voice for reform, politics, and an individual artistic expression. |
T: Tudor Period O: Students will be able to identify conventions in Petrarchian sonnets. L: To interpret and comprehend the different language of poetry during that period. |
T: Elizabethan Period O: Students will describe allegory of Spenserıs The Fairie Queene. L: Being able to look beyond the literal meaning and learn the meaning of the symbolism in the story. |
T: The Fairie Queene continued O: Students will know the symbolic meaning of each character and its function in Renaissance literature. L: Knowing how to examine a character and understand his actions. |
T: Other famous writers of the Renaissance O: To gain a broader knowledge of writers like Hoby, Sidney, and Marlowe and how their works influenced future writers. L: Brief readings will provide students familiarity with a variety of persuasive and allegorical texts. |
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T: Intro to Shakespeare and MacBeth O: Students will learn overview of play and what will be expected of them. L: For homework, students will have to read the first Act and write their own dialogue of one scene, which will sharpen their literacy skills in interpreting and summarizing. |
*T: Reading MacBeth O: Students will be able to understand a scene without knowing what characters are speaking and interacting. L: Using hearing and acting to decipher the written words and what is happening in the play. |
T: Film Production O: Students will discuss the modernization of the play and decide what changes were effective and appropriate. L: Learning the many different ways a text can be interpreted and produced. |
T: Group Acting O: After watching yesterdayıs movie clips, student groups will act out their own modern scene. L: Being able to create original dialogue and acting while conveying the same original message; honing reading comprehension skills. |
T: Creative Writing O: Will identify significant turning point in play and create an original dialogue that will change the outcome of the play. L: Fully comprehending the play in order to know how to change it through writing (e.g. if someone else committed the murder) |
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T: Closure of MacBeth O: Students will share dialogues through peer reading and editing. L: Practicing editing skills and knowing how to offer positive and critical feedback to other classmates. |
T: Shakespearean Sonnet O: Students will write their own sonnet in correct form. L: Reading and writing using new skills that arenıt normally used today. |
*T: Intro to Museum Exhibit O: Group of 3 students will decide what authors and works they want to present. L: Practicing communication and research skills. (Only 1st period, other classes will work on their exhibit too) |
*T: Renaissance women writers O: Identify the first and few feminists that emerged during this period and their impact on literature. L: After reviewing Aemilia Laynerıs poetry, students will practice their reading skills and learn new vocabulary. |
T: Elizabeth I speeches and letters O: After reading her farewell speech, students will discuss attributes that make it the ³Golden Speech.² L: Knowing how to identify the feminism and power of words in this political speech. |
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*T: The impact of Renaissance literature on American literature O: Students will classify how Renaissance writers relate to American writers. L: Comparing and contrasting the styles of American and Renaissance writers. |
T: The impact of Renaissance on modern feminism O: Students will understand the history of feminist women writing, including Americans like Margaret Fuller and the Alcott sisters. L: Knowing how context and structure can create political writing. |
T: Work on Museum Projects O: Student groups will peer read and edit and be evaluated by teacher. L: Learning from others what can be approved on their projects and how it can be refined. |
T: Writing activity O: Using notes from other classes, students will write a detailed biography about one Renaissance person that they learned about in another subject. L: Repeating what they already know in order to better understand it; creating a life story from notes |
T: Museum Exhibit Party and Masquerade Ball O: Students will evaluate each otherıs projects and turn in their group paper about the project. L: Applying their knowledge of the subject as an assessment tool for the other projects. |
Day 1: Introduction to Renaissance Literature
Day 7: Reading MacBeth
Day 13: Museum Exhibit
Day 14: Renaissance Women Writers
Day 16: The Impact of Renaissance Literature on American Literature
50-minute period
Objective: After the overview of Renaissance Literature, students will be able to identify the different literary periods and the major literary works that were written at the time.
Materials:
· Overhead projector
· Transparency outline of Renaissance literature
Steps:
1. Journal: Students write a response after reading a poem by Wyatt. (10 minutes)
Writing prompt: What do you think an ³extended metaphor² is? What would be the extended metaphor in this poem?
2. Lecture and note taking (25 minutes)
- Discuss basis for early Renaissance literature, ³Neo-Platonism²
a. Doctrine of Ideas or Forms
b. Doctrine of Recollection
c. Doctrine of Love
- Tudor and Elizabethan periods, introducing writers such as Hoby, Sidney, and Spenser
3. Small group activity: Vocabulary Review (10 minutes)
- From their notes, students in groups of 4 will define words and their origin and what writers they relate to
- Words to define: extended metaphor, allegory, sprezzatura, platonic dialogue, dark conceit, mimesis, and decorum
Homework: Internet research on Spenserıs The Fairie Queene. Find summary and bring to class.
Literacy Aspect: Students will understand that writing was an expression and voice for reform, politics, and an individual artistic expression.
Day 7: Reading Macbeth
50-minute period
Objective: Students will be able to understand a scene without
knowing what characters are speaking and interacting.
Materials:
·
Handout of scene 2.3,
46-106 with character names and stage directions deleted
Steps:
1.
Move desks to create
an empty stage (5
minutes)
2.
Handout scene
3.
Divide students into
groups of 5 (15
minutes)
(Because
there are 5 characters in the scene).
Students have to figure out what is going on in the play and how to
stage it. They will give a
performance to the class and each member must speak.
4.
Group performances. (30
minutes)
Homework: Students will
read the complete scene and come prepared to class with questions and comments.
Literacy Aspect: Students use their hearing and acting abilities to decipher the written words and comprehend what is happening in the play. These senses are needed for everyday life in order to understand what is happening around you.
50-minute period
Objective: Groups of 3 students will decide what Renaissance
authors and works they want to present.
Materials:
· List of possible topics
· Example of project
Steps:
1. Post possible topics (everything covered within the 4-week unit)
2. Quick write prompt: Thus far, whom are you most interested with? (5 minutes)
3. Divide students into groups of 3 and have them discuss what they want to do.
(25 minutes)
4. Groups must outline and assign jobs; turn in topic to teacher (10 minutes)
5. Extra credit: Brainstorming for promotional ideas to advertise exhibit to school (10 minutes)
Homework: Work on project
Literacy Aspect: For this project, students will be practicing their communication and research skills, which are just as important as reading comprehension skills.
*(Only 1st period, other classes will work on their exhibits in the different content areas)
50-minute period
Objective: After
this lesson, students will recognize the first feminists that emerged during
this period and their impact on literature.
Materials:
·
Poems by Aemilia
Layner
Steps:
1.
Beginning the
discussion: (10
minutes)
-
Where are the women in Renaissance literature? Can anyone name one?
- Introduction to Anne Askewıs life and Aemilia
Layner.
2.
Divide class into 4
student groups (3
minutes)
3.
Handout 2 poems by
Layner (7
minutes)
-
read out loud as a class then have the groups reread them to each other
4.
Group Activity: (15
minutes)
- while rereading the poems, groups must circle words
that need to be defined and words that could represent symbolism
- groups must paraphrase each line of 1 poem to create
an entire paraphrase of the poem
5.
Groups to present
paraphrased poem. (10
minutes)
6.
Questions/Comments (5
minutes)
Prompt:
Why werenıt there more women writers during the Renaissance?
Literacy Aspect: After reviewing Aemilia Laynerıs poetry, students will practice their reading skills and learn new vocabulary. In this poetry context is very important, and students will learn more about the history of this time period and the difference in education between men and women.
Day 16:The impact of Renaissance literature on American literature
50-minute period
Objective: After learning about literary periods the developed after the Renaissance, students will classify how Renaissance writers relate to American writers.
Materials:
· An excerpt of text from each of the following periods: Renaissance, English Romanticism, and the American Renaissance/Transcendentalism
Steps:
1. Hand out the 3 excerpts and have students search for similarities (5 minutes)
2. Lecture: How are these works related? (20 minutes)
- Renaissance literature was followed by English Romanticism, which was the root for American Transcendentalism
- Famous Romantics: Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelly
- Transcendentalists: Emerson, Hawthorne, Dickinson, and Melville
3. In-class essay using past class notes (25 minutes)
Writing prompt: What was the motivation for these 3 periods of writing? Discuss philosophy, politics, feminism, and the expression of the artistic self. Note specific writers.
Finish for homework.
Literacy Aspect: Using their reading and analytical skills, students must compare and contrast the styles of American and Renaissance writers and how the Renaissance movement caused a dramatic change in literature. The in-class writing activity will further develop their reading comprehension skills by forcing them to look at similarities in language and conventions.
This is a World Language & Culture subject area that will be centered in Spanish language and culture. Diana will approach the Renaissance as a historical moment in the culture of Spain that bridges the middle age with the modern age. The historical events and social transformations affected dramatically the direction of Spain and the role she played in European and World history.
In addition, the new values of the Renaissance: money, social mobility and fame, together with the spirit of adventure and exploration, and along with the role of the Catholic Church in Spain, shaped the contradictory character of the Spanish people.
The purpose is to use the historical moment as a universal symbol of any given historical moment, especially the present time. At the same time, the purpose of studying the complexities that shaped Spanish character is to create another universal symbol of human contradictions and complexities.
However, along with the thematic unit framework Dianaıs main objective is that Spanish Renaissance becomes a personal and group experience, providing the students an opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other.
To achieve these goals the thematic unit will be divided into four mini-themes, corresponding to the 4 weeks. The classes will be conducted both in Spanish and in English. The unit is created for 5th/6th semester Spanish at a junior/senior level. However, it can be easily adapted to other levels.
Assessment will be based in: Class Activities, Participation, Projects and Homework.
Class activities include: group activities & discussions, quick writes, and free writing.
Class participation includes: social skills, such as attitude, collaboration, respect and the studentsı participation in class discussions.
Projects will be produced in the form of Maps and posters for the Culminating Activity.
Homework is based in mini-essays written in 1st person and the language will be Spanish.
The first week will start with a presentation of the thematic unit. Each student will open a folder for the unit. The week will continue centered in Spainıs general characteristics, emphasizing Spainıs unique geographical position as a bridge between Europe and Africa, which has marked her history. We will draw maps together and visit virtually the most important cities of the Renaissance and how they look today.
The theme of the second week will be Spainıs linguistic diversity. We will study the different official and non-official languages of the Spanish territory today. We will learn how different ethnic groups and their languages gathered into kingdoms developing their own culture. We will also understand how Castilian became the dominant language and the dominant kingdom in Spain.
The third week we will be centered in culture. We will read passages from the major literary productions: La Celestina y El Quixote. Our readings will be directly centered in the major themes. The first masterpiece, La Celestina, reflects directly the transition from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance through the themes: Money, Fame, and Social Mobility. The Quixote, a universal masterpiece, reflects the limitations of the Renaissance values unity, perfection and purityin a multicultural, multifaceted and contradictory Spanish society, through the eyes of the two main characters Quixote and Sancho Panza.
The fourth week we will examine Spanish society, including the political and religious picture. We will start with a historical background and built up the to formation of a multicultural society in the Middle Age. Then we will look into the Reconquest to experience how the future conquistadores were forged as frontier men who will turn into the future conquistadores. Finally, we will learn how Isabelle and Ferdinand, first united the two major kingdoms of Spain with their marriage and secondly how they dealt with the issue of becoming a modern state by prohibiting 2 of the 3 religions that were practiced in Spain at that time.
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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Week 1 |
T: Presentation Thematic Unit Impact Renaissance. Intro to Spain. O:Students will learn about TU and the impact of Renaissance. L: Students learn to make connections. |
T: La Piel del Toro-The bullıs skin:
Intro to Spain. Physical and Political Maps. O: Students will be able to
identify Spainıs geographical and political map features. L: Students learn to read and
interpret maps |
Intro to Spain: Her position in Europe. Students continue to work on maps. O: Students will learn about Spanish unique geographical position. L: Students learn the significance of a geographical location. |
T: Intro Spainıs general characteristic. Students continue to work on maps. O: Students will be able to identify Spanish diverse ethnicities. L: Students take historical perspective on diversity on their own and others culture. |
Intro to Spain. Maps throughout history. Students will be able to identify periods of History of Spain. O: Students will identify historical moments on the map of Spain. L: Students understand how events change a countryıs political map. |
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Week 2 |
T: Intro to languages of Spain. O: Students will identify the official and non-official languages of Spain in the Renaissance and present day. L: Students learn language diversity in a single country. |
T: Origins of Spanish Languages. O: Students will trace the historical origins of European languages. L: Students acquire knowledge of linguistics |
T: Babelia Española- Spanish Babelia: Languages: Vasco, Catalan, Gallegos, Aragonés, Castellano. O: Students will learn about the languages and their culture. L: Students realize that language is a universal identity
and power issue |
T: Castile and Castilian as the dominant culture and language. O: Students will learn how Castile & Castilian grew in the Renaissance into the dominant language and culture in Spain. L: Students continue to associate language, power and identity. |
T: The languages spoken in Spain in the Renaissance. O: students will learn Spanish literature from a selection of text of the 15th C. L: Students are exposed to different styles of literature. |
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Week 3 |
I: Intro to Spanish Renaissance culture & art. O: Students will identify main characteristics of Spanish Renaissance. L: Students learn to connect historical periods and main characteristics. |
T:Humanism in Spain. Main figures. O: Students will learn what humanism means. L: Students learn how human thought shapes and triggers historic transitions. |
T: La Locura del Quijote- The Madness of the Quixote: Spanish Major literary productions. O: Students will identify the main characteristics of this masterpiece. L: Students learn how literature shapes reality and vice versa. |
T: Themes of the Renaissance in literature: Money, Time, Fame, Social Mobility&Fame. O: Students will identify in literary text the major themes of the Renaissance. L: Students realize the origin of some major themes of our
society. |
T: Art in the Renaissance. Slide show with music. O: Students will learn about culture & art in the renaissance, especially architecture. L: Students grapple visions behind some major architectural monuments. |
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Week 4 |
T: Isabelle & Ferdinand-The Catholic Monarchs.
O: Students will learn how the two monarchs dealt with their multicultural society. Students will become aware of the role of the C.Church in Spain and of the mentality of Modern statesmen and women of the Spanish Renaissance. L: Students learn how politics work. |
T: Moors, Jews & Christians O:Students will learn through an article of a Spanish fiesta about the 3 monotheistic religions practiced in Spain up to the end of 15th century. L: Students broaden cultural perspectives. |
T: Columbus Project: how he sold it to the queen of Castile. O: Students will learn the series of events that led to the encounter of the Americas. L: Students realize how historical events, the project of a man and the faith of a powerful woman intertwined to change the destiny of humanity. |
T: Cowboys are Spanish: The frontier men of Castile. O: Students will learn how the character of the conquistadores was forged. Students will learn how Castile became Empire. L: Students generalize about frontier situations and compare it to the frontier men (pioneers) in United States. |
T: Music and Poetry of the Spanish Renaissance.
O: Students will learn about Spanish poetry, rhyme and types of verses. L: Students gain understanding about the evolution of poetry and music with a historic perspective. |
Lesson Plans:
Day 8: Babelia Española Spanish Babelia
Day 13:La Locura del QuijoteThe Madness of Quixote
Day 17:Moors, Jews & Christians
Day 19:The frontier men of Castile: from Knights to Conquistadores.
Day 2: La Piel Del Toro (The Bullıs Skin)
One 50-minute class period
Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson is to familiarize students with the Territory of Spain as an introduction to the Thematic Unit the Renaissance. The teacher will guide them through different maps and charts that show distinctive features of Spain. The teacher will also point out the peculiarities of Spanish strategic location in Europe and the impact it has had throughout history.
Objectives:
Students will be able to draw a physical map of Spain.
Students will be able to identify the political map of Spain.
Students will learn Spanish names of Spainıs & Europe geographical map.
Literacy Aspect:
Students realize the importance of geographical position in the history of a country.
Students also gain perspective of their culture as they introduce the new features of Spain.
Materials:
Pencils
Felt pen, color pencils
Internet connection or maps
Handouts about general characteristics of Spain.
Cardboard pattern with the shape of Spain (done by the teacher)
Preparation:
The teacher will search online maps and show them in class on the screen.
http://www.wlu.edu/~jbarnett/211/mapas.htm
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/meteosat/D2.JPG
Procedure:
Anticipatory Set:
Teacher will ask students to pull out a piece of paper and sketch a map of Europe.
Teacher will ask to turn the paper around and sketch the map of Spain.
Teacher will use humor to encourage students to draw, for example: ³It can be an abstract map.² (5minutes).
Teacher will show a map of Spain and explain why it is compared with a ³skin of the bull² (PIEL DE TORO). (3 minutes)
Teacher will ask students to list general characteristics of Spanish geography physical and political. The list will be on the blackboard. (3minutes)
Then she will ask what they would like to know about Spain and write it on the blackboard.
Student objectives:
Teacher will provide the students with the overall objectives of the class: They will see and experience several types of maps and charts about Spanish demographics and population, and they are going to draw several maps of Spain for the museum exhibit. (2 minutes).
Instruction:
Teacher shows and explains maps to the class (10 min).
Activity:
Teacher divides the class into 5 groups and gives drawing paper to each group. She assigns a different map to each group corresponding to the ones on the website.
Teacher hands out patterns so that students can trace the map on the paper.
Students work on their maps and color them in. (15 min)
Maps are left on tables for exposition and students go around in complete silence as if they were in a museum exhibit. (5 min)
Checking for understanding & Closure:
In a quick whip each student is asked for something new they learned related to maps of Spain and the teacher writes it on the blackboard (5 min)
Independent assignment:
Handout. Students read the facts about Spain and answer to questions about them (in Spanish).
Enrichment:
Go on the website cited and surf.
Day 8: Babelia Española Spanish Babelia
Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson is to make students aware that the issues of diversity are not new. Through the study of the current and past official and non-official languages of the Iberian Peninsula students will make connections to their language of origin
Objectives:
Students will learn in Spanish the different languages spoken in the Iberian Peninsula today and in the Renaissance.
Students will be able to locate in the map where each language is spoken.
Students will be able recall the process by which Latin became vernacular and how vernacular Latin crystallized in the different Romanic languages.
Literacy Aspect:
Students make associations, as they understand that multiculturalism and linguistic diversity is not unique to contemporary times.
Materials:
Online connection
Mapa de las Autonomias de España. (Political Map of Spain).
Music player
Joan Manuel Serrat CD
Class Process:
Anticipatory Set: Play a song in Catalan (1m).
Ask the class in which language the artist is speaking.
Ask the class to pull out a piece of paper.
Show them a transparency with the following questions:
How many official languages in Spain?
How many unofficial languages in Spain?
How many official languages spoken in US?
How many languages are spoken in United States?
(3 m)
Ask the class to keep the answers until the end of the period.
Activity:
Split the class in 5 groups
Move to the computer area go on line. (2 m)
Pull out the Mapas de las Autonomias (political map of Spain)
And show it to the class:
http://www.wlu.edu/~jbarnett/211/mapas.htm#auto
(1st of all ask what is missing in the map: the Canary Islands located west of Africa, and Ceuta and Melilla in the North of Africa)
Once this point is cleared have students go online and check out the websites:
1.- http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=Spain&seq=1
2.- http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Spain
3.- http://www.sispain.org/english/language/language/index.html
(5 min)
Assign a the following names to each group:
1.Castellano (Castilian)
2.Gallego (spoke in Galicia)
3.Catalan-Valenciano-Balear (spoke in Catalunya and other Mediterranean areas)
4.Euskera (spoke in Basque country)
5.Other languages spoken in Spain
(3 m)
Each group will gather the following info while they browse the web:
Origin of the language
How many people speak the language?
Where it is spoken?
Has the language been forbidden at times?
(10m)
Chose a speaker to deliver info to the rest of the class. (10 m)
Instruction:
Explain the connection with the Renaissance. Show the political map we studied last Friday and demonstrate how the languages spoken today link directly to the kingdom of the past. Give an intro of how the language of the Kingdom of Castile became the language of dominance. (This issue will be revisited throughout the unit, because it is critical to the understanding of the power of the language as a fundamental tool of cultural identity). (10m)
Check for understanding and closure:
Students return to their seats and pull out the piece of paper they wrote at the beginning of the class, while I pull out the transparency and place it on the head projector.
Students have 3 minutes to revise their answers with the new information.
Quickly each student answers one of the questions with the new information gathered. (3m)
Independent assignment:
Write 2 very short paragraphs in Spanish answering the following questions:
Is your language historically a language of dominance (English) or a language of oppression (other languages in US such as Spanish or AAVE)?
Model:
- Mi idioma es una lengua de dominacion porque.
- Mi idioma es una lengua de opresion porque
Second paragraph: How does your family treat the isasue of language. Do they enjoy slang? Do they correct you? Do you believe that families used their authority in telling you how to speak?
Model:
- En casa mi familia no me deja hablar .(At home my family doesnıt let me)
- Yo creo que mi familia si es muy autoritaria porque me prohiben decir (I believe my family is authoritarian in terms of language because)
-
Yo creo que mi familia es muy liberal porque (I believe my
family is very liberal in terms of language because)
Day 13: Moros , Judios Y Cristianos Moors, Jews &
Christians
Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson is to present the students with one of the most symbolic features of Spanish culture and civilization: ³la convivencia² is a word that has no direct translation and was created probably to expressed our unique experience of living among 3 monotheistic religions for a period of time. It means literally livewith or living together.
Objectives: Students will learn about this period in Spanish history. Students will be able to make direct connections to the religious battle we are still battling. Students will be able to reflect about living together with other religions how they feel about it.
Literacy aspect: Students learn the importance of studying history as a way to understand yourself and the world around you. Students learn how religions are yesterday and today a political instrument.
Materials:
Internet connection
Overhead projector
Excerpts from books about Muslim, Jews and Catholic Christians in Spain.
Process:
Anticipatory Set:
Would you believe me if I told you that every year in April a little town in the Midwest has a festivity celebrating the victory of Cowboys over Indians (Native Americans)?
Probably not, and my question is, in any case, politically incorrect.
Would you believe me if I told you that every year in April a little town in the Mediterranean side of Spain celebrates a victorious battle against the moors in a festivity literally called MOORS And CHIRSTIANS.
Well, yes. Every year we celebrate that ³Fiesta de los Moros y Cristianos² (2m)
Show on the overhead and read the first and last paragraph of the article from the website:
http://tuspain.com/travel/val1.htm
Tell students to pull out a piece to quick write:
Your idea of the 3 monotheistic religions in Spain. (5 min)
Students will share their thoughts.
Instruction:
In a manner of asking and responding:
When did the moors arrive to Spain?
How long did it take them to conquest the whole territory?
How did they deal with the other two religions Catholicism and Jews?
How long did the moors stay in Spanish territory?
What did the moors bring to Spain?
Why did Islam in Spain create such a unique lifestyle?
Why did the tribes of North Africa, los Almohades y Almoravides, highly disapprove the type of Islam practiced in Andalusia and therefore decided to straighten them up?
Did you know that the city of Toledo held the most important school of translator in all Europe?
Did you know that the city of Cordoba was the most advanced and lavish city of all Europe and the Islamic world?
However, as beautiful and interesting as it was, the battles were endless. Also in the North of Spain something was cooking. For example, can anybody tell how Spain kept up with Europe? Does anybody know what El Camino de Santiago is?
Finally, and most important why and how did the Renaissance change the living together of the 3 monotheistic religions? This is an open questions and the teacher will tell the students that they will get the answer in the two following lessons
15- minutes.
Students will be split up in 4 groups. Each group will be given a handout with information the teacher has gathered about Jews, Muslims and Christians in Spain. Each group will be provided with beautiful pictures from the Internet about the artistic accomplishments of the three cultures and religions in Spain.
The theme groups will be as follows:
The European tradition in Spain: How did Spain keep up with Europe during 700 years the moors where in Spain. Answer: El Camino de Santiago.
Toledo: The city of culture, today this city is Patrimony of the Humanity because of its beauty and because of the knowledge, culture and history kept behind its walls.
The Barrio Judio in Toledo The Jewish barrio in Toledo. Students will show the intricacies of this barrio perfectly preserved throughout the millenniums.
Castile: the Frontier Territory Castilla Tierra fronteriza. What was going on here? The land of the castle. Castilla represented throughout the Middle Age the frontier. It is the one kingdom in Spain that settled towns, castles and monasteries as forts marking the new line gained to the moors.
The groups will rotate so that everybody sees the pictures.
These pictures together with clippings of information will be part of the Museum Exhibit. (20m)
In the background the teacher plays classical music created in Andalusia.
Students return to their seats.
For closure teacher asks the students:
To stand up, get in a circle, close their eyes and reflect on the ideas learned today to make connection with recent events and wars among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
Teachers ask for volunteers to raise their hand to read a poem from the Jewish poet Judah Halevi:
³My heart is in the East, and in the West,
As far in the West as west can be!
How can I enjoy my food?
What flavor can it have for me?
How can I fulfill my vows?
Or do the things Iıve sworn to do,
While Zion is in Christian hands
And I am trapped in Arab lands?
Easily I can leave behind
This Spain and all her luxuries!
Of the Templeıs rubble would be to me.² (3min)
Teacher asks students to open their eyes. Teacher asks that each student say something new they had learn today about the three religions in Spain or the world.
(3m)
Independent activity:
You are a Christian living in Arab territory (they were called mozarabes).
Or you are a moor or a Jew living in reconquested territory. Make up a simple poem in Spanish. You can inspire yourself with the following words: torres, castillos, almenas, sedas, bordados, vestidos, perfumes, inciensos, oro, plata, tapices, alfombras, palacios, Fuentes, precioso, lujoso, magnifico, soberbio, exuberante, exotico, sensual, erotico,
Day 17: La
Locura Del QuijoteThe Madness Of Quixote
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce a universal masterpiece and two archetypes: the Quixote (a dreamer) and this opposite Sancho Panza (a down to earth character). The second purpose is to show how the masterpiece marks the end of the Renaissance en Spain, because it is an extraordinary critique of all human weaknesses.
Objectives:
Students will learn about a major masterpiece in universal literature.
Literacy aspect: Students are exposed to the complexities and contradictions of human nature. Students experience that spiritualism and materialism are interchangeable and both are necessary to survive. Students remember the importance of humor as part of life.
Materials:
Pictures from some beautiful editions of El Quijote.
The map of Spain.
Process:
Anticipatory Set:
Who can tell me what the Quixote looks like? And his companion and server Sancho?
Teacher will read in Spanish the first page of El Quijote.
Teacher hands out the 1st page to the students.
Each student will have the opportunity to read a sentence of the page.
Check for vocabulary and translate. (15 min)
The author describes in this first page the characteristics of the main character:
Which are these characteristics? Write them on the blackboard.
Check for vocabulary and translate.
Read the page where Sancho his ignorant but vivacious neighbor is described.
Write Sanchoıs characteristics on the blackboard. (15 min)
Instruction:
Symbolism. The main characters as two sides of human nature: spirituality juxtaposed to materialism.
What world is this described in the book? It is certainly not the perfect harmonious world of unity of the Renaissance. Cervantes presents a world of multiplicity demonstrating that unity and perfection are a creation of the mind, which in turn leads Quixote to madness. (5m)
Checking for understanding Activity:
Have the students identify themselves with one of the characters: who would you prefer to be? An idealistic knight always in search of the next battle, or a down to earth Sancho always in search of the next meal and glass of wine.
Couple up students and have them describe themselves in Spanish in either character. (10 min)
(If time permits) Write on the blackboard four columns:
What are the advantages of being Quijote? You have risen above your basic needs.
What are the advantages of being Sancho? You are carefree.
What are the advantages of living in a pluralistic and chaotic world? More fun, more challenging.
What are the advantages of living in a world of unity and order and harmony? More predictable, more easy.
Have all students march to the blackboard and write something like a graffiti event.
Independent assignment:
Using Cervantes description of Quixote as a model write a very short description of yourself.
Day 19: Cowboys
are SpanishThe Frontier Men Of Castile: From Knights To Conquistores.
The purpose of the lesson is to understand how men transform history with their spirit.
Objective: Students will learn how the rough knights of the Middle ages forged the spirit of the chivalry and how they found opportunities to expand in the new world: America.
Literacy aspect: Students learn how history is written by the feats, actions, and especially ambition of common man. Students connect with the spirit of the chivalry as an archetype of the adventurous man: The pioneer. Students make connections comparing the frontier men of Castile with the pioneers that opened the West.
Anticipatory Set:
Riddle #1: What does an American pioneer have to do with a 15th century knight of Castile Spain. You will have the answer at the end of the class.
Presentation:
Today we will learn that European knights had very similar personalities. The spirit of the chivalry forged in the European Middle Ages propelled itself into a madness of expansion when America was officially opened to settlement. We will also learn as an anecdote that cowboys, horses and cattle came originally from Spain and were introduced in Texas in the 1500ıs together with the millenarian art of herding, rodeo, and breeding. (3 m)
Materials:
Map of Spain.
Class notes.
Activity:
Students, close your eyes and imagine you are a knight in the early years of the Renaissance. (1min)
Open your eyes and pull out a piece a paper. Write about being a knight. Who am I? Why did I become a knight? How do I make a living? What are my dreams and expectations? (5 min).
Students share in couples. (3 min)
Some students share to the class (5 min)
Instruction:
Now we are going to take a step further.
Imagine that you have become a very important knight because of your conquests over the moors and you have accumulated so much territory that you have become the king of a small kingdom in Spain. However, you and your men need to make sure that the territory remains yours. How do you think you can do that? Introduce the fundamental idea of SETTLEMENT as means to preserve conquered territory. (5 m)
Holding the map up.
Showing on the map: This is exactly how Castile grew from a tiny little territory in the central north part of Spain into one of the biggest empires in history. As the knights gained territory in central Spain to the moors they established castles to ensure that new territory marked a real frontier with the moors. The men and women that settled there were of a special breed. (10m)
Have students enumerate the characteristics of a frontier man. Teacher writes them on the blackboard. Ex.:
Rough Outlaw Entrepreneur Brave
Independent Adventurous Strong Illiterate
Adventurous Loud Resourceful Down to earth
Austere Stern Macho Fun
Think about the similarities with the North American pioneers that opened the West.
Have students share their ideas. (10)
Closure:
The Reconquest of the Spanish Territory to the Moors brought opportunities to the common man in a feudal society. This opportunity forged the unique character of the frontier man of Castile.
Once the Reconquest was complete Castilian men found themselves in a way jobless and depressed.
Reflection in the form of quick write: How did the ³encounter² with the new land represent new opportunities for the spirit of the chivalry. Students voluntarily share their thoughts. (5 m)
Homework: In Spanish, imagine you are 16th century man or women. You are headed towards Seville because you have heard that a ship will part when the winds change in August. Write a short goodbye letter to your lover.
History/Social Studies (Introduction)
Arthur covers this area of the unit primarily from the perspective of the history of ideas, more particularly the interaction between ideas and events: how events create a climate for new ideas, and the consequences of those ideas. In the process, he will try to get students to ³think historically,² to examine what it means to say one event ³caused² another. They will be asked to think about thinking about history, to abandon anachronistic and teleological approaches in which the past was magically intended to lead to the present day.
The first week as outlined attempts to characterize the Renaissance, taking as its starting point the invention of movable type. We will try to connect the dissemination of information that made possible to those themes that we mean to invoke when we use the term: the beginning of mass culture, the challenge to the authority of the medieval church and the subsequent turn to humanism, the rise of the nation state through the codification of national languages, and movements beyond borders (to Europe and toward Americas) and through time (by recovery of classical texts) all made possible by print.
At the end of the first week and through the second, we will explore a few classical texts and what they meant to those who could read them: in the twenty years after Gutenberg, eight million books were printed, and necessarily most of them were from the back-catalogue, the books that had previously circulated only in manuscript copies. One of these will be Boethiusı Consolations of Philosophy in translation by Elizabeth I. We will see how Elizabeth used the authority of antiquity to bolster her policy of conciliatory Protestantism.
Using Elizabethıs translation as a transition, we will come to ³modern² Renaissance works through Erasmus and his great friend Thomas More. (Though this requires going back prior to Elizabeth, it seems a better idea to group the classical texts together.) This introduces the students to the notion of the ³Northern Renaissance.² Moreıs Utopia itself sets the stage for the most intensive study of the unit, Machiavelliıs The Prince, because both writers deal with the theory of the state: More, however, retains much that is medieval, while Machiavelli is shockingly modern. (It also lands us in Italy at the height of what we call the Renaissance.)
That study continues through most of the third week. A total of 46 pages are to be read, line by line, in class, with suggestions for understanding and questions about comprehension posed by the teacher. (If we donıt seem to be getting through it at that pace, some homework reading will be assigned and questions addressed in the following class.) At the end of the third week, we begin the first of two days on Copernicus.
The fourth week begins with the second of these two lessons and deals with the interpretation of how Copernicus came to see the universe as heliocentric, introducing students to the most influential of all scientific historians. They will be asked again to think about how one constructs a history of ideas in this case of scientific ideas. But to consider the Renaissance historically is to consider a history of ideas, so this should be very much on-point. We spend a final day, before beginning the history class contribution to the culminating activity, on the voyage of Columbus and the notion of a ³new² world, and what it meant to a world that saw itself not as new but reborn.
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
First week |
T: Historical overview of 15th and 16th century Europe O: Students gain a broad, if not very deep, sense of what constituted the Renaissance L: Thinking historically see lesson plan for this day |
T: The invention of printing O: To establish the importance of the printing press in the era and discuss its consequences L: Students consider the difference between oral and written cultures Handout/homework: Chapter 2 of Neil Postmanıs The Disappearance of Childhood, ³The Printing Press and the New Adult² |
T: Class discussion of Tuesdayıs handout O: To establish the significance of printing as the starting point of what we call ³the Renaissance²; to determine what print culture did to ways of thinking L: Students work with abstract ideas as a way to organize facts Handout/homework: Selections from McLuhan (Gutenberg Galaxy,
Understanding Media) Quick-write essay (10 minutes): how does one experience the world through the sense of hearing (oral culture) and through the sense of sight (print culture)? |
T: Renaissance themes:
O: Students learn what theyıre looking for in the enormity of disparate material theyıre encountering L: Students gain a more detailed idea of what we mean by ³The Renaissance² Handout/homework: Platoıs Crito |
T: Rediscovery of classic texts O/L: Students encounter, through discussion of hand-out given yesterday, some characteristic writings of Plato Handout: Excerpts from Marcus Aureliusı Meditations |
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Second week |
T: Discussion of Marcus Aurelius O: Students acquire familiarity with the major themes of the work L: Students react to ideas and debate ideas Handout: Selections from Boethiusı Consolations of
Philosophy |
T: In-class reading of Boethius, lecture on Elizabeth Iıs translation of this work and why she did it O: Students further their acquaintance with ³classical² thought as underpinning Renaissance thought L: Through the discussion of Elizabethıs motives in translating the work at age 60 and its relation to religious controversies of her time, students gain an idea of the uses/adaptations made by the Renaissance of classical texts Homework: Edited selections from Erasmusı In Praise of Folly and Thomas a Kempisı Imitation of Christ, the first contemporary best-seller |
T: Brief lecture on Erasmus and a Kempis, followed by in-class reading of certain paragraphs and discussion O: To come up with a notion of ³humanism² L: Students work to articulate their thoughts and reactions; students are led to place a thinkerıs work in the context of his times 10-minute test: classical texts Handout/homework: Selections from Thomas Moreıs Utopia |
T: Brief lecture on life of More and Utopia, including his relationship with Erasmus; followed by class discussion of Utopia O: To place Moreıs thinking in the political context of his time; students will gain insight into controversies regarding enclosures, religious abuses L: Introduction to the idea of utopian and dystopian literature, relating it to science fiction of our time Quickwrite exercise: Students sketch out their own ³Utopia² |
T: Brief lecture on Machiavelli, focusing on the political situation in 15th century Italy, the Papacy and Medicis ³foreign relations² with France and Spain - followed by in-class reading of The Prince. Chapters 1, 2, and 4-9 (27 pages) will be read over the four days. O: To relate the real world of 15th century Italy to the achievements of the Italian Renaissance L: Students are introduced to the man who invented political science Homework: Students are given a handout of the schedules of Sunday political discussion shows on television; they are to pick one and listen until they hear an analysis that they recognize as ³Machiavellian,² write it and say why they do,. |
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Third Week |
T: Machiavelli continued class reading of early chapters O: To understand the text L: To learn how to ³close-read² a text |
T: Machiavelli contıd O: Students will be asked to consider two aspects of the work:
L: To learn to read a work of theory Handout/homework: Chapters 15-18 (19 pages in all) |
T: Machiavelli continued O: To understand what Machiavelli meant by a republic and by leadership; to relate this to the rise of nationalism L: Continue to close-read the text Homework: Construct a list of Machiavelliıs top 10 political tips |
T: Machiavelli concluded; class discussion to compare Machiavelli and Thomas More O: Students will understand what issues concerned these thinkers and how differently they dealt with them L: By considering the thinkers in tandem, students will gain insight into what it means to write about politics from outside its daily concerns, and thus to define politics (as it was defined in this period) Paper assigned for delivery on following Tuesday: analysis of a situation that a student has been in that involves power (family/school) and subject it to Machiavellian analysis; alternatively an analysis of a power situation in fiction/media (suggestion: The Sopranos) |
T: Copernicus O: To consider the consequences of the change to a world view in which the earth was no longer central, relating this to Renaissance humanism and the idea of fame L: The attempt to empathize with other cultures, in that century and this; to consider the different kinds of historical change Handout/homework: Selections from Thomas Kuhnıs Structure
of Scientific Revolutions |
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Fourth week |
T: Copernicus, through the eyes of Kuhn O: Students learn why the Copernican revolution was ³necessary² L: Students learn the notions of ³paradigm,² ³paradigm shift² Quickwrite exercise: Give an example of a paradigm shift in your own life the example might be something you think of as ³growing up² in some way Handout/homework: Chapter 1 of Howard Zinnıs Peopleıs History of the United States, ³Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress² |
T: Columbus and the ³discovery² of America O: Students learn the causes (scientific advances, economic needs, etc.) of exploration and consider its consequences L: Students work with maps |
T: Culminating activity class begins to construct a 15 minute sketch to ³sum up² the Renaissance, using the characters of Copernicus, Columbus, Erasmus, Thomas More and Machiavelli and anyone else theyıve learned about in their other courses. The attempt will be to use the notion of anachronism and the idea that all these people were consciously working on a project called ³The Renaissance² for laughs. (Machiavelli trying to give the high-minded More advice to avoid execution, a nervous Columbus asking a teenaged Copernicus if heıs sure the earth is round.) This is a basic framework; any better student suggestion will be taken. (Other ideas might be a parody of a show like Friends with Renaissance figures as characters, or the Renaissance as a soap-opera with cliffhangers.) O: Outline and begin (oral) ³quick-writing ³ of script in collaboration. L: Exploring the notion of anachronism in order to think ³historically² |
T: Culminating activity O: Collaborative ³quickwriting² the script L: Students learn that some of the pleasure of knowing things is the chance to make more and better jokes; students learn to write collaboratively |
T: Culminating activity O: To rehearse the material enough to perform it L: Writing for an audience with a clear intent in this case, to make them laugh |
Lesson plans
Monday of first week:
Required materials: overhead projector, computer and maps
When students come in, they will see that a length of butcher paper has been spread across all four walls, with dates marked for a time-line. Each student will be responsible for two additions per week of events of the Renaissance culled from internet resources. They will be referred to the following sites as a start to their explorations. Each entry will include the web-address of the source of the event. This is a literacy activity two-fold in that they work with the concept of a time-line and improve their internet skills.
Before the lecture part of the class, students are asked to tell what they already know of the Renaissance from prior knowledge.
The lecture, which constitutes most of the class, begins with a look at the map of Europe at the beginning of the 15th century and estimates of population, country by country. The teacher will concentrate on the changes in the lives of Europeans from what we now think of as the Middle Ages.
Students are introduced to the notion of periodicity in history and reminded that the very word we use was the coinage of a later century: the Renaissance didnıt know it was the Renaissance. It is our job to characterize for ourselves what the Renaissance was, but a healthy degree of skepticism in studying history is encouraged: many historians question whether there was a Renaissance and point to earlier classical revivals in what we think of as the Middle Ages. This introduces the notion of change and causality in history; any history of the Renaissance is a history of ideas, and how do we know when people are thinking differently? if change is seamless, our characterizations are arbitrary, a convenient shorthand for thought.
Monday of week 2:
Materials needed: Transparencies of Florentine sculpture, paintings/overhead projector
In-class reading of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, concentrating on the Roman notions of fame. To clarify the discussion, teacher will read and hand-out a few selections from a secondary text, The Frenzy of Renown (by Leo Braudy) that deals with Florentine portraiture and renderings of Roman subjects. The objective of the lesson is to see instances of the Renaissance re-discovery of the Romans; the literacy content is to suggest the rendering of Roman literary themes into the visual arts.
Tuesday of week 2:
Computer/overhead projector/internet access to these sites:
www.geocities.com/marilee-cody/newpics.html
www.tigtail.org/TVM/M-View/X1/e.Northern/holbein/holbein/html
www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/
Lecture/discussion concerns The Consolations of Philosophy and Elizabeth Iıs translation of it. A paper by Lysbeth Benkert (available at http://www.shu.ac.uk/emis/06-3/benkboet.htm) is discussed.
The purpose of the lesson is to discuss how Renaissance intellectuals appropriated the classics for their own purposes; students are encouraged to examine how they read the piece through the lens of their own time. Again, the subject-matter literacy effort is to be aware of how difficult it is to enter into the past as it was really lived, how difficult it is to escape the tendency to subject the past to Monday morning quarterbacking. At the same time, they are asked what, if anything, the issues raised in Boethius mean to them, today, and that would be the subject of a quick-writing exercise at the end of the day.
The other literacy element concerns the theme of fame, introduced in the first week, by looking at visual representations of Elizabeth, Holbeinıs portraits of her father of Thomas More, Durerıs engraving of Erasmus, and English coinage, in order to think about the iconography of the time. This should follow naturally from the main topic of the lecture, because Elizabethıs translation was an attempt at public relations, akin to a modern political candidateıs manifesto.
Tuesday of week 3:
By this time, students will have read enough of Machiavelli to begin to answer, in class discussion, whether his insights are true, and whether, if true, they have any or an exclusive place in political life. They should also, by now, have some opinion as to what he himself believed, beyond his strategic thinking, and this is the great mystery of Machiavelli, about which historians have filled bookshelves.
Part of the literacy component will be the instructorıs attempt to come up with some of the many literary references to Machiavelli, including ³Mack the Knife.² Students will also be asked, as homework, to come up with five web-sites devoted to Machiavelli and describe them.
Monday of week 4:
Through Thomas Kuhnıs discussion of Copernicus, students will try to place Copernicus in the history of science and determine whether scientific progress can indeed be described ³historically² that is to say, is it, being a creative activity, like art, something that happens in some sense outside history? (Making a list or a time-line is not the same as writing history.)
Students are then asked to consider Kuhnıs notion of the paradigm and paradigm-shift as a way of thinking about history, and as an aid to thinking about history from the inside, empathically (with a flash-forward to the German enlightenment and a brief sketch of the ideas of Vico and Herder).
Assessment
I would like to do a modified form of contract grading. 30% of the grade would comprise fulfillment of timeline contributions and otherwise ungraded exercises like quickwriting and the brief report on political discussion shows; if they showed the reading had been done and a good-faith attempt to engage with the material, the student gets 30%. Class participation would be 50% and would be defined as two in-class contributions per week (on two separate days) which would be judged by the same standard (evidence of reading, attempt to engage).
20% - the difference between an A and B would be (10% each) grades on the Machiavelli paper and brief quiz on classic writers.
Two chances for extra credit: (1) 1% for every usable contribution to theculminating activity; the academic relevance of this is that the contributions must by definition show a familiarity with the work of the unit; (2) a brief paper on Machiavelliıs play Mandragola, relating it to his political theory and/or view of human nature.
