REN - Renaissance Literature Module Overview

Renaissance Literature: Discovery of the Individual Module Overview

After the Hundred Years' War, the War of the Roses began between two families fighting over the throne of England. When the War of the Roses ended, the time period in England, coined as the Renaissance, began. The Renaissance, or rebirth, was a time of cultural, social, and religious change for England. As a nation, England was coming off of the heels of a very dark period that included a devastating plague and a feudalistic society with a religious hierarchy. With Queen Elizabeth's removal of the Pope's authority, the Renaissance shifted thoughts from a focus on religion to a focus on the capabilities of the individual and the discovery of knowledge by the individual. The carpe diem poets brought about themes of focusing on the self and living life to the fullest, while the sonnet became one of the most popular verse forms. Queen Elizabeth adored drama and Shakespeare, and with her reign, literature flourished in the "Golden Age". Shakespeare, one of the most renowned poets and dramatists, explained the religious notions of medieval Christianity and the moral issues of self-focus with his famous play: Macbeth. The rebirth in England shifted the English language of the Renaissance period closer to the English language spoken today and inspired authors of Renaissance literature to include themes of exploring the beautiful disaster that makes up the individual.

In this module, we will examine the impact of these sociocultural changes on the literature of the time period.

Essential Questions

  1. How does word choice and phrasing impact meaning and tone in literature and writing?
  2. How can multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem illuminate overall meaning and aesthetic impact of a piece of literature?
  3. How can I use valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence to produce clear and coherent argumentative writing?

Key Terms

  1. Meter - A unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats.
  2. Sonnet - A 14-line poetic form that originated in Italy (the Shakespearean Sonnet, Petrarchan Sonnet, and Spenserian Sonnet all have different forms and rhyme schemes.
  3. Speaker/Persona - A dramatic character, distinguished from the poet, who is the speaker of a poem.
  4. Imagery - Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.
  5. Turn - Also called a volta in the sonnet, the turn indicates a shift in what the speaker says or in the tone/mood of the poem.
  6. Paradox - A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition.
  7. Tone - The general character or attitude of the speaker in a poem or work.
  8. Apostrophe - A figure of speech in which the poet addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing.
  9. Shakespearean Tragedy -  A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the worse.
  10. Shakespearean Comedy - A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the better. In comedy, things work out happily in the end.
  11. Shakespearean History - A type of drama that documented the historical events of the time period and helped define the genre of history plays.
  12. Aside - Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.
  13. Catastrophe - The action at the end of a tragedy that initiates the denouement or falling action of a play.
  14. Catharsis - The purging of the feelings of pity and fear that, according to Aristotle, occur in the audience of tragic drama. The audience experiences catharsis at the end of the play, following the catastrophe.
  15. Denouement - The resolution of the plot of a literary work. The denouement of Hamlet takes place after the catastrophe, with the stage littered with corpses.
  16. Monologue - A speech by a single character without another character's response.
  17. Soliloquy - A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage. If there are no other characters present, the soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud.
  18. Tragic Flaw - A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero.
  19. Tragic Hero - A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate, suffers a fall from glory into suffering.
  20. Climax - The turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work

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