The Renaissance & Literary Devices PDF

Session 2 The Renaissance  Technology that made Renaissance possible the magnetic compass, which allowed ships to sail across the oceans; gunpowder, which destroyed the power of feudalism; printing which made knowledge accessible. The Great Chain of Being  The Great Chain...

Session 2 The Renaissance  Technology that made Renaissance possible the magnetic compass, which allowed ships to sail across the oceans; gunpowder, which destroyed the power of feudalism; printing which made knowledge accessible. The Great Chain of Being  The Great Chain of Being -Hierarchical order of creation (mineral, vegetal, animal, human, angels). - implies the notion of ascent. - Man as a microcosm (sums up the faculties of other realms) - Order and unity. Providence holds everything together. Nicholas Hilliard, “Young Man among Roses “ (ca. 1685-95)  Petrarchan sonnet - Poem divided into 2 stanzas (8 line stanza followed by 6 line stanza) - Rhyming scheme (octave ABBAABBA; sestet more flexible) - Love theme => blason  Blason - comes from heraldry: depiction of coat of arms - Derived from Petrarchan adulation of feminine beauty - Metaphorizes parts of a woman’s body  W. Shakespeare Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.  Utopia - “Good place”/”Non place” - Explores ideas: social / political concern - Describes functioning of a group: perfect organization - Discontinuity with contemporary society - Remoteness: geographical component ; voyage to undiscovered place that has survived in isolation - Seen through the eyes of an outsider, with the help of a guide (here “Thomas More”)  Romance Narrative based on remoteness: - Spatial: exoticism, exploration - Temporal : ancient times - Opposed to ordinary experience: involves the supernatural –magic - No concern for verisimilitude  Iambic pentameter Verse composed of 5 iambic feet, ie feet composed of unstressed followed by stressed syllables (iamb: da DUM). [When there are no rhymes, called blank verse.] Spoken by noble characters in Shakespeare’s plays