The Renaissance
Person:
Composing an Extended Definition Essay
A Lesson
in Creative Thinking and Writing
For
High School Students
" Even such is time, which takes in trust
Our youth, our joys, and all we have,
And pays us but with age and dust;
When we have wandered all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days.
And from which earth, and grave, and dust,
The Lord shall raise me up, I trust."
....by Sir Walter Raleigh, a Renaissance Man,
....an epitaph composed before his beheading;
....Queen Elizabeth I was dead; The Renaissance was, too
Length of Time: Two ninety-minute blocks
Subjects: English, Social Studies
Learner Outcomes:
Students will read a short collection of extended
definitions.
Students will identify the qualities necessary
to be a renaissance person.
Students will learn the various etymologies
of the word renaissance.
Students will research the lives of several
historical and contemporary
figures who
may qualify as "renaissance" individuals.
Students will write their own extended definitions
of the term
"renaissance
person," after choosing a contemporary person or
character
as a subject.
Materials:
Dictionaries with extended etymologies
Copies of extended definition essays such
as "The Jerk," and "The
Monster."
Background material on The Renaissance Period
(from text or lecture).
Transparencies or PowerPoint Program for background
presentation
Technology Tools:
Computer lab with internet access
Athena and Wilson access for research
Transparency projector or computer with PowerPoint
Program and a
digital TV or other projection device
Teacher Notes:
Students must have internet access
permission forms on file at school.
Procedures:
Discuss the process of defining a word or term.
Assign the reading of one or more extended
definition essays.
Present background information and visual
material on The
Renaissance: slides of artworks, architecture,
costuming, sculpture, etc.
Discuss several historical figures who would
qualify as renaissance
persons: DeVinci, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth
I, etc., and several
contemporary persons who might or might not
qualify.
Use dictionaries to research the definition,
history and etymology of
renaissance.
Research on internet to find biographical
information on persons
suggested as being qualified.
Assign the writing of an extended definition
of "renaissance person"
using material from research to support the
definition.
Enrichment Activities:
Integrated lessons from this unit
may be taught in science and social
studies; for instance, the science teacher could teach a lesson on
Leonardo
DeVinci's contributions to the Renaissance Period, and the social studies
teacher
could discuss how the emphasis on humanism and rebirth of classical
ideas
changed people's lives following the Medieval emphasis on religion
and the
afterlife. In English class, students could choose a topic for debate
or further
research, such as whether the changes in the Renaissance were positive
for all
classes, or what the consequences might be for a person who tries to
effect
change.
IGOs: English:12.13,12:22, 12.25, 12.29, 12.31, 12.36, 12.37,
12.39, 12.45, 12.48, 12.49,
12.71, 12.73
Social
Studies: 12.14, 12.25
Evaluation/Assessment:
Journal entries on extended definition essays
Final extended definition essay written by
students
References: For internet search, use key words as follows: Renaissance,
Italian
Renaissance, English Renaissance, and use names of persons on
a list pre-selected by the teacher,
such as Leonardo DeVinci, William
Shakespeare,
Queen Elizabeth I, Thomas Jefferson.
Author: Barbara B. Scofield (with Mary Humphreys, and Joanna Smith);
Greenbrier East High School, Lewisburg,
WV 24901; email-scofieldbarbara@hotmail.com
|
lesson one |
lesson three |
lesson four |
lesson five |