Overview
We have just concluded our study of the leading city of the Renaissance: Florence, Italy. We have explored the layout of the city as well as important buildings and structures, typical Renaissance rhetoric as exemplified by Leonardo Bruni, the Renaissance poetry of Petrarch, and finally the visual art of Donatello, Masaccio, Michelangelo, and Botticelli. You are all experts on the city of Florence. It is now time to create your own Italian Renaissance city.
Each group must complete all of the required tasks and a few of the optional tasks. A group of three must do six tasks (five required and one optional), while a group of four must do a total of seven. Each member of your group must be the task leader for two tasks (in a group of four one member will be a leader for only one task); however, all members should contribute to some degree with each task.
Required Tasks:
- City Name -- Select a name for your city. It should have some relevance to the
Renaissance. Explain the relevance.
- City Map or Diagram -- This map or diagram should contain all of the structures and buildings that a typical Renaissance city would have. Labels do help make the map or diagram clear.
- Renaissance Rhetorical Essay or Poetry -- The essay or poetry should illustrate
your understanding of typical Renaissance writing. Look to Bruni or Petrarch
for models. The essay does not necessarily have to be a panegyric to your city;
you may write about a different Renaissance subject but be sure it still follows the Renaissance rhetorical style. If you do write poetry, create your own stylistic structure as Petrarch did with his sestina.
- Renaissance Visual Art -- Create a drawing, painting or sculpture in the
Renaissance style. Do not copy a work by an artist; rather create something of
your own. Write a supporting paragraph explaining the Renaissance
qualities that are in your work of art.
- Research Writing -- The Role of Women-- Go to the library and research the role of women during the Renaissance. (It does not have to be limited to women in Italy.) Take notes on notecards as we did with the biopoem assignment. You should have at least 20 notecards as well as source cards. Then based upon your actual historical research, write a description of the lives of Renaissance women living in your city. Include a bibliography.
Optional Tasks:
- Diagram of a Renaissance Building -- Imagine that you are designing a building in your city (a church, a palace, etc.). Draw the plans and label important structures. It would be a good idea to first study some drawings and photographs of buildings from the period.
- Creative Writing -- Write a short story or a skit that is set in your city during the Renaissance.
- Be a critic -- Select a piece of art or architecture that was produced during the
Renaissance. Imagine that you are writing a pamphlet critiquing this new work. Describe the work and offer your analysis and opinion. (You may write that the Sistine Chapel ceiling is vulgar.)
- Active Biography -- Which qualities does the "ideal person" possess in your city? Act out that person in front of the class. Props and dress will strengthen your presentation.
Each task must be accompanied by a responsibility sheet on which each group member's contribution to the task will be written and signed. All work is due at the end of class on Monday, January 11. All written work should be typed and anything that fits should be placed into a folder with pockets. Each group should select two of its pieces that will be presented during the second half of the midterm period on Thursday, January 14.
Evaluation:
You will receive an individual grade for your contribution to the group's work as well as a group grade. The individual grade will largely be determined by what is written on the responsibility sheets. The group grade will consist of a process grade and a final output grade. When the group hands in its folder and other work on the 11th, it needs to decide how much each task is to be weighted. All tasks together must equal 100%. No task can be weighted less than 10%, and no task should be weighted greater than 30%. Sorry, the city name task can only be worth 10%.
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