Humanities and the European Background
Middle Ages (500-1500 A.D.):

• Begins with collapse of Western Roman Empire (See Timelines  )
• Ends with "discovery" of Western Hemisphere,
• Invention of printing press (1455: Gutenberg Bible),
• Break in the religous unity through Protestant Reformation, and
• Renewal of direct contact with Greek Art, Thought, and Literature

• Lyric: "a brief subjective poem strongly marked by imagination, melody, and emotion, and creating a single, unified impression" (H&H 283).
• Petrarchan Conceit: used in his love sonnets, widely imitated or ridiculed by Renaissance English sonneteers. Used "elaborate and exaggerated comparisons expressing in extravagant terms the beauty, cruelty, and charm of the Beloved and the suffering and despair of the forlorn Lover. . . .  Oxymoron is common" (H&H 370).
• Oxymoron: an expression in which the two parts appear to contradict or be incompatible.  i.e. jumbo shrimp, bittersweet, sweet sorrow, military intelligence (not widely accepted as such).
• Sonnet:  Lyric poem of 14 lines with one of various rhyme schemes (pattern of end rhyme).
• Petrarchan (Italian): Octave abba abba & Sestet cde cde or cd cd cd
• "Octave presents a narrative, states a proposition, or raises a question; the Sestet drives home the narrative by making an abstract comment, applies the proposition, or solves the problem" (H&H 476).
• Shakespearean (English):  3 Quatrains abab cdcd efef, 1 Rhymed Couplet gg
• "Structurally, the three quatrains prepare the reader for the couplet that ends the sonnet.  They present a situation, ask a question, deliver a meditation on beauty, change, or time, or identify a problem.  The result of the meditation, the resolution to the conflict contained in the situation, the answer to the question, or the problem's solution, is given in the ending couplet" (Roland 15).

• According to the editors, from where do the Humanities arise?

• In describing the emergence of a "modern" American culture, Jackson says, "On the one hand, the emerging civilizations became 'melting pots.'  On the other hand, the issues of race and class arising from colonial contacts continue powerfully" (xxvi).  What does this mean?  What is a melting pot?  Is it a good or a bad thing?
• What other developments, especially in terms of explaining the world, characterized the movement into the "the Modern"?

• When did the Medieval Period occur?
• When did the Renaissance begin?
• What characterized the transition?

• Who were the Humanists?  What did they believe?

• During which historical period did he live?

• Who was Laura?

Sonnet #3:  "It Was the Morning of That Blessed Day" (Go to Poem )

• What is "that blessed day"(1)?
• What is "the constant gate and fountain of my grief" (12)?
• Does this fit the criteria for a Petrarchan Sonnet?  A Petrarchan Conceit?  Explain.

• During which historical period did he live?

Sonnet #18:  "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" (Go to Poem )

• Which Sonnet type does this most resemble? Explain (Consider both Form and Content).
• What is the meaning of the final two lines?

Sonnet #130: "My Mistress's Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun" (Go to Poem )

• What literary techniques are used in this poem?  Provide examples.
• What characteristics, according to Shakespeare in this poem, make a woman beautiful?  Are these the same characteristics as the previous poem?  Explain.

• What is "Man's most tragic play"(8)?
• Explain: "naked to his shaft, his sheaf" (9).
• What literary techniques are used in these lines?
• What is the meaning of the final two lines?

• What literary techniques are used in this poem?  Provide examples.
• What are "the darling buds of May" (3)?  Why are they darling?
• What is the "eye of heaven" (5)?
• What are "eternal lines to time" (12)?

• Which sonnet type does this most resemble? Explain (Consider both Form and Content).
• What does "dun" (3) mean?
• What does "damasked" (5) mean?
• Is beauty a prerequisite for love, according to Shakespeare?
• Explain the final two lines.