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| Overview |
 After reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet, students use visual and literary tools to identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism. Students will analyze Botticelli’s painting by sketching it and then taking notes in relation to specific elements in the painting. Next, students explore how literary elements in Hamlet reflect Renaissance Humanism. Finally, students will explain in writing how the elements in The Birth of Venus and Hamlet establish them as examples of Renaissance Humanism. While this lesson focuses on Hamlet in its examples, any Shakespearean play could be substituted for the analysis.
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| From Theory to Practice |
In the introduction of his Reading in the Dark, John Golden states, “Kids
tend to be visually oriented, able to point out every significant image in
a three-minute MTV music video, but when it comes to doing the same with a written
text, they stare at it as if they are reading German.” Golden goes on
to state “the skills they use to decode the visual image are the
same skills they use for a written text” (xiii). Golden’s book
outlines how to use film to help students practice their skills so they can
then be transferred to written texts. The following lesson is based on the
same principle but uses a work of art instead of a film to help students reinforce
the same skills that are used to analyze a work of literature.
Further Reading
Golden, John. 2001. Reading in the Dark: Using Film as a Tool in the English
Classroom. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
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| Student Objectives |
Students will
- Identify and explain how the characteristics and concepts of a literary genre
are reflected in a work of art and piece of literature.
- Analyze the overall
significance, meaning, and theme of a work of art and literature through
an explication of its individual elements.
- Examine the details in a work of
art by sketching and labeling its major elements.
- Synthesize knowledge of the ways that a painting uses subject, symbolism,
color and light, composition, movement, and perspective to draw conclusions
about the overall tone and theme of a work of art.
- Use literary tools (diction,
symbolism, characterization, tone, and elements of plot) to analyze and explain
how specific elements establish the tone
and theme of a work of art and a piece of literature.
- Explain how the
elements establish both a work of art and a piece of literature as examples
of Renaissance Humanism.
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| Instructional Plan |
Resources
Preparation
Instruction and Activities
Session One: Defining Renaissance Humanism
- Introduce the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism using the
Renaissance Humanism Student
Interactive. Students can explore the interactive individually if computer
resources allow, or the interactive can be projected using an LCD projector.
- If desired, pause during the presentation to ask students to share examples
from their readings that demonstrate the characteristics. These brainstormed
ideas can be gathered on the board or on chart paper so that students can
return to the list in later sessions.
- Additionally, students can read and take notes on the definition and
major characteristics of
Renaissance
Humanism
contained
in their classroom literature anthology, in a book such as The
Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, or on the Lecture
on Renaissance Humanism Web page.
Additional resources are available below in the Web Resources.
- By the end of this session, students should have identified and be able
to explain the following characteristics of Renaissance Humanism:
- Marked by a revival of interest in Classical literature and thought
(ancient Greek and Roman)
- Was a European phenomenon that was more worldly and secular than
the preceding Medieval period
- Focused on anthropocentric ideas, seeking to dignify and
ennoble humans
- Regarded humans as the crown of creation
- Sought to civilize humans and help them realize their potential powers
and gifts as well as to reduce the discrepancy between human potential
and achievement
- Concentrated on the perfection of a
worldly life, rather than on the preparation for an eternal and spiritual
life
- Increasingly regarded humans as creatures perfectible on earth
Session Two: Identifying Renaissance Humanism in The Tragedy of Hamlet
- Review the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism, showing students
where to find the resources used in the previous session such as the Renaissance
Humanism Student Interactive or the Lecture
on Renaissance Humanism Web page. If you created a list of characteristics
and/or examples in the previous session, point students to this resource
as well.
- Pass out the Renaissance
Humanism in Hamlet Handout.
- Explain that students
will complete the chart by identifying an example from Hamlet, connecting
the example to a characteristic of Renaissance Humanism, and explaining
why the example reflects the characteristic.
Explain that students will use the information that they gather to write an essay
later in this unit.
- Encourage students to return to the resources on Renaissance Humanism as
needed.
- Circulate among students, answering questions, providing supportive feedback,
and noting progress. By the end of this session, students should have a working
knowledge of the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism.
Session Three: Artwork Explication of The Birth of Venus
- Answer any questions about the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism
that have arisen as students worked. Remind students where to locate the
resources they can use as they work on this project.
- Share Botticelli’s The
Birth of Venus with students, providing
basic background information about the painting and Botticelli. The painting
was painted in approximately 1485-86 for the villa of Lorenzo di
Pierfrancesco de Medici at Castello and measures 67.3 x 108.5 inches (172.5
x 278.5 cm).
- Invite students to identify Venus, or simply explain that she is the Roman
goddess of Love and Beauty.
- Identify the other figures in the painting, so that students
have a shared vocabulary for their discussion:
- Zephyr, the West Wind, is on the left front
- Chloris, a nymph, is on the left, beside Zephyr
- The Nymph of Spring is on the right
- Alternately, you might point students to the explanation
of the figures on the WebMuseum site.
- Pass out the Art
Explication: The Birth of Venus by Botticelli Handout.
- Explain that students will work in small groups to sketch and
label the painting’s major elements, in response to the questions on the
handout. Remind students
that they will use the information that they gather in class discussion
as well as to write an essay later in this unit.
- Answer any questions about the activity, and divide students into groups
of approximately four each.
- Encourage students to return to the resources on Renaissance Humanism as
needed.
- Circulate among students, answering questions, providing supportive feedback,
and noting progress.
Session Four: Conduct a class discussion of The Birth of Venus
- Invite students to reflect on their analysis of Botticelli’s painting,
focusing the discussion on the question “How
do individual elements in The
Birth of
Venus reflect the characteristics
of Renaissance Humanism?” Encourage students to refer to specific
elements in the painting to support their answers.
- Use the following list of features in the painting to help students
identify the major elements in the painting:
- Venus’ sacred roses falling from the top left corner
- Zephyr the west wind blowing wind onto Venus
- Chloris the nymph, who later became Flora the goddess, is held by Zephyr
- Waves in stylized V shapes
- Venus imitating a pose of a famous antique Roman statue
- The faraway look in Venus’ eyes
- Orange grove on the right hand side
- A nymph representing spring moves in from the right and attempts to cover Venus
- A single blue anemone flower blooms at the feet of the nymph of Spring
- If desired, review the analysis
of these elements on the World Art Treasures
site.
Extensions
- Students can explore another
of Botticelli’s paintings and identify characteristics
of Renaissance art and humanism. Botticelli’s companion to The Birth of
Venus, the painting La
Primavera provides an interesting contrast to the
analysis students complete in Sessions Three and Four. Share the Berger
Foundations’ explanation of the relationship between the two paintings
to encourage a more thorough analysis.
- Take the opportunity to explore Renaissance Humanism with a focus on race, gender, and class—begin by asking students just how human is defined in these works and extend the conversation to thinking about who is missing from the Renaissance's ideal. Can any human be “the crown of creation”?
Web Resources
- Definitions and Explanations of Renaissance Humanism
- The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/humanism.html
Renaissance: Printing and Thinking
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance/printing_sub.html
Rome Reborn: The
Vatican Library & Renaissance Culture, from the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/vatican/humanism.html
Renaissance Humanism, from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_humanism/
Renaissance
Humanism, from The Dictionary of the History of Ideas
(From The Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia Library)
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhiana.cgi?id=dv4-19
- WebMuseum’s Biographical
Information on Botticelli
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/
- In addition to providing background information on the artist, this collection
includes Web reproductions of five additional paintings.
- International Visual Literacy Association: Visual Literacy Portal
http://www.ivla.org/portal/intro.htm
- This page offers links to visual literacy resources including research, teaching and learning tools, online publications, museum Web sites, and more.
- World Art Treasures
http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/Home/high_botticelli.html
- This site provides background information on Botticelli as well as an explanation and analysis of The Birth of Venus.
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| Student Assessment/Reflections |
Based on their investigation of Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The
Birth of Venus, ask students to write an essay that identifies, analyzes,
and explains how two elements from The Birth of Venus and two examples
from The Tragedy of Hamlet reflect a
characteristic of Renaissance Humanism.
Share the Explication
Essay Checklist and/or the Explication
Essay Rubric before
students begin so that they can monitor their own progress as they work.
Students can write formal papers or complete this activity in their journals. You
can use the Explication
Essay Checklist as
a grading sheet, if desired. For more formal assessment, use the Explication
Essay Rubric.
As an alternate assessment, you can ask students to write a letter
from Shakespeare to Botticelli (or vice versa) complimenting him on how
their two works are
similar. |
1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
2 - Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
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