History 6
Mrs. Ancona
The Renaissance was a cultural “rebirth” that sparked the beginning of the modern era. Advancements in painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, literature, anatomy, and several other disciplines opened the eyes of the world to endless possibilities of what human beings could accomplish when given the time and resources to let imagination flourish.
For the Renaissance project, you will select one influential figure from the
Renaissance that you find to be intriguing and inspiring. In the spirit of the
Renaissance, you will be required to use a variety of your skills.
Part I: The Write-Up (100 points)
First and foremost, this project is a written piece that requires you to answer some basic questions about this Renaissance figure. The written piece will be at 1.5 pages but no longer than 2.5 pages and will focus on the following questions:
--What contribution (s) did this person make to society? Describe some of the works that made the person famous.
--How did this person’s life or background influence his/her achievements? Were they impacted by other Renaissance figures, or by earlier time periods such as
Medieval or Classical?
-- How did these contributions impact the world at that time? Were they copied by others? Has their impact extended until today?
We will work in class on structuring a coherent 5 paragraph essay that focuses on answering these essential questions. The key to this written piece will be formulating a powerful yet concise thesis statement that clearly states in a single sentence why these Renaissance figures were important. This foundation sentence will serve as the basis for the rest of your written piece.
Part II: Citations
In citing historical information, you need to give credit to the sources you use in a project. With this project, you will learn the proper way to include quotations and direct evidence in your work.

As part of this project, you will be required to include at least 5 citations in your piece from at least three sources (including at least one print and one online source). You may use more than three sources, but five is the maximum. You will need to include at least one direct quote. As you read and gather information, you will use Noodle Tools to make electronic note cards to catalog your findings.
You will also be responsible for giving full credit in a works cited page.
Part III: The Creation
Here is the fun part! This is your opportunity to create something in the spirit of your famous Renaissance figure. You are encouraged to try something here that appeals to you; it can be something you enjoy, or it can be a fresh challenge that you find appealing. Remember, we are not expecting you to be
Michelangelo or da Vinci; we simply want you to explore and have some fun with this aspect of the project. Your grade on this part of the project will mostly depend on your effort, craftsmanship, and creativity.
Here are some of your choices:
Leonardo da Vinci
1.
Create a painting in the style of da Vinci.
2.
Imagining you are the young inventor himself living during the Renaissance, sketch a drawing of a modern invention and explain this invention in a few
3.
paragraphs.
Craft a drawing using charcoal.
Michelangelo Buonarotti
1.
Assume the role of a Renaissance sculptor, and sculpt a figure out of clay.
2.
Create a painting in the style of Michelangelo.
Johannes Gutenberg
1.
Create your own font that could be used for a printing press. You can begin by making the font on flat paper and then try to carve some actual letters out of soap or linoleum tiles.
Francesco Petrarch
1.
Craft a Petrarchan sonnet on the topic of your choice.
Raphael Sanzio
1.
Paint a portrait of someone of your choice.
2.
3.
Create a painting or drawing in the style of Raphael.
As a competing Renaissance artist, compose a speech criticizing Raphael for
“copying” other artists’ styles.

3.
4.
5.
6.
Niccolo Machiavelli
1.
Create a short skit that involves someone coming to Machiavelli for advice about how to solve a dilemma. In the resolution of the dilemma, show Machiavelli’s
2.
2.
point of view about how to resolve problems.
Make a board game that is based on Machiavellian principles.
Filippo Brunelleschi
1.
Draw a building of your choice using one point perspective.
Create a floor plan for a building using proportion and scale.
Miguel de Cervantes
1.
Write a short story (2-3 pages) using the theme of Don Quixote.
William Shakespeare
1.
2.
Craft a Shakespearean sonnet on the topic of your choice.
Rewrite a short scene from a Shakespeare play in modern day language. Include a brief introduction that describes the play, the setting, and the conflict so the readers/viewers understand the scenario.
Sing a song from one of Shakespeare’s plays.
With a guitar or a recorder, play a song.
Do an interpretive dance to a song from a Shakespeare play.
Compose your own musical piece that might belong in a Shakespeare work and play it for the class.
Claudio Monteverdi
1. Sing a piece of music composed by Monteverdi.
Giorgio Vasari
1.
In the spirit of the first “art historian” who coined the phrase “The
Renaissance,” create a pamphlet of several famous Renaissance artists and critique their works.
Sandro Botticelli
1.
1.
Create a painting in the style of Botticelli.
Sir Isaac Newton
Write a lab report and conduct an experiment as Sir Isaac Newton explaining how white light can be divided into seven colors of the visible spectrum.
Galileo Galilei
1.
Write a lab report and conduct an experiment showing how objects of unequal weight fall at the same rate.

Lorenzo Ghiberti
1.
Make a bas relief sculpture out of tin foil. Carve a “scene” on the back with a blunt tool so that it pushes out into a sculpture.
Albrecht Dürer
1.
Create a drawing in the unique style of Dürer.
Peter Brueghel
1.
Create or draw a painting in the style of Brueghel.
Dante Alighieri
1.
Write and perform a monologue describing an imaginary journey through one of the nine circles of Hell.
Nicolaus Copernicus
1.
Make a diorama of the solar system and explain your theory.
Lorenzo de Medici
1.
Make a propaganda poster showcasing the wonders of the Renaissance to convince people to come to Florence.
Judith Leyster
1.
Create a painting or drawing in the style of Leyster.
Diego Velasquez
1.
Create a painting or drawing in the style of Velasquez.
Jan Van Eyck
1.
Create a painting or drawing in the style of Van Eyck.
Thomas More
1.
Write and perform a monologue as More criticizing the current political system and explaining how to make it a utopia.
El Greco
1.
Create a painting or drawing in the style of El Greco.
Antonio Vivaldi
1.
Perform a selection from The Four Seasons on a stringed instrument; explain why the selection you perform is typical of Vivaldi’s style of music

For the presentation, we will all travel back in time to the Renaissance where there is a fair being held to allow all of the important figures of the day to come together and explain their work. You will be required to present your work to the class as if you were your Renaissance figure. You will give a short background about your life and why you are important. Then, you will “present or perform” depending on the project. For example, if you are doing a speech, a monologue, a song, a dance, a poem, etc., you will perform these in front of the class as if you were truly the famous person. If you created a physical product such as a painting or a sculpture, you will simply show and explain your work. Try to get into character to demonstrate how that person would have thought and acted!
Enjoy this journey through the Renaissance! I am looking forward to seeing your work!