British Literature, 6.0
A Day in the Life . . .
A Personal Journey through the English Renaissance
After conducting Internet research about life in England at this period in history, write a
diary entry from the perspective of a fictional character for September 13, 1597, that
illustrates your knowledge of life in during the English Renaissance.
You may choose to organize your diary response by recounting it chronologically or by
focusing on one major event of the day that impacted your life deeply. Analyze and
synthesize the information you gather so that you have a clear understanding of sixteenth
century life through your character's eyes.
Steps:
 Select a character to become and evaluate his/her station in life.
Research as many aspects of that person's "life" as possible using the link provided
as a start:
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/renaissanceinfo.htm
 Create an MLA Works Cited Page that accurately cites each source from which you
gather information. (I recommend www.easybib.com for help).
 Develop a creative writing diary entry that explores daily life for your character.
Requirements of the Diary Entry:
 Give your character an appropriate name - so be sure to research ENGLISH
naming customs.
 Mention at least one item of clothing that is worn, cleaned, sewn, etc. by your
character.
 Describe at least one meal or snack in detail. It could be one you prepared, ate,
served, or purchased.
 Account for your day: What occupied your time? Be as specific as possible.
Describe the feelings, troubles, and triumphs of your day. Little anecdotes about
these will give a richness and texture to your work.
 Allow your character some free time for leisure and entertainment, as is appropriate
for that character. Describe what your character does for fun or relaxation.
 Recount dialogue between characters that incorporates period sayings and
language common to this era. Use proper dialogue rules (see link on my webpage)
if you are unsure how to write conversation.
 Build your character's "character", such as details on the home you live in, family
life, love, intrigue, hobbies or vices, money, education (if any!) and, of course,
religious beliefs.
Due Date: ________________________________________
You will submit your MLA Works Cited Page and typed, double-spaced, 250-500 word
diary entry in class.
Grading:
Works Cited Page = 10 points (proper MLA format and at least 3 sources cited).
“Day in the Life” Diary Entry = 100 points, rubric assessment (see back)
British Literature, 6.0
Writing
Rubric for
Renaissance
Diary
20 – 16 pts
A-B
15 – 12
C-D
11 – 0
F
The character is lifelike, has
a name, friends & relatives,
traits that reveal character.
Character
Character is described in
development detail, as well as given
psychological and emotional
depth. Writer establishes
empathy for this character's
world and way of life.
The character is
satisfactorily described
The character has a name,
with a name, some
some contact with others,
friends &/or relatives, and and few personality traits
given some personality
are visible. Little effort is
traits. Some effort is made
made to describe the
to describe psychological
psychological or emotional
and emotional depth.
makeup of the character.
Writer establishes some
Writer gives little evidence
empathy for the
of empathy for the
character's world and way character's world or life.
of life.
The entry is rich with
incidents that reveal both the
character and world around
him/her. Historical accuracy
is established from analysis of
Organization
research materials and
and Detail
synthesis of this information
to create a believable
document. There is
thoughtful organization of
information so that the entry
is a complete, unified whole.
The entry contains
incidents that partially
reveal the world around
character. Effort is made
to establish historical
accuracy with some
synthesis of information to
create a believable
document. Effort is made
to organize information so
that it is complete work.
The entry has an incident
that hints at the world in
which this character
resides. There is little or
no historical accuracy or
synthesis, but rather
reporting of material
without context. Effort
lacks an organizational
plan.
The writer takes a stance to
establish the character's voice
and consistently reflects this
stance in the recounting of
events of the day in ways that
reflect an understanding of
the character's station and
outlook on life.
The writer takes a stance
to establish the character's
voice and attempts to
reflect this stance by
recounting events of the
day that show some
understanding of the
character's station and
outlook on life.
The writer's stance on the
character's voice is weak
and/or fails to reflect an
understanding of the
character's voice. Events,
if recounted, do not give
evidence that the writer
understands the
character's station and
outlook on life.
The character is placed into
situations that require
him/her to interact with
others of the community, and
the resulting dialogue is
complete and correct in
format.
The character is placed
into a situation with some
interaction with others, but
dialogue may lack
completion or have some
errors that interfere with
understanding.
The character interacts
very little with others; the
interaction may be unclear
or lack context. The
dialogue has many errors
that interfere with
understanding.
The diary entry has no errors
in usage or conventions that
interfere with meaning.
(Entries may employ
spellings and grammatical
idioms common to the era
and this will not detract from
the piece if used properly.)
The diary entry has some
errors in usage or
conventions that
somewhat interfere with
meaning.
The diary entry has many
errors in usage or
conventions that interfere
a great deal with meaning.
Tone and
Voice
Dialogue
Language
Conventions