34 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Causes and Effects of the Renaissance
What? Causes and Effects of the Renaissance Annotated Poster (modified from Kelly Knight)
Students will use informational text to analyze causes and effects of the Renaissance. Students will identify if something is a cause or effect of the Renaissance
and provide justification for this using text based evidence. Students will create an annotated poster that categorizes and explains the causes and effects of
the Renaissance.
Why? This performance task will allow students to understand the political, economic, religious, and social influences that led to the Renaissance. Students
will also be able to understand how the Renaissance influenced the Age of Exploration and the Great Global Convergence. The developments of the
Renaissance influenced Europe and the rest of the world in a variety of ways, and this performance task will allow students to understand how and why this
happened.
How: Students will choose to work collaboratively or individually to analyze informational text and images. Students will decide if each event is a cause or
effect and explain what evidence they have to justify their claim. Students will then decide if this is a political, economic, religious, or social influence.
Students will then write a 1-2 sentence summary statement for each event. Students will then create a poster and annotate their poster using their summary
statements.
Explanation:
You are going to read information about the 4 important causes and the 4 effects of the Renaissance, and create a poster about it as a group.
Directions
1.
For each one, you must first decide if it is a cause or an effect.
a. Cause – the reason that something happens
b. Effect – what happens as the result of an event
2. Next, you need to decide if it is a political, economic, social/cultural, or religious reason.
*Political – having to do with government or politics, rulers, etc.
*Economic – having to do with money and the economy, the way money is made and spent
*Social/cultural – having to do with the way people interact with each other, what they think is important, and the things that they create
*religious – having to do with religion, ideas about God and morality
35 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
3.
You then need to write a summary statement for each effect or cause. Each summary statement should be 1-2 sentences and completely in your
own words.
Each summary statement should use the following format:
*___________________ is a cause of the Renaissance because ….
Or
*___________________ is an effect of the Renaissance because…
The goal of the summary statement is for you to explain how/why this thing is a cause/effect of the Renaissance.
4.
Lastly, you are going to create a large poster as a group.
The poster will use the cause/effect thinking map shown below. In each box, you will write your summary statement. Make sure to label each box and
also write if it is political, economic, etc. The title of your poster should be ‘The Causes and Effects of the Renaissance”. DO NOT WRITE on the
information sheets and return them to me!
5.
See the attached rubric for how your poster will be graded.
36 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
The Renaissance
37 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
POINTS
10 points
Summary statements
The group writes all
summary statement in
their own words, and
they are carefully
thought out.
Correct category
The group correctly
places all items into the
correct category.
Following of Directions
The group follows all of
the directions given
without the teacher
redirecting them.
7 points
The group writes most of
the summary statements
in their own words, put
in obvious effort.
The group correctly
places most items into
the categories.
The group follows most
of the directions, with
little redirection from the
teacher.
4 points
The group does not write
in their own words, but
do make an effort to use
the correct format.
The group places only a
few of the items into
the correct categories.
0 points
The group does not
complete the summary
statements.
Group Members:
Grade
Teacher comments:
/ 40
The group does not
follow all of the
directions, need
redirection from the
teacher.
The group does not
The group follows no
place the items into the directions.
correct categories.
Creativity
The group adds
appropriate visuals to
the poster that help
make the poster
interesting and more
informative.
The group adds a few
visuals that help make
the poster more
interesting.
Group effort
The group works together
well, all group members
participate without
teacher redirection
The group adds only 1
or 2 visuals, or the visual
are not appropriate for
the assignment.
The group does not work
that well together, some
do no participate or are
off task.
The group adds no
visuals.
The group does not work
together.
The group works together
well, most participate and
need very little
redirection.
38 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
** A new focus**
Humanism, and its focus on the individual, led people to focus on the study of things like history, art,
philosophy, literature, poetry, grammar, etc. In the Renaissance and beyond, the ideal person is a master in
all of these areas. The Renaissance was the time of a great artistic revolution, where many artists used the
technique of perspective and realism (making things life-like) to make very interesting paintings. Some of the
greatest artists of the Renaissance, like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael continue to inspire
people to this day.
39 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
** Increased enjoyment of worldly pleasures**
In the middle ages, people lived very simple lives – they wore simple clothing, and ate simple food. This was in
part to show their devotion to God and their focus on the afterlife. In the Renaissance, people started to focus
on the idea of humanism, which says that the individual is the most important thing. Humanists said that a
person could enjoy life on earth without offending God. In the Renaissance, the wealthy openly enjoyed
luxurious things, music, and food. The Renaissance began a focus on secular (non-religious) things, and the
life on earth rather than the afterlife.
40 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
**Increased patronage of the arts**
During the Renaissance, both wealthy families and the church spent huge amounts of money on art. The
wealthy were patrons of the arts, meaning they supported artists by giving them money to create their art.
Without these patrons, the great works of art of the Renaissance never would have been created. Wealthy
family could demonstrate their own importance and power by displaying art they had paid for.
41 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
**New ideas about government**
A famous Renaissance writer, Niccolo Machiavelli, writes a book called The Prince. His book gives many new ideas
about how to be successful as a leader of a country. His ideas were not concerned with what was morally right, but
with what was politically effective. His book and his ideas would continue to influence politicians for hundreds of
years.
“It is better to be feared than loved, if
you cannot be both.”
“Politics have no relation to morals.”
- Machiavelli, The Prince
42 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
** Classical heritage**
Because of the crusades, the Europeans came in contact with the Byzantine (eastern European) and Muslim
world. These cultures had done a very good job of preserving and translating important works of art and
literature from the Greeks and Romans. So, the Europeans were able to gain access to these again. Also, the
Italians were surrounded with the remnants of Ancient Rome – such as their buildings, sculptures, etc. They
were strongly influenced by these things in the Renaissance.
43 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
The new merchant class
In the middle ages, there were basically two different classes of people – the wealthy (kings, nobles, knights) and
the not wealthy (peasants/serfs). After the crusades, a new class of people was created, the merchants.
Merchants are people that make their money from trading goods. The merchants became some of the wealthiest
people, and therefore most powerful people in politics. The merchants did no inherit their power, but they
earned it. Individual achievement will become an important theme of the Renaissance. Florence, an Italian citystate, came under the control of one powerful family – the Medici. The Medici had made a fortune in trade and
banking, and they began to give money to artists. This financial support started the artistic revolution of the
Renaissance.
44 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
**The growth of cities and trade**
The crusades had caused contact between the people of Europe and the Middle East. This led to increased trade,
especially of luxuries like silk and spices for the wealthy. This trade then led to the development of large city-states in
Northern Italy, like Florence and Venice. Cities are often places where people exchange new ideas, so they are the
perfect place for an intellectual revolution. The cities of Northern Italy were wealthy, and wealthy people have time
to spend on activities such as education, art, reading, and writing.
45 – Unit 1 – The Great Global Convergence
Performance Task - Renaissance
Cause or Effect of the Renaissance
**The Crusades and the Black Plague**
During the Crusades, many people died fighting to regain the holy land of Jerusalem from the Muslims. They were
fighting in the name of God. However, the crusades were mostly a failure. Additionally, millions of people had died
because of the Black Plague. People sought help from the Church and prayed that they could find a way to be saved.
However, it seemed that the Church could do nothing to stop the effects of the plague. These two things caused
many people of the time to question the teachings of the church, such as the idea that a person has to suffer on earth
in order to get the reward of heaven.