Lyrical poetry of the Renaissance followed certain established modes of style and construct.Poetry concerning love, for instance, was most often composed as either a song or a sonnet (fourteen lines of rhyming verse.)Milton was later to scorn what he considered the constraining effects of rhyme, but to many poets of the time, this structure represented ideal order.Another feature of Renaissance poetry is the blazon.This is the comparison of different body parts of women to elements in nature.Feminist literary critics would later criticize this categorization of the female body as the ultimate objectification of women.Ironically, the Renaissance was also an era of successive female rulers, culminating in Queen Elizabeth, who brought a long reign of stability to England with her power and influence.Read the sonnets of Sidney, Spencer, Shakespeare, and Campion from this week’s reading list. Find one example of the blazon as used by one poet.Identify one common theme or preoccupation in all the poems, making reference to the poetry in your answer.What does this preoccupation indicate about the status of women in the Elizabethan era?Consider the love songs / lyrics from contemporary society.Are the preoccupations the same or different? Reading:Sonnet 52, by Sir Philip Sidney, p. 1094Sonnet 64, by Edmund Spencer, p. 987Sonnet 116, by William Shakespeare, p. 1182There is a garden in her face, by Campion, p. 1020Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.ReferencesGreenblatt, S., et al. (Eds.) (2012). The Norton anthology of English literature (9th ed., Vol.1). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

This project will include two parts. The first part is your reflection on an interview of your choosing from the project Documenting Diversity: Religious Perspective in Oral History. After listening to and taking notes on your chosen interview, you will write a 600 – 700-word report to include the following:The name of the interviewee.The religious background of this individual. As best you can, relate this to specific material we have covered this term. How do you think this person’s ethnic, socio-economic, racial, and/or gender identity have influenced their views on religion? A description of how this person’s ideas have changed over time.Your own reflections on the person’s story: what did you learn, what did you find interesting, what points would you agree with, where might you disagree?A description of what questions you would like to be able to ask this person.The second part will involve applying the method of the first part. Based on questions from the above interview, conduct your own oral history interview with someone you know. It might be particularly interesting for you if it is a family member from another generation. Write a 600 – 700-word report to include items 1-4 above.