Unit 11
Arts and Creation
Why Is the Renaissance Important?
Exercise From the Book:
Ways with words
A) Circle the correct meanings of the underlined words.
a) Martin Luther started a revolt against the conventions of the Roman Catholic Church.
i. styles ii. creations iii. customs iv. writings
b) It blended classical styles with new ideas.
i. separated ii. corrected iii. put side by side iv. mixed together
c) The dome marks the beginning of Renaissance architecture.
i. indicates ii. tells iii. serves as a sign of iv. makes
d) The arts flourished during the Renaissance.
i. were almost forgotten ii. grew and improved iii. discovered iv. stayed about the same
e) The new passion for learning also led to amazing discoveries in science.
i.enthusiasm ii. emotion iii. logic iv. Power
Class 11 New Compulsory English Unit 11 Arts and Creation Why Is the Renaissance Important? Exercise
C. What do the following idioms mean? Use them in sensible sentences.
a hot potato
Ans: a situation or subject that people disagree strongly about
The issue of media control is a political hot potato in the world.
once in a blue moon
Ans: Very rarely
I don’t know why she bought that music system – she uses it once in a blue moon.
a bed of roses
Ans: Easy situation or activity
The life of the president family is a bed of roses.
when pigs fly
Ans: unlikely to ever happen
She asked her mother if she could go on a month vacation with friends, she said yes, when pigs fly!
miss the boat
Ans: to lose an opportunity to do something
There were cheap t shirts available last week, but he missed the boat by waiting till today.
zip your lip
Ans: to say nothing
I zipped my lip for the entire discussion to listen them carefully.
fight tooth and nail
Ans : with every available means He vowed to fight tooth and nail to prove his innocence in court.
when life gives you lemon, make lemonade
Ans : turn something negative into a positive/you should face difficult situations in life as a challenge
My sister lost her job due to the Coronavirus, but she decided to wait. She says, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
goose egg
Ans : zero
They played very well, but the score was goose egg.
D. Match the following phrasal verbs with their meanings.
| Ans: | |
| a. break down | xi. to stop functioning (vehicle, machine) |
| b. check out | ix. to leave a hotel |
| c. fed up | vii. tired of something or someone |
| d. fill out | xii. to complete a form |
| e. get away | x. to escape |
| f. give away | viii. to give something to someone for free |
| g. give up | iii. to quit a habit |
| h. look forward to | vi. to wait anxiously for something or an event |
| i. make up | ii. to invent a story or lie |
| j. pass away | v. to die |
| k. put out | i. to extinguish (fire) |
| l. take off | iv. to remove clothes or shoes from the body, to depart as in airplane |
Comprehension
A) Answer these questions.
a) What does the word Renaissance mean? Which language is it derived from?
Answer: Renaissance means “rebirth”. It is derived from French.
b) What did the Greek scholars do in their new locations after leaving the Greek city?
Answer: Greek scholars left Constantinople and settled in other parts of Europe. In these new locations, they taught Greek and shared their precious books.
c) How did ‘new learning’ teach people to think in different ways?
Answer: The “new learning” taught people to think in new ways because it encouraged gifted people to paint pictures, make statues and buildings, and write great literature.
d) Describe the artistic developments of Renaissance in brief.
Answer: The artistic developments of the Renaissance first happened in the Italian city of Florence, and then they spread to other Italian cities. As a result of trade and banking, cities like Florence, Venice, and Milan became very wealthy, and their rich citizens had both the time and money to enjoy music, art, and poetry. These cities produced great painters and sculptors, like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael. These artists created some of history’s finest works of art. For example, Michelangelo spent four years painting thousands of feet of curved ceiling in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
e) Name the three Renaissance scientists who made great discoveries?
Answer: Galileo, Kepler, and Newton were the three Renaissance scientists who made great discoveries.
f) Who developed the printing press? Which country was he from?
Answer: The printing press was developed by Johannes Gutenberg who was from Germany.
g) Why is the development of the printing press considered as one of the gifts of Renaissance?
Answer: Printing was a very important invention. With it, books were made more cheaply and quickly than ever. Printing helped make the works of the best writers and all kinds of knowledge available to all.
h) Name the five famous explorers of the Renaissance?
Answer: The five famous explorers of the Renaissance were Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Cabot, Magellan, and Drake.
i) Why do some people think of the Renaissance as the beginning of modern history?
Answer: From the discovery of printing to a renewed interest in art and literature and the discovery of new lands—affected almost every area of European life. They also formed the basis for many parts of our modern life and beliefs. This is why some people think of the Renaissance as the beginning of modern history.
B) What do you infer from the reading? Tick (√) the best answer.
a) Before the Renaissance…
i.middle-class people did a lot of reading.
ii. education was limited to scholars and privileged people. √
iii. people wanted to change their lives but couldn’t.
iv. people were eager to learn new things.
b) Which statement is true?
i.The Greeks had a strong influence on Renaissance thinking. √
ii. France was the birthplace of the Renaissance.
iii. Turkish scholars spread their knowledge throughout Europe.
iv. German philosophers were responsible for starting the Renaissance.
c) What did the Renaissance do?
i. It helped leaders maintain control over the middle class.
ii. It discouraged people to go against traditional beliefs.
iii. It caused people to make changes in their lives.√
iv. It influenced people to fight against each other.
d) What were the major causes of the Renaissance?
i. changes in government
ii. explorations of new lands
iii. new artists and writers who created great works
iv. √printing, reading and learning
Critical thinking
A) Do you agree with Machiavelli’s view that a good leader can do bad and dishonest things in order to preserve his power and protect his government? Explain.
Ans: Yes, I agree with Machiavelli’s view that a good leader can do bad and dishonest things in order to preserve his power and protect his government. The leader turns to be cunning and manipulative to change his follower’s mind. He/She can use whatever means necessary to gain political power and protect his government. Such leaders have negative effects on good governance. Leaders start to lie, manipulate and use persuasive language to its people to serve their own needs by hook or crook. They not only use formal power but also engages in techniques to boost their own self-worth. They use impressive management skill to influence others. They wanted to maximize opportunities for their own personal power.
B) Do you think that art and literature are important assets of a country? Give reasons.
Ans: Art and literature are very important assets of our country. It is a form of human expression to express the reality of our society. Artist explores his/her ideas, feelings and experience through it to improve the quality of a country. Because of art and literature human beings can explore their inner feelings and emotions. So, it helps to give an outlet to human emotions. They can improve the quality of a nation. Art and literature is an important tool to communicate with a country.
Art and literature can lead and uplift skills on society with their artistic works. Artists are the most important members of our society. They give innovative ideas for better development of a country with their future vision. Leonardo da Vinci had mentioned the importance of art as ‘the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to the generations of the world’.
Art and literature influence society by changing opinions, instilling values and providing experiences across space and time. Arts like painting, sculpture, music, literature often functions as a collective memory of our society. We can easily know our society’s history by studying art and literature of past. So, it is a valuable asset of a country.
Writing
a) Write an essay on “Literature is the reflection of society.”
Ans: Literature is the reflection of society. It functions as a mirror of our society. It reflects social, economical, cultural, political, ecological, scientific, historical and moral aspects of our society. It captures good and bad aspect of our society to help people know their society better. It is connected with human feelings and emotions. It has corrective function. It mirrors the ills of our contemporary society. It wants to correct bad aspects of our society. Just like a mirror reflects our image in it, literature reflects our society. Realistic literature captures real images of our society but romantic literature gives imaginative life of most of the people of our society.
It also shows good values of our society to make people follow it. Literature imitates both good and bad human action from our society. It tries to capture society as it is. It captures people’s behavior, thinking, nature and experience to explore it in its inner level. All parts of literature like poetry, drama, novel, and story designed to portray human life and experience. Literature gives entertainment as well as information. We also learn life skills from religious literature like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
b) It is said that today’s reader is tomorrow’s leader. Do you agree with this statement? Explain.
Ans: Yes, I agree with the statement that today’s reader is tomorrow’s leader. The statement shows the importance of reading as a source to gain knowledge. If we learn today, our tomorrow will be better. The statement hints that knowledge is the basic foundation for the great leaders of future.
If our leader doesn’t have proper reading and learning capacity, they can’t lead your nation well. So, knowledge is basic thing for a nation to bring wise and capable leaders. Leaders of your country can make mistakes and lead your country towards a bay. If you commit a mistake then you can correct it and move on but if your country leader commits a single mistake then it will affect your entire country’s people. So, knowledge is a basic skill for a nation to bring changes in it. Leaders must be well-informed, studious and wise to lead a nation to progress, prosperity, peace and happiness.
We are living in digital era of 21st century. We not only rely on school knowledge but we can also learn from internet and experts around you. So, you enrich your thinking capacity and broaden your mind by learning new things daily to be a great leader of tomorrow.
D) Write a short biography of a national literary, artistic or historical figure you appreciate most.
Ans: Laxmi Prasad Devkota is a national literary of Nepal. Devkota was born on Kartik 27 1966 B.S. He was born in Dhobidhara, Kathmandu. His parents were Teel Madhav Devkota and Amar Rajya Lakshmi Devi. He got his basic education from his father because he was a teacher. He started his formal education from Durbar High School. He finished his matriculation from Patna. He completed his graduation from Patna University. After completing his graduation, at the beginning he became a lawyer. Later on, he started a job in Nepal Bhasaanuwad Parishad.
He was the first literary of Nepal to start Romanticism in litertature. He also introduced epic poems in Nepali literature. He started innovation in nepali literary language. He wrote most famous Nepali epic Muna Madan in 1930 in folk tone. Muna Madan is still popular not only in Nepal but also in India. It is the best-selling book in the history of Nepali literature. The epic depicts hardships of the contemporary society’s people. It also captures caste discrimination in the contemporary Nepali society. His romantic poems were influenced by English Romantic poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge. He is considered the father of the modern Nepali essay. Devkota died on 14 September 1959 because of cancer.
Class 11 New Compulsory English Unit 11 Arts and Creation Why Is the Renaissance Important? Exercise