The Renaissance in Summation

I have been given the arduous task of delineating, defending, and describing a letter grade for my performance in the course.  I must simultaneously perform a measure of humility in the same breath as attempting to get the grade I want, I must be both self critical and self praising.  After all this is considered, I ever so cautiously, with begrudging humility, extend the rough estimate of an earned A.  I base this hopeful grade off of my achievements in reaching the course objectives, which can be summarized in the ability to 1.) remember and explicate crucial information to the Renaissance ideals, history, and developments, 2.) to draw analysis and interpretation from the formal materials of the Renaissance, and 3.) develop and display the capabilities necessary to construct meaningful discussion in and out of class and performing the responsibilities of a student in prior and subsequent class participation.  As an aside, those of you have kept up with my blog will attest that I struggle with constructing lucid and concise works, or blog entries in the very least, so I will attempt to construct a less convoluted entry here.

Weaknesses:

Honestly, my alacrity to see to the completion of blogs was sorrowfully lacking towards the end of our time in Italy. I have never been much of a journal keeper, so to think of the blog as being different was foolish of me to begin with!  Though I did achieve the completion of my blogs, the last set was likely a bit late.  This is due in large part to my own (self-made) over-booked schedule but in the same breath I must admit that this delay led to a deal of critical exercise that should have been performed prior to class undone.  The result had my cogitations overly concerned with their own mental gears over the class materials being covered, towards the end of the course at least.  This came especially to head towards the end of the trip in Italy.  Whereas they may now be complete and sufficient, their times of submission were wanting in many cases.

I think I was often times too hasty in my drawn connections between the Renaissance especially in class.  Perhaps this is a product of my last short coming, but I often times purported theses in class that were either untenable or outright rejected by the professor in class.  These points are perhaps interpreted by some as something less threatening, just an inquisitive student testing the waters of his own suspicions, but I know that I at least struggle very much with my suspicions being wrong!  I wouldn't go so far as to say the connections were ill-established, but rather something that was unfounded or an act of pushing the connection attempts to hard.  Whatever the case may be, I recall this experience of my time in Italy with some certain self frustration, which I must take certain steps towards preventing the generation of self deprecation therefrom.

Though, in general I kept up with class reading well, there was indeed a day, the very last one, where I was utterly unprepared for the class discussion.  I had not read the material and was therefore struggling verily to stay on top of the discussion at hand. Recognizing this and admitting this is made most difficult though, in knowing just how badly I wanted to read the materials and have them done for class on time.  But alas, no one is perfect.

I think I also struggled somewhat with the side of analysis of the texts we were presented.  From both too much and too little education on the topic, I was incapable of properly analyzing music and painted/sculpted/visually inclined art respectively.  The result had me working hard, spinning my wheels to learn and wrap my head around the topics at hand the first week.  It took quite a few weeks for me to empty my head/become receptive enough to graciously accept my education and craft something like an understanding or operational basis for the texts we studied.

Strengths:

It is perhaps my blogs that best show my progression in the course, to evince a gradual growth that I had not boasted priorly.  In recognizing the humanism of the Renaissance, especially the civic and secular, one need look no further than my The Grecian gods, the Christian God(s?), and David post, which addresses the civic and nearly godlike position David served for the city of Firenze and how well this reflects the sense of humanism, among other things, that grew out of the Renaissance.  It is a crucial conglomerate of the fields of recalling Renaissance facts and combining that with the analysis, a kind of formal-critical analysis hybrid that is but one of the few gems that sprinkles my blog postings.  Though the assertion that David serves a similar kind of role to the very Grecian ideal of possessing a city-claimed deity as their own is perhaps arguable, the crucial steps for the course encourage the act and praxis of the course goals and not solely unerring products of comparison!  Thus my post boasts a sort of potent and heart felt attempt at seeing through both formal and critical analysis.

In regards to class participation, homework, and blogs, I see my performance as devoted with every human attempt at serving the course objectives, class mates (professors included), and provided texts with the utmost in respect and frank compassion.  Not only did I internalize my relationship with my classmates and those very important around me, but I adopted the Renaissance material as something new and old (perhaps a rebirth thereof?).  This course has become something foundational, formational, and phenomenal.  As such, I have learned to find friends not only in the present, but through the texts of the past.

Finally, I think my further application of the Renaissance texts we covered have evinced a sort of strengthened world understanding, not solely historically, but spiritually, academically, and internationally as well.  Recognizing the influence of the Renaissance on the West is a potent practice that shall admittedly benefit me for the rest of my life.  I have had several conversations, spanning from inquisitive souls just wanting a tip of the iceberg to delineate my experiences in Italy, to the most well educated scholars on some topics.  Here's the shocker: I was able to hold my own, regardless of the situation!  Instead of seeing myself above or below these peoples, as if we all climbed Jacob's ladder in Pico's example, I am on an equal field of humanism with all peoples, capable of explicating to the simple minded and swim in the deep end with the pros (if perhaps struggling to keep my head above the water at times).  This product shows me that my ability to recall the texts covered, places visited, and the like, by far exceeds anything I could have once hoped.  I thanks God daily for the influence of this trip in my life and my daily interaction with others that has ensued.

In summation:

Overall, I have lived through the progression of learning something I already knew!  Much like Plato argues that people already knew the truth that he helps to elicit from them, I see myself in a similar boat, that I always was a Renaissance-kind of guy and am just now able to apply that idea knowledgeably and responsibly in my life.  Going in to the course I exercised a kind of snobbery that would suggest I know it all and need not listen, but this mindset got me no where and I see this as having shifted largely to accommodate honest and hopefully more humble learning.  I think that I am now, at least cognitively, much more in touch with those of the ancient world and the Renaissance world, that my thinking has blossomed in a (re)rebirth so that I now can revel in a sort of modern old version of something grand.  I am admittedly more influenced by Catholicism, which I am pleased with and at least religiously feel much more in touch with my Christian roots.  To say who I am is radical and changed is an understatement.  I understand radical comes from the Latin word radix meaning root (according to Dictionary.com).  This is what I have become, the very embodiment of what my great catholic friend, Dr. Carscadon continues to admonish me: "The stream is always more pure at its source.  To do something truly original and authentic, do something old and radical." (pardon my paraphrase)  This being said, I think my thinking and learning has developed into something much more radical, humble, liberal(-artsy), and open minded and I am proud of it!