History Western Civilization Essay 35

What can we say about the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation?

During this time period popularity in the Catholic church was declining. The decline in mass and in religious practices were very high and people became more focused on the dramatic aspect of religious practices that would consist of popular preachers that could attract thousands at a time. People seemed to only celebrate big events and celebrations like feasts. The focus of this time period was death, death was a very popular subject to talk about along with astrology and people were very dedicated to the saints. The church was suffering not just because of the lack of attendance but because of the churchmen. The churchmen were very greedy and their focus was how they could make more money, they would use their church position to get money and would not fulfil their responsibilities. They were also very ignorant people who would do many immoral things to get money.

So in my conclusion the church was not in a good state at all, probably one of the reasons so many people stopped attending mass was because of how greedy the churchmen were. The church at that time was filled with imposters who didn’t care about others and would abuse their position to make money.

Western Literature Essay 34

“Are Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales closer in outlook to Greek and Roman literature than they are to Hebrew, Christian, and medieval literature?”

The Decameron and the Canterbury Tales were written during the Renaissance after the Black Death had plagued Europe. After the Black Death and during the Renaissance people began to not be as involved in the church and religion anymore and instead were looking at classic Greek and Roman literature. Along with literature they began to focus on art and doing more self-portraits and portraits in general and the artists would also sign their artwork as a symbol that I made this and it did not just appear out of nowhere made by some nameless person. People took pride in their work and some very beautiful art came out of this time period. The Renaissance was a focus on life and how to live it to the fullest and not just live almost seemingly bound to the church. This does not mean however that they completely abandoned the church, many of the people in the Renaissance were still Christians but their focus was more on the things in life and the beauty in those things. The Renaissance was a completely different time period from the Medieval times and had very different perspectives on life and that is why we can compare literature and art from both of these time periods to each other. If we want to compare them to each other we need to look at the themes that were popular to write about in those times and then we will have a better understanding on the question.

The Renaissance which was previously mentioned strayed from God and instead of him being the all powerful and mighty God in literature the supernatural powerful beings were nature, mother earth, and fortune. Another focus that they had instead of the church being a guide there would be spirits or loved ones and fate that would guide them instead. They also took out the traditional Christian biblical law and it’s morality and replaced it with governmental law and reason. In the Decameron Boccaccio stated that reason is a source of ethics but he did not further explain or develop that thought very much. In the Renaissance sanctions were based on randomness and it was all up to chance and fate and left people with the conclusion that life is unpredictable and a mess.

In the Hebrew, Christian and some Medieval literature the focus is on God alone that he is the only ultimate power and that when you believe in God you will be saved by him. We are under his laws and we follow them because of what he did for us. Unlike the Renaissance era of literature the future is predicted not in the sense that we know every small detail about the future and that we know exactly when Jesus is coming back but in the sense that we do know that he is coming back and that is enough to give us hope.

Greek and Roman literature is very similar but Greek literature did come first and Roman literature was based on Greek literature which I find very interesting considering the fact that the Romans thought the Greeks were strange. The Greeks sovereign were their gods, which consisted of 12 major gods and a bunch of other gods that were mentioned only if needed, there were the furies and fortune and fate which fall somewhere in between the two groups in the matter of importance. They believed that man was the ruler of earth under the law of the gods and all of the gods had different laws and sanctions so it was very confusing to decide who really had the best law. The Romans had very a similar sovereign the difference are the names. Both of these cultures had their gods depicted as being ironically unjust and quite temperamental who used humans as their play toys to get back at each other and to do their bidding.

So in my conclusion the literature from the Renaissance is definitely closer to the Greek and Roman literature. The themes are similar and because during the Renaissance people were not as close to God as they once were and the popularity of Greek and Roman literature it only makes sense that the values of the Renaissance literature are similar to Greek and Roman culture.

I wanted to add another bit that does have to do with the Renaissance but I wanted it to show that straying from God isn’t a good thing. I don’t want to start preaching to you but this is where I think the Renaissance got some things wrong and I think it is honestly just interesting to think about and see how all the small things connect. If God is not the one in control who made everything and everyone and gave us a purpose then does that mean the Bible doesn’t really matter and doesn’t effect our lives? The Bible is the word of God and if he is not in control then why should it matter. If the Bible doesn’t matter then God doesn’t matter. If God doesn’t matter than that means that ultimately you are claiming.

1. There is no meaning in life. God specifically has a purpose for us but if he doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter neither do we.
2. There is no value to life because we have no meaning or purpose.
3. There is no right or wrong, there are no ethics or sanctions because there is no basis for what is “right or wrong”.
4. There are no people we are just atoms floating around somehow stuck together by chance and we live and die nowhere to go.
5. Lastly there is no hope for the future because what is tomorrow if we have nowhere to go and if we have no purpose in life then why are we here.

My final conclusion is that God must be real and matter because we are here and we do have a meaning and a purpose we are not going to just die and go nowhere and we do have hope for the future because Jesus did die on the cross.

History Western Civilization Essay 34

Discuss the rise and fall of Girolamo Savonarola.

Girolamo Savonarola was a friar during the Renaissance who lived in Italy who preached against the wrongdoings of the Renaissance. He claimed that they needed to remember Christ instead of focusing on literature and art and on themselves. The thing he hated the most and especially preached against was wealth and riches. He was so committed to destroying wealth that Girolamo Savonarola and his followers held a ceremony where they would throw their wealth into a huge bonfire. He eventually took over Italy and became a pious dictator that everyone would learn to hate as he had a long list of rules. He was excommunicated after he was heard talking negatively about Pope Alexander VI, and soon after that was executed because no one wanted to deal with him anymore.

Discuss the Italian War of 1494-1498.

Charles VIII was the king of Italy and it started when he claimed he had a claim over Naples because of his Italian blood. He had taken Naples easily and was setting out to go capture the other states which left Milan endangered. While this was happening the other Italian states were getting worried and forced Charles out of Italy while he retreated in 1498. He was killed when he hit his head on a door frame and Naples regained its freedom.

Discuss some of the significant aspects of the reign of Louis XI.

Louis XI was the king of England he taxed people heavily mostly the rich nobles in England but wasn’t a completely horrible guy because he did not raise the price of items and heavily gave to charity. The Nobles, however, were not happy with all of the taxing and they started an uprising against him lead by his brother Charles. Louis made a deal with his brother and gave him Normandy but soon after was able to regain control over it. Louis was a ruler that did not like dealing with criminals and rebels and he was very ruthless and his punishments were considered torturous. One of the main goals in his life was to centralize France with England after the Hundred Year’s War which he successfully accomplished after his death in 1483.

Western Literature Essay 33

“Do you think that the old man in the Pardoner’s Tale was death?”

The Pardoner’s Tale by Chaucer is an extremely captivating story that consists of three drunk young men trying to cheat death. The three men made a pact with each other that they would go find death and kill him because he was responsible of killing thousands of people and they wanted him to pay for his murderous crimes. They also wanted to not just escape him but also humiliate him. While they were on their way to find death walking down a road where they met an old man sitting on the edge of the road, the three men asked if he knew where death was so they could kill him. The dumbest of the three asked the old man how he was still alive because he was so old. The old man replied that he was an immortal being, the old man then told the three to go up a path that would take them to a tree where they would meet death. They rushed up the path and at the tree they saw a pot of gold, they all were consumed by greed and they started to make plans for how they would kill one another. Two of the young men decided that they would split the gold between the two of them and they would kill the other man. While the two were scheming the other man decided that he was going to kill both of the other men and he poisoned the wine. In the end they all ended up dying because of their greed and they met one of their goals, they found death.

In the conclusion this story was very interesting and fun to think about, Chaucer used this story to teach about the use of vows and also to teach that scheming and murder (which was happening in the church) was going to take you down the path of true death, which is spiritual death. So that doesn’t take us to the question of who the old man was but were talking about it anyway. I believe that the old man was death. He said that he was an immortal being so he can’t die, especially if he is death then he can’t and wouldn’t kill himself. He also talked about wanted youth but that he could never get it I believe that he was talking about what seeing and killing a lot of dead people can do to your spirit and how it matures your perspective on things, and how it can haunt you. The old man was also covered in cloth that hid his entire body except for his face, he also knew where they would find death so he must have known what was going to happen which if he was going to kill them he must have known when they would die. This is why I believe that the old man that the three men met was death.

Biology Essay 16

Think of marine mammals, which breathe air like we do but drink only salt water; and think of fish such as salmon which live part of their life in saltwater and part in freshwater. How do aquatic organisms deal with the different concentrations of salt in the water?

Marine mammals live in both fresh and saltwater. Some of these mammals, such as salmon live in both fresh and salt water during their lives while others live in only one. The fish who live in the fresh water is not concerned with their water intake because they are surrounded by it but have a harder time finding salt. The freshwater fish drink little to no water and obtain salt by eating salty foods and their urine is very watery, with very little salt in it helping keep their water to salt ratio balanced. Saltwater fish have the opposite problem of freshwater fish and they drink a lot of saltwater and get rid of the excess chloride ions through the gills or the kidneys with the help of active transport. Salt is attracted to chloride and the excess salt follows the chloride ions expelling them from the fish. Fish like salmon are special because they can live in both the fresh and salt water. They live like freshwater fish when they are in fresh water but when they enter a pool of saltwater they release a hormone called cortisol which in turn will take the excess salt from the body and it will leave through the salmon’s gills.

History Western Civilization Essay 33

What were some of the problems associated with the Renaissance papacy?

During the Renaissance, the papacy was considered to not be in a very suitable or stable condition. Many of the popes were focused on the arts and ancient literature that came from the Greeks or from Rome, as a result of the focus on other things they were not very devoted to studying the Bible or they did not study the Bible in any way shape or form. Many of the popes that were in office were not really eligible to be popes and that caused much more chaos and confusion for the future popes. Some of these popes engaged in war because it was thought that the church was supposed to be a great political figure who ruled a country and the popes who fought in wars were trying to gain a bigger area to rule over. Many of these popes also were involved in nepotism which is when a figure with power appoints a family member to be in line for power. Some of these popes also had children which were highly looked down on in those days.

We normally think of three people in particular as having been the key artists of the High Renaissance. Who were they? Discuss one major work from each.

1. The first figure that comes to mind when I think about the High Renaissance is Leonardo de Vinci. He was interested in all sorts of different art mediums which included painting, sculpting, sketching with immense detail, engineering, architecture. He was very skilled in all of these areas and because of this we only know that ten of his paintings are truly his. The first painting I think of his was the Last Supper. It was a hard concept to paint because of how boring it was but he made it interesting by including the fact that Jesus said one of them would betray him and the disciples are trying to find out who it is so it adds action to the painting.
2. The next figure is Michelangelo he loved to carve from marble but he had a lot more talent than just carving. He was very focused on the anatomy of man and pretty much perfected it by the time he was seventeen. He never finished many of his works and we don’t really know why that is and some of those works include a tomb that he was making for Pope Julius II. He painted the entire ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which was filled with many figures and stories from the Bible and it took him four years to paint.
3. The last figure I think about is Raphael he was interested in portraits. Some of his works include the painting of St. John, the entombment of Christ, and he painted over fifty portraits of Madonna who is also known as the mother of Jesus Christ.

Western Literature Essay 32

“Which do you think was more gripping to read? His account of the plague or his stories?”

Boccaccio wrote the Decameron during the beginning of the Renaissance after the black plague had taken place. He wrote stories about morals and how they can benefit you, reason, fortune, your perception, equality of the sexes which was not a very popular topic back then and the liberties of the church and when they stepped out of their place. He often includes the black death in his stories as a background setting and does not exactly use them as a main focal point in the stories, he uses the black death to start the story or to give it a little nudge to help it go someplace.

The setting he used for his stories were of seven young women and three young men who ran off to be in a paradise to escape the black death who promised to tell stories every day. Boccaccio used this plot point so that he would have a setting to tell the stories but also so that it might be a little more interesting to read about and that hopefully, the reader would not get disinterested. They told a story about a man who on his death bed lied to a friar about who he really was and after his death was viewed as a saint. This story focused on reason and perception and how what we see is not always what is the truth, or even the whole truth and that God is the only one who really knows what is in our hearts and minds. Another story they told was about a man who was very poor and stole a ring off of an archbishop who had died, which was considered sacrilege. He then focuses on the fact that the archbishop was very greedy and was buried with his riches which should have been used to help others. In this story, he talks about the problem with churches and how a lot of their leaders were corrupt and were very self-absorbed and how they should be more humble.

So in my conclusion, the stories are interesting to read about because they focus on themes like politics, churches, self-reflection, and reason which is a very controversial topic making it interesting to read about other peoples thoughts on the stories. It is also fun to think of your own conclusion about why you like the stories or why you didn’t like them and you really get to think for yourself about this book. The black death is mentioned but most times it is a reminder that the black death is happening so it gives it an interesting setting to the story. The black death is something that happened and was very devastating to Europe and we have heard about it so many times which is not a bad thing it can just be a little boring unless you hear something new or you are very interested in learning about the subject. This is why I think the stories are more interesting and compelling to read about.

History Western Civilization Essay 32

What are some of the qualities and strategies Machiavelli recommends to political leaders in the excerpts you read? How does this represent a break with the past?

The Prince was written by Machiavelli as a guide for how to act in the presence of a prince but he also talked about the politics of what being a prince was all about and the morals that had to be shown. Machiavelli believed that you must not be weak to be a prince and must not show weakness so if it was ever necessary to break the law of the church his actions were justified because he must have the good of the state in mind. Machiavelli also believed that the church did not have a place telling the state what is morally acceptable and had no place being in politics at all. Machiavelli’s message was that a prince should not be known to be an immoral person and should only take action if it is completely necessary, but someone who is willing to take risks and have the state and people in the best interest even if it means going against some things morally.

Briefly discuss three artists from the early Renaissance (in other words, people from lessons 158 and 159) as well as one major work for each.

1.Donatello was a sculptor and two of his most famous works of art were the statue of David and the statue of Mary Magdelene. These were both considered great works of art and very fascinating because he did not idealize them. David was shown to be rather small and with not much muscle and had almost womanly features because David was most likely not quite done growing and becoming a man yet. Mary Magdelene was shown as old and looks rather haunting and again Donatello did not idealize her to be gorgeous.

2. Brunelleschi built and discovered a way to make a dome building which was a big step for architects and not many could figure out how it was done. Michelangelo even said that when he built the dome on St. Peter’s church it was not as beautiful as the dome that Brunelleschi had made.

3. Antonio da Correggio was the maker of the Holy Night and he used techniques to make the painting look realistic such as focusing on depth and really focusing on light sources. You can make something beautiful but if the lighting is off it will not look realistic because it looks like an afterthought and that not much time was put into it. He used Jesus as the light source so he could light up the faces of the people around him but so he could also tell a story with the lighting symbolizing that Jesus is the light of this world.

Western Literature Essay 31

“Why did Boccaccio have the first storyteller invoke God?”

The Renaissance after the black death is one of the only times in history where we can actually pinpoint the location where the Renaissance began. The Renaissance was essentially turning from Christianity and was focused on trying to restore classical culture. During the Renaissance, Decameron was written and it follows a chain of events that are very unlikely and lead to a man on his deathbed. In this story, there is a crook and an overall evil man laying down on his deathbed and a friar comes to see him too ask if he had committed any serious sins in his life. The man was able to deceive the friar and after his death, he was viewed as a saint and the irony is that he was most likely in hell. The moral of the story is that what we perceive in this life is not what may be happening in the next life (heaven and hell). The other thing to be learned from this is that we can be deceived and we need to follow good judgment and reason.

Why did Boccaccio have God involved in the story I am not sure what the reason is and why he included God and religion but this is what I think. Even though in the Renaissance they were trying to become more free-spirited religion was not completely lost and was still an important aspect in peoples lives. It is likely that he could have been trying to stay relevant with his material by making it appealing to both sides. He had a church setting in this full story and also put a different look on things which would have appealed to the younger generation.

Biology Essay 15

When you find yourself breathing hard or gasping for breath, is this due to a lack of oxygen or an excess of carbon dioxide? Explain your answer, including a discussion of feedback systems and the mechanisms that are at work when you breathe.

When you have low pH levels in your blood that means that there is a lot more Co2 and not enough oxygen. In your brain there is a part called the medulla oblongata that can sense when you don’t have enough oxygen and will send signals to the lungs letting them know to make the contractions more frequent and harder, which after a while stabilizes the Co2 and oxygen levels. All of this happens through cell signaling, there is a liquid that surrounds your brain and spine called cerebrospinal fluid that takes the carbon dioxide and other chemicals from your blood. These chemicals convert into carbonic acid which turns into ions and these ions lower the pH level of your blood. So when you have high levels of carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen you are suffering from a lack of oxygen.