From Renaissance to Modern Literature: Loss of Understanding; Creation of Anxiety

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        The style and rules of the English literature of the Renaissance era are very different from those of modern literature. Those who are unaware of the rules and conventions of the Renaissance era are easily overwhelmed and frustrated when trying to understand works written by writers of the time. Writings of the Renaissance era cause individuals in modern day society to experience anxiety when reading the literature due to the alphagraphics, spelling variations, and conventions used by the authors and printers.

        In the Renaissance era, the alphabet consisted of twenty-four letters unlike the modern day alphabet, which consists of twenty-six letters, which causes confusion to those attempting to comprehend Renaissance writing. The complexities of English literature have developed greatly over the years, especially from the Renaissance to modern day. Present day readers experience anxiety when reading Renaissance writing because certain letters could be used for multiple purposes and had different meanings and pronunciations depending on their placing within the word. Depending on the positioning, the sound that the letter makes could vary. The alphabet of the Renaissance era did not contain the letters “v” or “j”.  The letter “v” was known as a “pointed u”, and it was used at the beginning of a word. On the contrary, the letter “u” was known as a “round u” and it was used in the middle and at the end of a word. However, the letter “I” was used in multiple ways. The letter “I” was not known as an “I” in the Renaissance era and was used to create the sound of a modern day alphabet’s “j”. To the writers of the Renaissance era, the letter “j” was considered to be a “long I” and was it was used at the end of a word whereas the letter “I” was known as a “short I” and was placed at the beginning of or in the middle of a word. To increase difficulty in comprehension of Renaissance literature to modern day readers, the letters in the Renaissance era could be used as either vowels or consonants. Although the Renaissance alphabet contained two letters less than the modern day alphabet, writers of the time were able to create the same effect using the language rules which are no longer in use today.  Using the alphabet and letter rules of the Renaissance era in modern writing would cause much confusion to readers and writers alike.

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        Ligatures are characters, letters, or types containing two or more letters. Ligatures follow the spatial rule of a letter signifying the state, middle, or end of a word. For example, the “long s” was used at the beginning or middle of a word whereas the “round s” was used at the end of a word. If modern day English was read by readers of the Renaissance era, it would be read differently. The word manslaughter in modern day English would be read as “mans laughter” in the Renaissance era. The round “s” would signal the end of the word, which ...

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