Step 3: Punctuation and Logic

Exercise 1: Put capitals, hyphens, full stops and commas as needed in the following passages; the number of sentences is indicated in brackets.

1. the ecclesiastic religious character of the culture of medieval society is reflected in both the style and the function of relics of art dating back to feudal times (1)

2. with the edict of milan in 313 the emperor constantine the great (reigned 306-337) formally recognized christianity although this was a critical turning point the transition from classical to christian art was not abrupt since for several hundred years both cultures coexisted and competed with each other (2)

3. the franks who established the only lasting political power in roman gaul and converted to christianity under clovis I (reigned 481-511) ultimately founded the carolingian empire which unified much of europe the essential qualities of barbaric art its abstract nonnarative geometric elements were inappropriate for expressing the revival of the western roman empire a cultural revival was therefore begun by charlemagne who was crowned in 774 and continued by otto the great who in the tenth century inaugurated the christianization of central europe (3)

4. some writers consider charlemagnes coronation day to be the end of the dark ages the emperor was crowned not by his own people but rather by the pope the leader of the christian religion and he was crowned holy roman emperor for the first time a political ruler had the sanction of the church of rome and this opened a new chapter in european history (3)

5. historians generally divide the art and architecture of the high middle ages into two periods the romanesque from about 1050 to 1200 based on southern styles from the old roman empire and the gothic from about 1200 into the 15^th century which has more of a northern flavor the term gothic derives from the goths who were among the many nomadic tribes sweeping through europe during the 4^th and 5^th centuries it was applied to this style by later critics in the renaissance who considered the art and architecture of their immediate predecessors to be vulgar and barbarian (3)

Exercise 2: Arrange the sentences to make a logical piece of description.

1. Although the interior of the nave soars upward to a breath-taking height, from the outside the church seems to hug the ground - solid, durable, Roman. This cathedral was meant to turn inward, to gather worshipers inside its core and shelter them there. St. Sernin gives us an impression of stability, of a church firmly rooted and dependable, representing a faith meant to endure forever. The Cathedral of St. Sernin is a splendid example of the Romanesque style. The plan is absolutely symmetrical, with a single tower rising from the center. Arches around the windows are classic round Roman arches, and they are arranged in a regular, logical progression, with columns in between. (The tower is of a later date and has some Gothic influence.) Also, we see a minimum of decorative detail on the facade; most statuary is inside the building.

2. Chartres has two tall spires, notable for their very different designs and the consequent lack of symmetry. All in all, the Gothic cathedral, as interpreted at Chartres, reveals architecture of soaring ambitions, celebrating a faith that simultaneously reaches outward to the townspeople and up to the skies. Its arches are not the round ones of a Romanesque building, but rather the pointed arches developed in the Gothic period. Another innovation of Gothic architecture was the flying buttress, an exterior support meant to control the outward thrust of thin masonry walls built very high.

3. One such image, the work of an unknown fourteenth century artist, is The Madonna and Saints. The fourteenth century devotional images, painted on wooden panels in tempera, are notable for their bright colors and the abundance of gold. The Madonna's position of supremacy is emphasized by the fact that she is placed in the center of the composition and considerably exceeds in size the figures of the saints standing beside her. The Madonna, seated on a throne, is represented as the heavenly queen; her face wears a majestic, austere expression, and around her head is a halo, the symbol of sanctity.

4. He depicts the Madonna in a scene from the Annunciation, when she humbly listens to the word of the angel. A fine example of the painting of the period is the work of one of the foremost Italian artists of the fourteenth century, Simone Martini (1283-1344), who hailed from Siena. Finely executed and beautiful in its colors, the painting has an unusual poetic quality. The lithe, elongated figure of the Madonna, smoothly wrapped in a blue cloak reaching down to the ground, stands out sharply against a gold background.

Exercise 3: Look through the above passage and explain your reasons for choosing that arrangement. (Why do you choose to put this very sentence to the beginning, the middle, or the end of the paragraph?)

Exercise 4: Read through the text “The Middle Ages” and divide the parts into a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Exercise 5: Read out the thesis-statements out of the text.