Teacher

Nick Gallagher

Grade Level 10

I. Content and Standards: CC.8.5.9-10.B: Determine the central ideas or information of a

primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop
over the course of the text.
II. Prerequisites: Students will have read and understood documents by Leonardo Bruni and
Pico della Mirandola. They will have also considered 3 questions that relate to Machiavellis
viewpoints.
III. Instructional Objective: Students will develop ideas about Machiavellis theories of human
beings and his conceptions of man. They will also gain a stronger context about the Renaissance
and Machiavelli through their background reading.
IV. Instructional Procedures:
Before: The first thing I will do is to establish what our main, long-term, goal will
be, which is to develop a historical context around The Renaissance Period, which will extend
from our readings of Bruni and Mirandola & continuing with Machiavelli.
During: I will begin by going over the 3 Anticipation Guide questions with the
students. We will spend about 15-20 minutes discussing what they thought of each question. I
will then preview and introduce more of Machiavellis writing about man and mankind, through
excerpts of The Prince. I will look at the 1st and 3rd quotes, and have the students share their
immediate reactions and early understandings. This part should finish once the students start
making observations and predictions about his writing that will require additional reading. It will
probably take about 15-20 minutes. Once they reach this point, I will hand out the readings,
which will be prepared ahead of time, to the students.
After: I will announce near the end of class that we will be having a class
conversation about what they discovered for the next class. The students will finish their reading
and note taking for homework, so they are prepared for the conversation.
V. Materials and Equipment:
Printed copies of Renaissance section from world history textbook
Excerpts from The Prince
o Chapter 15: For, everything considered, he will find things which, though
seemingly good, will lead to his ruin if pursued, and others which, though
seemingly evil, will result in his safety and well-being.

o Chapter 16: Therefore it is better to have a name for miserliness, which breeds
disgrace without hatred, than, in pursuing a name for liberality, to resort to
rapacity, which breeds both disgrace and hatred.
o Chapter 17: For this can be said about the generality of men; that they are
ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee danger, and covetous of gain.
Articles and websites about Machiavelli and the Renaissance
o http://history-world.org/renaissance.htm
o http://www.historytoday.com/vincent-barnett/niccolo-machiavelli--cunningcritic-political-reason
o http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/12/machiavelli-wasright/354672/
Anticipation Guide Questions
o Are humans inherently evil? Is this our nature?
o What does an ideal leader look like to you?
o If an end, or goal, is morally right and just, is any method of achieving that goal
acceptable?

VI. Assessment/Evaluation:
I will formatively assess the students by checking in with them while they perform their
reading
VII. Accommodations or Modifications needed for students with disabilities or
ESOL:
I will allow students who are weaker readers to use print copies of the background
reading material, so they can write on their copies to annotate and highlight.
VIII. Technology:
Student laptops
Various online articles and websites about Machiavelli and the Renaissance