Thanks in advance to anyone who gives suggestions.</p>
Prompt: Account for the rise of literacy in Europe in the period 1450-1800 and evaluate the impact of this rise for European society.</p>
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Prior to the time of the Renaissance, the literacy rate throughout Europe was devastatingly low, causing little advancement during the Middle Ages in technology or philosophy. With the advent of the Renaissance and the creation of the printing press, Europe became much more literate, allowing the advancement of human thought.</p>
After the outbreak of the Black Plague in the late-1300’s, humans began to question the authority of the Church, as they were perplexed as to what they did wrong. This questioning led to more interest in knowledge as people went back to the ancient Greek and Roman texts to understand the workings of life. This “rebirth” of thought is known as the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, humanists advocated education, and often tutored. They also believed that one could achieve high status with hard work and become whoever they want to be. This helped increase the literacy rate because people now believed that knowledge could get them in a good position. The craving of knowledge can be exemplified in da Vinci’s works, portraying the man mathematically in the Vitruvian Man.</p>
The invention of the movable type by Johannes Gutenburg was perhaps the single greatest influence on the rise of literacy in Europe. This allowed the Bible to be mass printed so literate people could have proof that what their preachers said were truly part of Christianity. It also allowed for the translation of Bibles into vernacular languages, like English, Czech, Italian, and German. Now anybody who could read could form their opinions by themselves. The printing press allowed for the quick transfer of ideas throughout Europe. With more and more knowledge available, the importance of reading increased greatly.</p>
The impact of the rise of literacy in Europe was huge. With a literate society, ideas could be spread to improve the life of all humans on the continent. People could come up with ideas that would perhaps improve crop yield or increase pay for workers or advance the cause of women’s rights. The rise of literacy created at least a fair amount of equality of people of different religions or classes. As people knew that they had a say in national politics, they could protest against their governments to achieve their goals. The Agricultural Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution could not have occurred without a knowledgeable society.</p>
<h2>The rise of literacy from 1450-1800 has shaped the way we live today. We now live in a meritocratic world, where knowledge is the gauge of success and can impact the people who are in power.</h2>
I know it’s a little bit too vague, but that’s just how I happened to write the essay at the time I took it. Comments, suggestions, grades?</p>