Leveled Readings / Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486)
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486)
Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486)
These are adaptations, not the original. The original wording is always shown first. Each adapted version restates the same passage at about a grade 4, grade 7, or grade 10 reading level without adding or removing ideas. Quote the original in student writing.
Original wording
“We have made you neither of heavenly nor of earthly stuff, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with free choice and dignity, you may fashion yourself into whatever form you choose.”
Adapted · about grade 4
Pico imagined God telling people: You are not made only of heaven or only of earth. You are free to choose and shape what you will become.
Adapted · about grade 7
Pico imagined God saying that humans were made neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with free choice and dignity they could shape themselves into any form they chose.
Adapted · about grade 10
We have made you neither of heavenly nor of earthly stuff, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with free choice and dignity you may shape yourself into whatever form you choose.
Used in: What was new about the Renaissance?