Cereal Course in Renaissance Literature

How would you like to be introduced to Renaissance literature by way of the six sides of a cereal box?

The thing about genuine cultural innovations is that they are disruptive of the status quo. They don't look serious compared to what has been authoritative in the past. When those foolish folks of the mid-1400s thought they could actually perform machine writing with their repurposed grape press, the "books" they would "write" would not be the serious sorts of things that authoritative manuscripts had been for centuries. That's why some people would have printed books properly recopied by hand into their legitimate format.

Morons.

But of course, that sort of thing is easy to judge in retrospect. And as much as it is true that groundbreaking inventions may have appeared ridiculous to the powers that be, this does not mean that everything that looks ridiculous is automatically a hidden treasure just unrecognized. Still, a Renaissance requires some experimentation, and that means you end up with a few Frankensteins along with your Rembrandts and Shakespeares.

And besides, in the Reformation, it was all about taking it to the people. Don't you think that if Martin Luther or William Tyndale could've tapped into something as popular as the cereal market, that they would have put Bible verses on the back of Cheerios boxes?

Do you think a "course" in Renaissance literature through cereal boxes is an idea that's gone soft in its milk, or does it have the fiber and vitamins to go the distance?

Make your own box of Shrew Shreddies!