Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

1. Read Machiavelli’s, The Prince, chapters 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, at:
   
   http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/machiavelli-prince.html
   
   As you are reading, be aware that this translation is old and that there are two words used in a rather archaic sense. One is "mean." According to Merriam Webster online, mean can be defined as stingy or "sparing or scant in giving or spending." "Liberal" is also used in an archaic sense. According to Merriam Webster it can mean: "marked by generosity: openhanded as in a ‘liberal giver.’"
   
   Using this source and your text, write an essay of 700 to 900 words exploring the following questions:
   
   What characteristics of the Renaissance are often regarded as setting it apart from the Middle Ages?
   What characteristics of a successful prince does Machiavelli stress?
   What elements of this source make it clear that it belongs to the Renaissance and not the Middle Ages?
   What elements of this source reflect the political conditions of Italy at the time that Machiavelli wrote?