METHODS OF TEACHING

continued from No. 1, 10

Curriculum Links of Language Studies with Other Subjects

Развитие межпредметных связей: изучение английского языка и мировой художественной культуры в 10–11-х классах

The presented materials aim to develop the students’ knowledge of English and Art offering a broader educational approach to teaching the language.

Theme 12

MANNERISM AND BAROQUE

III. WORD BUILDING

Activity A

Read the text about Antonio Vivaldi. Match two halves of the words below.

Keys: ill-health, non-academic, nicknamed, keyboard, re-discovered

ANTONIO VIVALDI

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678, Venice – July 28, 1741, Vienna) was an Italian priest and baroque music composer.

His father, Giovanni Battista, a barber before becoming a pro-fessional violinist, taught him to play violin at first, then toured Venice playing violin with his son.

In 1703 Vivaldi was ordained as a priest, soon nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, “The Red Priest” (Рыжий поп), probably because of his red hair. Not long after, in 1704, he was given a dispensation from celebrating the Holy Mass (служить мессу) because of his ill-health (he apparently suffered from asthma) and in late 1706 he withdrew from the priesthood and became maestro di violino at an orphanage for girls called the Pio Ospedale della Pietа in Venice. Shortly after his appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad too; Vivaldi wrote for them most of his concertos, cantatas, and sacred music. In 1705 the first collection (raccolta) of his works was published. Many others would follow.

Vivaldi was promoted to maestro de’ concerti in 1716. It was during these years that Vivaldi wrote much of his music, including many operas and concertos. In 1718, Vivaldi began to travel.

Not so well known is the fact that most of his repertoire was re-discovered only in the first half of the 20th century in Turin and Genoa, but was published in the second half. Vivaldi’s music is innovative, breaking a consolidated tradition in schemes; he gave brightness to the formal and the rhythmic structure of the concerto, repeatedly looking for harmonic contrasts, and invented innovative melodies and themes. Moreover, Vivaldi was able to compose non-academic music, particularly meant to be appreciated by the wide public, and not only by an intellectual minority.

He is considered one of the composers who brought Baroque music (with its typical contrast among heavy sonorities) to evolve into an romantic style. Vivaldi has been also indicated as a precursor of romantic musicians. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi’s concertos and arias (recalled in his Passions and cantatas). Bach transcribed a number of Vivaldi’s concertos for solo keyboard, along with a number for orchestra, including the famous Concerto for Four Violins and Violoncello, Strings and Continuo (RV 580). However, not all the musicians showed the same enthusiasm: Igor Stravinsky provocatively said that Vivaldi had not written hundreds of concertos, but one concerto, repeated hundreds of times.

Activity B

Re-read the text and complete the table with the derivatives.

Keys:

Activity C

Read the text about Milton’s epic poem and find the following expressions in English:

Древо Познания, древнегреческий миф о Нарциссе, произведение Вергилия “Энеида”, падший ангел, изгнание из райского сада, героическая эпопея времен барокко, “Потерянный Рай”, соблазнение Адама и Евы Сатаной, беседовать с ангелами почти на равных, священный союз, выступать в защиту свободы прессы, свобода совершать зло может показаться соблазнительной, английская пуританская республика, eё судьба предрешена

JOHN MILTON AND HIS EPIC POEM “PARADISE LOST”

John Milton (1608–1674) was born in London and educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was a scholarly poet, ambituous to match the classical epics with theological views. He published prose works on republicanism and church government. His middle years were devoted to the Puritan cause and pamphleteering, including one on divorce and another advocating freedom of the press.

Milton wrote Paradise Lost to “justify the works of God to men”. It is one of the landmarks of English literature, a Baroque epic. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books and written in blank verse. A second edition followed in 1674, redivided into twelve books (mimicking the division of Virgil’s Aeneid). The poem concerns the Christian story of the rise of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Satan is viewed by some critics as the hero of the story, since he struggles to overcome his own doubts and weaknesses and accomplishes his goal of corrupting mankind. He is the most intriguing and compelling of the characters, mainly for his complexity and subtlety. In these regards, he is similar to the character of Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. Others claim that Milton personifies in Satan the spirit of the English Revolution; that Milton’s Satan represents the honour and independence of the nation asserted in the face of an incapable government.

Others, however, claim that Milton’s presentation of Satan as an apparent hero seems to suggest a common theme in Puritanical writing that, while the freedom to do evil may appear tantalizing, it ultimately only leads to self-destruction and slavery. Thus, Satan and his fallen angels can be interpreted to offer an overall critique of society and a justification of the Puritan commonwealth’s attempts to ban actions deemed immoral.

First known as Lucifer, he was a proud archangel who thought himself higher than the other angels. He is a fallen angel of enormous stature; then a humble cherub; a cormorant; a toad; and finally, a snake. He is a picture of incessant intellectual activity without the ability to think morally.

Adam and Eve, by English poet and painter William Blake (1808).

Adam is strong, intelligent and rational, made for contemplation and valor, and before the fall, as perfect as a human being could be. He is flawed however, and at times indulges (потворствует) in rash and irrational attitudes. His pure reason and intellect are lost as a result of the fall, Man never being able again to converse with angels as near-equal. His weakness is that he allows his passion for Eve to take precedence over his love for, and belief in, God. After Eve eats from the Tree of Knowledge, he decides to do the same, realizing that if she is doomed, he must follow her into doom as to not lose her – even if that means disobeying God.

Eve is the mother of all mankind, inferior to Adam, considered to be closer to God. She only surpasses him in beauty; she even falls in love with her own image upon seeing her reflection in the water (a reference to the Greek myth of Narcissus). It is her vanity that Satan taps into (именно к тщеславию взывает Сатана) in order to persuade her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, through flattery. Eve is clearly intelligent but unlike Adam she is not eager to learn. The one instance in which she deviates from her passiveness is when she goes out on her own and ends up seizing the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

It is wrong, however, to think that Milton is denigrating (порочит) women through his depiction of Eve. Through Eve, he explores the role of women in his society and the positive and important role they could offer in the divine union of marriage. At the end of the poem, after exposing their strengths and weaknesses, Adam and Eve emerge as a powerful unit, complementary in each other – not only to the reader, but to themselves. The Fall serves a purpose of self-discovery, the Fortunate Fall.

Keys: the Tree of Knowledge, the Greek myth of Narcissus, Virgil’s Aeneid, a fallen angel, the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, a Baroque epic, Paradise Lost, the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan, to converse with angels as near-equal, divine union, to advocate freedom of the press, the freedom to do evil may appear tantalizing, the Puritan commonwealth, she is doomed.

IV. GRAMMAR: REPORTING VERBS

We can use reporting verbs to report what a person has said. (See table on next page.)

Example:

(advise)

“You should not denigrate women”, he said to the author.

– He advised the author not to denigrate women.

1. (announce): “He publishes prose works on church government”, they said.

2. (warn): “The freedom to do evil may appear tantalizing”, she said.

3. (deny): “Satan doesn’t have the ability to think morally”, they said.

4. (remind): “Satan is an angel of enormous stature who finally becomes a snake”, I told them.

5. (promise): “You will become superior to Adam”, Satan said to Eve.

6. (threaten): “I will withdraw you from the Garden of Eden”, said God.

7. (suggest): “Let’s eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge”, said Eve.

8. (boast): “I am of higher stature than other angels”, said Satan.

9. (agree): “Yes. I will eat from the Tree of Knowledge”, said Adam.

10. (inquire): “Is Eve eager to learn?” he said.

11. (complain): “Eve always looks at her reflection in the water”, said Adam.

12. (insist): “I must follow Eve in her doom”, said Adam.

Table

1. They announced that he published prose works on church government.

2. She warned that the freedom to do evil might appear tantalizing.

3. They denied that Satan had the ability to think morally.

4. I reminded them that Satan was an angel of enormous stature who finally became a snake.

5. Satan promised Eve that she would become superior to Adam.

6. God threatened that he would withdraw them from the Garden of Eden.

7. Eve suggested eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

8. Satan boasted of being of higher stature than other angels.

9. Adam agreed to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.

10. He inquired if Eve was eager to learn.

11. Adam complained of Eve always looking at her reflection in the water.

12. Adam insisted on following Eve in her doom.

By Irina Ishkhneli,
School No. 1738, Moscow

to be continued