Цель урока: Формирование обобщенных знаний по теме: “Христианство в России” и оперирование ими.
Образовательный компонент цели:
- расширение лингвистического кругозора учащихся, расширение социо-культурных знаний о своей стране.
Развивающий компонент цели:
- развитие языковых способностей учащихся, умения самостоятельной работы, творческого мышления, готовности к коммуникации.
Воспитательный компонент цели:
- создание условий для формирования у учащихся уважения и интереса к религии, культуре и народу своей страны, воспитание патриотического отношения к своей Родине - России, поддержание интереса к учению.
Практический компонент цели:
- развитие и совершенствование навыков различных видов чтения с обращением внимания на смысловые связи и контекстуальную догадку;
- формирование и совершенствование лексических навыков говорения и расширение словарного запаса учащихся по теме;
- развитие навыков восприятия речи на слух.
Методы обучения:
- Коммуникативный метод с использованием индивидуальной, парной и групповой работы учащихся;
- личностно-ориентированный подход;
- эмоционально деятельный подход.
Оборудование:
Раздаточный материал: текст “From “The Meaning of Holy Orthodoxy in the History of the Russian State”” с заданиями, дополнительный материал на доске: слова для усвоения, вопросы и проч.
Иллюстрация эскиза росписи для Владимирского собора в Киеве "Крещение Руси" художника Васнецова В. М. (1890 г.).
From “The Meaning of Holy Orthodoxy in the History of the Russian State” by Archbishop John (Maximovitch)
1.
In the mid-11th century, just over half a century after the Baptism of Rus, the holy Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev said that “all lands and cities and people honor and glorify those instructors who taught them the Orthodox Faith” and called Rus to worthily glorify “our great and wondrous instructor, the Grand Prince of our Land, Volodimir (Vladimir), the grandson of the old Igor." Let us bring to mind the character of Rus up until the time of Vladimir, and what she became after he baptized her.
2.
In the beginning of the 9th century (in the time of "the old Igor," or in the time of Vladimir's father, Sviatoslav) each tribe lived its own life, detached from the rest; the separate clans often warred among themselves and not infrequently engaged in mass annihilation following the laws of blood vengeance. The princes of pagan Rus were better characterized as warring chieftains than as fathers and benefactors of their people; campaigns and plunder held a greater attraction for them than the task of caring for their subjects. Many tribes were still at a very low level of moral and cultural development; some had the custom of abducting young women to make them their wives.
It would be a mistake, however, to think that the Slavs were characterized solely by negative traits and that they were an exclusively barbarian people. On the contrary, they possessed a great deal of inherent goodness. They were hospitable, valiant and honest. The women were faithful companions of their husbands, often remaining true to their spouse even after his death. The Slavs honoured their elders and were obedient to them in matters both personal and social.
But alongside these positive traits, they exhibited treachery, cruelty and wickedness. At times, especially during seasons of war, they became terrifying to all those around. The peaceful Slav became a wild beast, and woe to those upon whom he projected his wrath, it spared no one! Byzantium trembled before its northern neighbors and the latter were often afraid of one another.
And so the Slav world stood at the crossroads between good and evil, manifesting at times those fine and most worthy qualities of a man created in God's image, while at other times showing the dread signs of a beast in human form.
3.
What kind of high ideals existed among these Slavs? What inspired their thoughts, their feelings? Who were their heroes?
The gods in whom they believed possessed all the characteristics of their worshippers; they incarnated both their good and their bad qualities. In serving these gods of their own creation, the Slavs confirmed themselves in their own faults, finding justification in the traits of their idols. Serving their vicious Perun, the Slavs conducted cruel warfare, massacring their neighbors. It is hard to say just what would have become of Eastern Europe had SS. Cyrill and Methodius not poured the light of Christ over the Slavic land and laid the foundation for the enlightenment of the Slavic people.
4.
The influence of Christianity soon made itself apparent and drew them into the family of Christian peoples. Those territories where Christianity was accepted in a short time became transformed. But the great majority of Slavs, the eastern Slavs, continued to live as before. At times, one could have feared that their warring princes, the likes of Sviatoslav, would destroy even those young sprouts found growing on their brothers' fields which had been watered by Christian teachings. The darkness hanging over the eastern Slav tribes was so thick and obscure that even the "morning star," the first Christian ruler of Rus, Princess Olga, was unable to dispel it. It was necessary for the "Bright Sun" itself to appear, and this, for Rus, was Olga's grandson, Great Prince Vladimir . His penetrating conversion transformed a pleasure-loving and impetuously passionate youth into a righteous man. And through his example and his appeals Vladimir drew his subjects after him.
5.
The baptized land of Rus manifested a no less radical transformation. The baptism of Kiev, followed by the rest of Rus, opened a new life for the eastern Slavs and inaugurated a glorious history.
With the acceptance of Christianity the divided Slavic tribes which comprised Vladimir's realm sensed their unity. This awareness was heightened by the fact that for the course of several centuries all of Rus was ecclesiastically organized under a single metropolia in spite of its earlier division into appendages.
6.
Under the shelter of the holy Orthodox Church, Rus was strengthened and grew into a great empire occupying 1/6 of the world. The Russian people, having accepted Christianity not by force but voluntarily, essayed from the very first years after baptism to embody the Gospel teaching in their life. Baptism affected a rebirth and an inner transformation of a previously crude people. Preserving their traditional good qualities, they became liberated from those bad traits which had formerly characterized them. The struggle between good and evil took place not only in Vladimir’s soul, but in the people as a whole, and there was a decided turn toward the good. After the Baptism, the Russian people were no longer what they had been before; they were, in truth, a new people.
This is not to say that everything suddenly became perfect, that evil disappeared from men’s hearts and no longer existed in the land. No, within each person the eternal struggle continued. But the driving force behind the Russian populace became Orthodoxy which took hold of all facets of life – personal, social and civil. Life in the family and in society became penetrated with the Gospel spirit, opinions were formed under the influence of church principles, and civil law was guided by the canons. The prevailing orientation of Russian life was the search after God’s truth.
7.
Not everything in Rus fell in with this tendency, far from it. In the course of centuries, much evil was also perpetrated within her borders. If “There is no man who shall live and not sin,” then it is even less possible for the history of a nation to be without sin and evil. However, just as the best and strongest qualities which stand out in a man are important for his overall characterization, so too, in order to characterize a people it is necessary to define that which forms the principle substance of its moral fibre. For Rus and the Russian people, regardless of all the various deviations and even downfalls, its primary focus was to serve the truth and to stand fast in the faith. When we recall ancient Greece, the words of Apostle Paul come to mind: “The Greeks seek after wisdom,” although there were, of course, many among them who did not seek after wisdom. Likewise Sparta is associated with physical discipline; Phoenicia with trade; Rome prided itself in its civic virtues; while the Russians acquired the name of a God-bearing people, and the land became known as “Holy Rus.”
(From an excerpt translated from “Skazanie o Russkoi Zemlye;” New York, 1983)
The material is taken from [1]: Orthodox America, 1986, Issue 59-60, Vol. VI, No. 9-10.
Glossary:
hospitable – generous towards visitors and guests
valiant – very brave and determined, especially in a difficult situation
honest – a person who does not tell lies or cheat people and obeys the law
goodness – the quality of being morally good
treachery – the act of harming people who trusted you
cruelty – behaviour that deliberately causes pain to people or animals
wickedness – the quality of being morally wrong and deliberately intending to hurt people
vicious – extremely violent, unkind or unpleasant
voluntary – done because you choose to do it, not because you have to
1. Before you read
Discuss the following questions in pairs or in groups:
Which country from the list was associated with which word from the box?
| trade civic virtues wisdom physical discipline |
Greece
Sparta
Phoenicia
Roman Empire
2. Which word was Rus associated with?
3. How did the eastern Slaves, inhabited the territory of Rus live?
4. What were their customs and religious believes?
5. Who are honoured as enlighteners of the Slavic land?
6. When and by whom was Rus baptized?
2. Reading
1. Read the text and check your answers to the previous task.
2. Read the text again. For each part (1-7) of the text choose the most suitable heading from the list A-H. (There is one extra heading which you don’t need to use).
A Influence of Christianity on the Russian populace
B Rus at the crossroads between good and evil
C The primary focus of Russian moral character
D Introduction
E Descendants of Great Prince Vladimir
F Difficulties of the enlightenment of the Slavic lands
G The eastern Slavs’ believes
H A new epoch in the life of the eastern Slaves
3. Look through the text and find words in the text that mean the following (the first letter is given to help you):
- a particular quality in someone’s character – t…
- very great anger - w…
- a picture or stature that is worshipped as a god – i...
- someone who lives in a country that is controlled by a king or a queen – s…
- a country ruled by a king or a queen – r…
- an action, thought, or way of behaving that is wrong according to religious
- laws – s…
- the leader of a tribe – c…
4. Work in pairs. Answer the questions:
1. What negative features characterized the Slaves?
2. What positive features were typical of them?
3. What religious cults did they observe?
4. Why did the acceptance of Christianity change the world of the eastern Slaves?
5. Why did people call Prince Vladimir the "Bright Sun"?
6. How did the life of the Russian populace change with the acceptance of Christianity?
7. What qualities became the principle substance of the Russian moral fiber?
8. Why did the Russians acquire the name of a God-bearing people?
5. Look through the text and find all the sentences with Defining relative clauses. Translate these sentences into Russian.
Example: Those territories where Christianity was accepted in a short time became transformed.
3. After reading
Did you enjoy reading this excerpt?
Did you learn anything?
If so – what? If not - why not?
Wordlist:
mass annihilation массовое уничтожение blood vengeance кровавая месть benefactor благодетель campaign кампания (воен.) plunder грабеж; добыча inherent goodness врожденная добродетель to honour почитать, оказывать честь in God's image по образу Божию to massacre перебить, разгромить enlightenment of the Slavic people просвещение славян penetrating conversion глубокое обращение ко Христу righteous праведный ecclesiastical церковный, духовный metropolia метрополия appendage зависимая часть, придаток к чему-либо to essay to embody пытаться воплотить to perpetrate совершать principle substance главное содержание (сущность) moral fibre духовный склад (характера) regardless of невзирая на deviation отклонение downfall падение (нравственное) God-bearing people народ Богоносец
Homework:
- Look up the new words in a dictionary, write them down and learn them. Translate the text into Russian.
- Retell the text according to the plan from Ex. 2 in the Reading part.
Sources:
- John (Maximovitch), archbishop. The Meaning of Holy Orthodoxy in the History of the Russian State// Orthodox America, 1986, Issue 59-60, Vol. VI, No. 9-10, http://www.roca.org
- Macmillan Essential Dictionary for learners of English – London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2003 – 861p.