Background Topics
Ethan Andrew Canin (born July 19, 1960 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American author. The title story of his collection of short stories The Palace Thief was made into a 2002 film called The Emperor's Club. In addition to his writing, Canin is also a physician and a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Life and career
At the time Canin was born, his parents were living in Iowa City, where his father taught violin at the University of Iowa; Canin was born while they vacationed in Ann Arbor.
Early in his childhood, his family moved around the northeast of the United States, but eventually settled in San Francisco, California. Canin attended and graduated from Town School, San Francisco and then from San Francisco University High School. He attended Stanford University and earned an undergraduate degree in English. Returning to the University of Iowa, Canin entered the Iowa Writers' Workshop, receiving an MFA in 1984 but is said to have considered himself a failure at writing and thus entered Harvard Medical School. After a break in his medical studies of several years, Canin graduated with an M.D. from Harvard in 1991. Beginning his medical practice with a residency in San Francisco, he pursued both medicine and writing for several years. In 1994 he cofounded the San Francisco Writers' Grotto. In 1998 he left medicine and joined the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he still teaches.
The Emperor's Club.
before you watch
Answer the following questions
1) Mr. Hundert, the main character is a teacher. What's the name of the place where he works?
2) Mr. Bell, another character in this movie, is a senior senator. What do you know about this job?
3) What is a dormitory? What is it associated with?
Choose the correct variant:
1) For how long did Mr. Hundert teach?
a) 33 years;
b) 13 years;
c) 34 years.
2) What phrase embodies the philosophy at St. Benedict's?
a) "Not for oneself!"
b) "Study well!"
c) "Follow your teachers!"
3) What is a toga?
a) a kind of Oriental food;
b) a kind of sport in ancient Greece;
c) a kind of clothes worn in ancient Rome.
Find the best translation of the following:
1. to run the place
a) стать во главе;
b) прибежать на место.
2. a scholar of antiquity
a) школьный антиквариат;
b) знаток античности.
3. "The die is cast"
a) "Жребий брошен!"
b) "Подвергнуть смерти!"
4. a tuition
a) стипендия;
b) обучение.
Write down 6 names of giants of history, men of profound character. Pay attention that there are some extra letters after or before each name.
SCAESARONARISTOTLEYKECICERONOTAUGUSTUSEPLATOVASOCRATESOF.
Part 1.
Vocabulary
Before watching this movie, try to guess the meaning of the words and phrases below without using a dictionary. Listen to these words to be used as you watch the movie and try to guess their definition from the context:1) in your honour
2) a motto
3) a seal
4) a plaque
5) competitors
6) to make the acquaintance
7) a coxswain
8) based on mutual trust
9) to compromise the reputation of the academy
10) a common wood beetle
There are lots of slang and conversational phrases in the film. Match the English ones with their Russian equivalents.
An asshole с гонором
Visigoth расслабься
A pussy тупица
Mellow out тряпка
Discussion
1) What subject did Mr. Hundert teach at St. Benedict's School?
2) What kind of school was it?
3) In what country do the actions take place?
4) Why did the teacher stop Louis at the very beginning of the story?
5) Why couldn't students find the name of Shutruk-Nahhunte in their textbooks?
6) When did boys of this boarding school usually go to bed?
7) What present did Mr. Hundert's colleague bring him from Athens?
8) What's a tradition of St . Benedict's School?
9) What characteristics do you think are suitable for Sedgewick Bell? What kind of person is he?
10) Have you got any troublemakers in your class?
11) How many boys got acquainted with the belles of St. Mary's?
12) What was the punishment after the trip to St. Mary's?
13) What did Mr. Hundert suggest Sedgewick doing after his new trick with the slammed books?
Try to fill in the missing word in a wise saying by Aristophanes and then translate it into Russian:
"Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated and drunkenness sobered, …… lasts forever."
Part 2.
Vocabulary
Before watching this movie, try to guess the meaning of the words and phrases below without using a dictionary. Listen to these words to be used as you watch the movie and try to guess their definition from the context:
1) to make an arrangement with
2) a constituent
3) a history buff
4) "the good"
5) it's up to you
6) a C-minus
7) a swing
8) a moderator
9) with one condition
10) to do roll call
Read attentively the following idioms and conversational phrases, then match the English ones with their Russian equivalents.
Quarter roll! Быть гвоздём программы
To have one's head up his ass прекрасно работать
To have a real heart-to-heart вдолбить в мозги
To run a tight ship сдавайтесь!
To be a linchpin душевно побеседовать
To chisel into one's mind мозги набекрень
Choose the right answers to the following questions.
1) What did the senator suggest the teacher during their meeting?
a) a glass of wine
b) a cigar
c) a cup of coffee
2) What was Mr. Bell's present to Mr. Hundert?
a) a pistol
b) a rifle
c) a knife
3) What was Mr. Hundert's gift to Sedgewick?
a) a new game
b) a pen
c) a book
4) How did the teacher show "old school" to his students?
a) He played baseball.
b) He played cricket.
c) He played rugby.
5) What mark did Sedgewick get after his last essay?
a) a C-minus
b) an A -minus
c) an A -plus
6) Where did the contest take place 25 years later?
a) at St. Benedict's School
b) in a resort of the Gold Coast
c) in Oxford
Choose the correct names to answer Who-questions: Sedgewick Bell, Mehta Deepak, Louis Masoudi, Mr. Ellerby, Mr. Hundert, Mr.Woodbridge.
1) Who talked a librarian into giving Sedgewick the book?
2) Who took part in the competition "Mr. Julius Caesar"?
3) Who noticed that Sedgewick Bell was cheating?
4) Who asked to ignore the cheating?
5) Who was the candidate on the headmaster's post?
6) Who decided to tender his resignation?
7) Whose idea was to hold a rematch of the Mr. Julius Caesar contest?
Discussion
1) Did Mr. Bell like Mr. Hundert's way of teaching? Why?
2) Did Sedgewick pass the quiz?
3) What happened during the sports game in the school yard?
4) Why didn't Sedgewick become Julius Caesar?
5) Why did Sedgewick Bell want to take part in the contest again?
6) What did the senator wait for from his son before his death? (What did Sedgewick need when he was a child and a teen?)
Part 3.
Vocabulary
Before watching this sequence, make sure that you remember the meaning of the words and phrases. Try to make up your own sentences with them.
1) scholars
2) in increasing levels of difficulty
3) a plaque
4) a cheat
5) a bat
View the short sequences without the sound, use English subtitles. Give your variant of translation. Then compare it with the dubbed version.
Do you notice any idioms? What colloquialisms are used?
1) "If Deepak can nab this, then it's his ball game."
2) "I suppose if you're gonna lose, you may as well lose to the brightest."
3) "Your virtue is a beacon of light."
4) "Who's the poor mercenary who was feeding you the answer?"
Discussion
1) Was Sedgewick Bell cheating again?
2) What question couldn't he answer? Why?
3) Who became the best learner of the ancient history?
4) Why did everyone congratulate Sedgewick Bell?
5) What did Mr. Hundert feel after the news about the new senator?
6) What was Mr.Hundert's lecture to the future senator?
7) What embarrassing thing happened in the toilet?
8) Has Mr. Hundert really missed breakfast with his old boys?
9) Did the alumni teach Mr. Hundert anything?
After you watch
Something of Value.
Speculate on the script belonging to the main idea of the movie. What are the most valuable things for the teacher, his students/you?
A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams. And they will continue to be kindling force and a revealing power in our lives. У великого учителя нет большой личной истории. Вся его жизнь переходит в другие жизни. Эти люди - столпы, на которых стоят наши школы. Они гораздо важнее, чем сами стены школьных зданий, и они останутся той нежной силой, которая раскрывает наши таланты.
However much we stumble, it is a teacher's burden always to hope that with learning, a boy's character might be changed and so, the destiny of a man. Сколько бы мы не ошибались, труд учителя состоит в том, чтобы надеяться, что путём учения характер человека можно изменить, а значит, изменить и его судьбу.