Задачи урока:
- Развивать у учащихся навыки и умения в устной речи по изучаемой теме;
- Развивать умения в чтении с полным пониманием прочитанного и с извлечением необходимой информации;
- Совершенствовать навыки самостоятельной работы с картами, текстами и словарем;
- Учить школьников умению анализировать и делать выводы по изучаемой проблеме;
- Содействовать развитию у учащихся интереса к истории и литературе страны изучаемого языка.
Оборудование урока:
- карта Европы,
- карта Британских островов,
- распечатки изучаемых текстов,
- карты Британии для индивидуальной работы.
Ход урока
I. Организационный момент. Тема урока.
II. Беседа с учащимися по ранее изученному материалу «The Anglo-Saxon Conquest of Britain». (Приложение 1)
Teacher: Today we are going to speak about the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain. First, let us remember some historical facts.
- Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
Pupil: I know that the Anglo-Saxons, as we call them now, were Germanic tribes. In fact, there were some other tribes besides the Angles and Saxons, the Jutes, for example. They inhabited the northwestern part of Europe. The Saxons came from the territory lying between the Rhine and the Elbe rivers, which was later called Saxony. The Jutes and Angles came from the Jutland Peninsula.
Teacher: Thanks for your information. Now, could you tell me why these Germanic tribes came to Britain and when it happened?
Pupil: Well, in 383 the Roman legions began to leave Britain to fight in Gaul (it is the territory of modern France) against the Barbarian tribes who were invading the Roman Empire. However, Britain remained independent not for long. At first the Anglo-Saxons only came to plunder. They would land from their boats, drive off and slay the cattle, seize the stores of corn, and be off again to sea before the Celts could attack them, but after some time they returned again and again in larger numbers, and began to conquer the country. In 449, the Jutes landed in Kent and this was the beginning of the conquest.
Pupil: I have read that the Britons invited the Anglo-Saxons into Britain. When the Romans began to leave Britain to fight in Gaul, there were not enough Roman soldiers to defend Britons from the Picts and Scots, fierce tribes from the North. The British chiefs asked Anglo-Saxon soldiers to come from Germany to help them. The Anglo-Saxons were strong and well-trained, they defeated Picts and Scots, but when afterwards Britons asked them to leave, they refused to do it and stayed.
Teacher: Oh, I see. But no matter whether the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain or were they invited there by British chiefs, they conquered the country. You know that the British natives fought fiercely against the invaders and it took the Anglo-Saxons more than a hundred and fifty years to conquer the greater part of the island. The final refuge of the Celts was Cornwall and Wales - the mountainous districts of the West - and the northern part of the island, Scotland, where the Celts were still living in tribes. The Celts of Ireland also remained independent. So, the Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain and formed some kingdoms there.
The next question is as follows:
- What kingdoms were formed by the Anglo-Saxons?
(Ученики отвечают на этот вопрос, используя карту Британии 5 века)
Pupil: Kent was set up by the Jutes in the southeast.
Pupil: The Saxons formed a number of kingdoms in the southern and southern-eastern parts of the country. They are Sussex (the land of the South Saxons), Wessex (the land of the West Saxons), and Essex (the land of the East Saxons).
Teacher: - And what about the Angles? Did they form any kingdoms?
Pupil: Yes. By the way, the Angles conquered the greater part of the country. In the north, they founded Northumbria; Mercia was formed in the Middle, and East Anglia - in the East of England.
Teacher: Yes, you are quite right. And in spite of the fact that all these kingdoms were hostile to one another and fought constantly for supreme power in the country, they were closely akin in speech and customs, and in the course of time they gradually merged into one people. And what can you say about the language of Britain at that time?
Pupil: I can speak on this item. At first the Anglo-Saxons spoke various dialects but gradually the dialect of the Angles of Mercia became predominant. In the course of time all people of Britain were referred to as the English after Angles and the new name of England was given to the whole country. The Anglo-Saxon language, or English, has been the principal language of the country since then, although it has undergone great changes.
III. Обсуждение текста «Beowulf». Составление характеристики главного героя поэмы. (Приложение 2)
1) Рассказ учителя об истории создания поэмы.
Teacher: Thanks a lot. I see you know history quite well. Now I am going to find out how you know literature. So, your home task was to read "Beowulf”. You know that “Beowulf” is a Saxon poem, and it tells us of the times long before the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. There is no mention of England. This poem tells us about the life of the Anglo-Saxons at the time when every man was a warrior. The poem describes the arms and armour of the Anglo-Saxon warriors, their exploits and adventures. It is named after the great legendary warrior, Beowulf. The poem dates back between 675 and 850 A.D., and has 3182 lines. It has the traits of early Christianity as well as lots of pagan beliefs, historical legends. The Anglo-Saxons had no written language at that time. Anglo-Saxon ballads were composed and performed by warriors-singers called 'scops' or folk musicians - gleokuds. The poem was written down only in the 10th century. Its manuscript is kept in the British Museum in London.
Of course we cannot read the poem in the original, it is impossible. At home you read a story of Beowulf written in Modern English.
2) Проверка понимания прочитанного текста.
Exercise 1. First of all I want to find out how attentive you were while reading the story.
Who are the main characters of the poem? (Beowulf, Grendel, King Hrothgar, Grendel's mother)
Which of the characters did so?
- Built a large and beautiful palace. (King Hrothgar)
- Every night killed warriors and drank their blood. (Grendel)
- Decided to kill the monster. (Beowulf)
- Got on a ship and sailed off across the sea. (Beowulf)
- Caught the monster by the arm and tore it off. (Beowulf)
- Ran back to the lake and died there. (Grendel)
- Ran into the palace, killed one of the warriors and carried him to the lake. (Grendel's mother)
- Took the magic sword and killed the witch with it. (Beowulf)
Exercise 2. Do you have good memory?
- How many warriors did Grendel kill during his first visit to the palace? (30)
- For how many years did the king's warriors try to fight against the monster? (12)
- How many friends did Beowulf take with him? (14)
3) Составление характеристики главного героя. (Монологическая речь)
Teacher: Clever of you. But you see it was just warming-up. And there comes serious work. - Now we'll try to create the image of Beowulf. You should take into consideration all the details given in the text and speak on his appearance, his strength and the features of his character. So, what do you think he looked like?
(Ключевые слова выписываются на доску)
Pupil: Well, Beowulf was from Scandinavia. So, I think he was blue-eyed and fair-haired, which is typical of Scandinavians. Then, I think he was tall, broad-shouldered and strong because he was a warrior.
Teacher: Can you prove that he was very strong using the text?
Pupil: Yes, it is said here that he was as strong as thirty men.
Pupil: He tore off Grendel's arm, and to tear off a monster's arm you should be very strong.
Teacher: And what can you say about his character?
Pupil: No doubt, Beowulf was very brave; he wasn't scared of a monster, although he knew that Grendel had killed a lot of warriors.
Pupil: And I think that Beowulf was fierce and cruel in war when he fought against his enemies, but he respected men and women. He was ready to sacrifice his life for them. He decided to help King Hrothgar and his people not for his own glory, but to get rid of a terrible monster that killed people.
Pupil: I agree that Beowulf was very brave and unselfish. He was the only one who wasn't afraid of jumping into the lake in order to find and kill the witch.
Teacher: Now, let us summarize what we've just said about Beowulf. Use these words on the blackboard.
- blue-eyed, fair-haired (typical of Scandinavians)
- tall, broad-shouldered (warrior)
- brave, wasn't scared of...
- fierce, cruel
- ready to sacrifice … not for his own glory
Pupil: Beowulf was a Geat warrior. His appearance was typical of Scandinavians. He was blue-eyed and fair-haired. He was tall, broad-shouldered and strong because he was a warrior. He was as strong as thirty men. He was so strong that he was able to tear off the monster's arm and kill the witch. Beowulf was very brave. He wasn't scared of fighting against the monster that killed a lot of warriors, and he wasn't afraid of jumping into the dark and cold water of the lake to kill the witch. He was fierce and cruel in war when he fought against his enemies. But he was ready to sacrifice his life for his friends and other people, not for his own glory.
4) Сравнение поэмы с произведениями русской литературы.
Teacher: With what heroes of Russian literature can you compare Beowulf? Why?
Pupil: I think we can compare Beowulf with the heroes of Russian bylinas. Ilia Muromets or Dobrynia Nikitich, for example. They also fought against monsters and defended people from enemies.
Pupil: And I think “Beowulf” has much in common with Russian tales about Ivan-Tzarevich and other Ivans who fought against Koshchei Bessmertny and Baba-Yaga.
Teacher: You know that at the time when Beowulf and Russian bylinas were created there was no written language, and people just told these stones to one another. There were even special people who sang these stories. They sang about events they wanted to be remembered. These songs were handed down to children and grandchildren and subsequently reached the times when certain people, who had learned to write, decided to put them down. And why do you think people wrote "The song of Beowulf”, bylinas and tales about epic heroes?
Pupil: You see, there was no radio and television at that time, so people learned everything from the stories of other people. Chronicles say that Beowulf was a real person who lived among the Geats in Jutland and was a warrior. He was brave and committed several heroic deeds. I also believe that the heroes from Russian bylinas had their prototypes too. While telling about the heroic deeds of a real person, storytellers usually added some details to make the story more impressive. In the course of time only the name of the hero remained true, but the man grew stronger and wiser, and his enemies grew more fantastic and more terrible.
Pupil: I think that people needed the epic poems to inspire other warriors to fight against enemies, to be brave and strong.
Pupil: And I think that people believed that good always gains a victory over evil, and in epic poems they expressed their hopes and faith.
IV. Чтение и обсуждение текста «The Language of Britain during the Anglo-Saxon Period». (Приложение 3)
Teacher: Thank you for participating in the discussion. But now we are to return to the Anglo-Saxon period of the British history and consider the changes in the language of Britain during this period.
So, your task now is to read the text on page 14 (номера страниц в заданиях указаны по пособию, составленному мною для проведения спецкурса) and do the exercises after the text.
1. Ученики самостоятельно читают текст и выполняют задания c использованием индивидуальных карт Великобритании.
2. Проверка выполнения заданий к тексту.
- Учащиеся читают фразы из текста, соответствующие данным в упражнении русским эквивалентам.
- Учащиеся читают вслух выписанные из текста и индивидуальной карты Британии географические названия англо-саксонского происхождения, распознавая их по определенным словообразовательным элементам: -ton, -ham, -field, -bury, -borough (-burgh).
- Ответы на вопросы по содержанию прочитанного.
What did the English names of the days of the week mean in early times?
How did the accepting of Christianity influence the language?
Name some words of Creek and Latin origin which came into use at that time.
(Greek: arithmetic, mathematics, theatre, geography
Latin: school, paper, candle)
V. Заключительная часть урока.
Teacher: And with what country do you associate the word sheriff? America? Yes, when we hear this word, we think of a person who makes sure that the law is obeyed in his country. Nevertheless, sheriff is of Anglo-Saxon origin. The Anglo-Saxons divided their kingdoms into new administrative districts, and called them shires (today it is counties, but with the outlines that exactly coincide with the Old Saxon shires). The local administrator, a shire reeve, was appointed by a king of the kingdom over each shire; in time this title became shortened to the present-day word sheriff. Later on the word shire was used by the Danes to name the administrative districts of their new country on the territory of Britain. And nowadays the word shire is still widely used in the names of modern Midland counties. But this is the topic of our next lesson. So, for the next lesson you are to read and translate the text on pages 15-16 and do the tasks on page 17.
Литература:
- Аникст А.А. История английской литературы. – М.: Гослитиздат, 1956.
- Зайцева С. Д. Англия в далеком прошлом. - М.: Просвещение, 1975.
- Кауфман К. И. Совершенствуй свой английский. - Обнинск: Титул, 1997.
- Сафонова В.В., Ханнен-Лэнг A. Пособие по культуроведению. - М.: Просвещение, 1995.
- Guide to English and American Literature. Составитель Зубанова О.В. – М.: Менеджер, 1997.