Урок "Байрон – великий английский поэт"

Цель урока: формировать представления учащихся о жизни и творчестве великого английского поэта, познакомиться со стихами, переводами их на русский язык, а также с отрывком из поэмы «Паломничество Чайльд – Гарольда».

Задачи урока:

• развивающие: продолжать обучать учащихся чтению с извлечением детальной информации, развивать речевые умения в монологической речи, уметь последовательно излагать мысли, факты, суждения, связанные в смысловом отношении и соотнесённые с задачейвысказывания;
• воспитательные: воспитывать любовь и уважение к творчеству великого английского поэта и  его стихам, формировать духовную культуру личности ученика;
• образовательные: продолжать совершенствовать умения, необходимые для понимания прочитанного как на уровне значения, так и на уровне смысла, выполнять после - текстовые задания, формировать лексические навыки говорения после чтения текстов.

Ход урока

I. Вступительное слово учителя

«Today our lesson is devoted to a great English poet – George Gordon Byron. Your homework was to read texts about his life and some students agreed to learn his poems by heart.

So, were the texts difficult?  Was it difficult to learn his poems by heart?

II. Students’ answers.

III. Today we are going to discuss and analyse texts about Byron.

We’ll do different tasks to these texts to understand them better.

A

The great English revolutionary poet George Gordon Byron was born in London, on January 22, 1788 into an old aristocratic family. His mother came of a rich Scottish family. His father was a poor army officer who very soon spent his wife’s money and died when the boy was three years old.

The boy was lame from birth, but, thanks to his strong will and regular training, he became an excellent rider, a champion swimmer,aboxer and took an part in athletic exercises. Byron spent first ten years of his life in Scotland. He was fond of the rocky coastand mountains of the country.  His love of natural scenery was reflected in many of his poems.

Choose the correct answer:

1. Small Byron took part in athletic exercises because:
   1. His father made him do it;
   2. Sport activities were modern those times;
   3. He had a strong will and trained a lot.
2. He devoted many poems to nature as: 
   1. He visited beautiful places in Scotland;
   2. His parents travelled with him a lot;
   3. He liked rocky mountains and natural scenery of the country.

B

The boy went to a grammar school.  He liked history and read a great deal   about Rome, Greece, Turkey.

In 1798 his grand – uncle died and the boy inherited the title of lord and the family estate Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire. The family went to live there and George was sent to Harrow school, where boys of aristocratic families received their education. The boys liked George because he read a great deal and knew many interesting facts from history. He wrote poems and read them to his friends.

When the boy was sixteen he fell in love with Mary Ann Chaworth. But the girl did not like Byron and later married another man. Byron could not so easily forget her and his love for her gave a sad colouring to all his future life.

At seventeen Byron entered Cambridge University and there his literary career began.  It was the time after the first bourgeois revolution in France when the reactionary governments of Europe were trying to kill freedom. The European nations were struggling against Napoleon for their independence. The industrial revolution developed in England and a lot of people lost their work. Byron hated exploitation and sympathized with the workers. In 1807, when he was a student, he published his first collection of poems: “Hours of Idleness”. The critics attacked Byron in the leading literary magazine of that time: “Edinburgh Review”. Ayear later Byron answered to the critics in his first satire: “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers”.

Match the questions and the answers. Fill in the table below.

Questions:

1. At what age did the boy go to school?
2. What did he like at school?
3. What did the boy inherit after his uncle’s death?
4. What school was George sent after the death of his uncle?
5. Why did all boys of school like George?
6. At what age did Byron fall in love for the first time?
7. When did his literary career begin?
8. What happened in Europe those times?
9. Why did Byron hate exploitation?
10. Why did critics attack his first collection of poems?
11. What was his answer to the critics?

Answers:

1. Byron didn’t like exploitation because many people in England were very poor and lost their jobs, they were unemployed;
2. History was his favourite subject at school;
3. After his uncle’s death George was sent to Harrow school;
4. At the age of ten George was sent to school;
5. His literary career began at the Cambridge University;
6. When Byron was sixteen he fell in love for the first time;
7. Critics attacked his first collection of poems because he supported workers and a feeling of freedom;
8. He answered to the critics with the help of his first satire;
9. All European governments wanted to kill freedom, all workers were exploited,their life was very difficult those times;
10. After his uncle’s death Byron inherited the title of lord and the family estate;
11. All boys liked George because he read a lot and knew many historical facts.

C

In 1808 Byron graduated from the University and the next year took his hereditary seat in the House of Lords. In 1809 he left England on a long journey which took two years. He visited Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece and Turkey. In his travels over Europe the poet saw anexploitation similar to that in his country. Byron described his travels in a long poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’’.

The first two parts of the poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’’ were published 1n 1812. They were received with enthusiasm by his contemporaries and Byron became one of the most popular men in London.

This year Byron made his first speech in the House of Lords. He spoke in defenceof the English proletariat and blamed the government for the unbearable conditions of the life of the workers.  Later the poet again raised his voice in defence of the oppressed workers, encouraging them to fight for freedom in his “Song for the Luddites”.

 Between 1813 and 1816 Byron composed his “Oriental Tales”: “The Giaour”, “The Cosair”, “Lara” and others. The hero of each poem is a rebel against society. He is a man of strong will and passion. Proud and independent, he rises against tyranny and injustice to gain his personal freedom and happiness. His revolt, however, is too individualistic and therefore it is doomed to failure. These romantic poems were admired by Byron’s contemporaries and called forth a new mode of thought and feeling called ‘’Byronism’’.

In 1815 Byron married Miss Isabella Milbanke, a cold and pedantic woman. They had a daughter, whom Byron loved very much. But he was not happy with his wife and soon they parted. Byron’s revolutionary speeches in Parliament and the divorce helped his enemies to begin an attack against the poet. Byron was accused of immorality and had to leave England. He went to Switzerland. There Byron met Percy Bysshe Shelley and the two poets became friends.

While in Switzerland, Byron wrote the third canto of  “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’’, “ The prisoner of Chillion’’, the dramatic poem’’ Manfred’’, and many lyrics.  

Task: Decide whether the following sentences are true (T) or false (F)

1. In 1808 Byron entered the University.
2. In 1809 he left England on a long journey which took two years.
3. He saw richness of all people over Europe.
4. Byron became very popular because of his poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”.
5. In the House of Lords he spoke in defence of rich people.
6. Between 1813 and 1816 Byron composed a lot of poems where all heroes are rebels against society.
7. His first wife was a kind and faithful woman.
8. His divorce gave a positive result to his future career.
9. In Switzerland he met A.S. Pushkin and made friends with him.
10. Namely in Switzerland he wrote his best poems.

D

In 1817 Byron went to Italy, where he lived until 1823. Italy was under the rule of Austrians at that time. The poet joined the Carbonari, a revolutionary organization that was struggling for the national independence of Italy. In one of his poems he wrote:  “When a man has no freedom to fight for at home, let him fight for that of his neighbours’’.

 In Italy Byron wrote many of his best poems: the fourth canto of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, “Don Juan” – a satire on bourgeois and aristocratic society, and

“Cain”. During the same period he wrote his satirical masterpieces “The vision of Judgement “and “The age of Bronze”. In “Don Juan” Byron says: “I will teach, if possible, the stones to rise against earth’s tyrants.

When the Carbonari movement ended Byron went to Greece and joined the people in their struggle for independence against Turkey. The struggle for national independence had become the aim of Byron’s life. In that struggle he showed himself a good military leader.

In the Greek town of Missolonghi Byron fell ill with typhus and died in April 1824. His friends brought Byron’s body to England. They wanted to bury him in Westminster Abbey, where many of England’s great writers are buried, but the English government did not let them, and Byron was buried in Newstead, his native place. All people in the whole world still remember him and reread his unforgettable poems.

Task: Remember the texts quickly. Match the titles 1 – 4 with the paragraphs A – D. There are two paragraphs that you won’t use.

1. Byron’s learnings.
2. Byron’s childhood.
3. Byron’s political career, his first literary works.
4. His activities in Italy and Greece.
5. His death.
6. His speeches in the House of Lords.

Key: A – 2; B – 1; C – 4; D – 3;

(Презентация, посвящённая Байрону) вопросы к слайдам. What period of Byron’s life is depicted?

IV. Byron’s poems.

Teacher: “You have learnt much today about Byron’s life. Let’s feel the beauty of his poems’’.

Students recite Byron’s poems (Приложение)

V. Poems’ discussion.

You’ve listened to poems attentively. What are his poems about? What did he want to express? What poems have freedom loving feelings? Why was his soul dark?

VI. Подведение итогов урока.