Speech Patterns
1. I can't do a thing with him. He won't take his pineapple juice.
I can't do a thing with the boy. He won't let anyone come into the room.
I can't do a thing with her. She won't take the medicine.
2. He had done some constructive thinking since his last visit.
I do the cooking myself.
He was doing some careful listening.
I've done enough reading for today.
3. This was no ordinary case.
William Strand was no ordinary human.
This was no petty offence.
It was no small achievement.
4. The suggestion proved too much for the patient's heart.
The letter proved to be of little consequence.
He had no premonition that this call would prove unusual.
5. I just suggested it, that's all.
We just thought it necessary to make the inquiries, that's all.
I just wanted to know, that's all.
I just don't feel like eating, that's all.
6. Let's try and draw that vase over there on the mantelpiece.
Try and behave better.
Let's try and get there on time.
Try and come, won't you?
7. Good. Let's make it Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Good. Let's make it next week.
Well. Let's make it Saturday then.
Why, let's make it four o'clock.
SPEECH PATTERNS
EXERCISES
Exercise 1. Complete the following sentences:
1. Steve is awfully stubborn. Mother can't do ... . He won't ... . 2. Mary is as obstinate as a mule. I ... . 3. Where did you find this brute of a dog? I ... . 4. I wasted no time. I listened and I did ... . 5. Where did you go for your holidays? Did you do any ... ? 6. Even the police were afraid of him. He was no ... . 7. You seem to forget that we deal with no ... . 8. There is something fishy about the whole thing. This is no ... . 9. I'd never have believed that Jack would prove .... 10. The young actress had no premonition that the performance ... . 11. They had to leave India before the year was over. The climate .... 12. Why do you mind his coming so much? — I just.... 13. Don't be angry with me. I just... .14. He is not to blame. He just ... . 15. You know how much I look forward to your letters. Try and .... 16. It is a very difficult sound. Try and ... . 17. The task is urgent. Try and ... . 18. I'd like to suit your convenience. Let's make it ... . 19. It's a go then. Let's ... . 20. Could you spare the time to come twice a week? — Sure. — Good. Let's ... .
Ex. 2. Paraphrase the following sentences as in the models.
M о d e 1: I think you ought to explain it.
I think it's up to you to do the explaining.
1. One afternoon Beatrice asked me if I rode and I explained that I had a little experience in riding but was far from proficient in the art. 2. Mrs. Kettle is not the kind of woman to wash her clothes herself. 3. Her eyes were red and swollen, it was clear that Mary had been crying. 4. I used to go fishing in my younger days. 5. He talked himself all the time, and they thought he was stupid. 6. I've been thinking about it a good deal.
M о d e 1: I am out of patience with him because he does not want to do his lessons.
I can't do a thing with him. He won't do his lessons.
1. I am at my wits' end, Paul refuses to go to school. 2. Like a naughty child Nelly refuses to listen to me and put on her winter coat. 3. Her mother despaired of persuading Mary to take up music. 4. No matter how hard I try I can't compel him to tell the truth. 5. Unfortunately I can't make her eat porridge in the morning.
M о d e 1: We had no premonition that the trip would bring only disappointment.
We had no premonition that the trip would prove so disappointing.
1. I had not expected that the film might be so thrilling. 2. I'd never have believed that Jacob would turn out to be a hero. 3. Before the month was over Nick showed that he was a bright pupil. 4. I won't be surprised if Morris gives evidence of being an excellent scholar. 5. We abandoned the attempt as it became clear that the experiment was dangerous.
M о d e 1: He showed very little skill. He showed no great skill.
1. I have very little respect for her. 2. This was an extraordinary case. 3. It was by no means a mere slip of the tongue. 4. He expressed his opinion in terms anything but uncertain. 5. Rebecca's dress excited admiration which was not at all small. 6. Hilary was a scholar of great ability (whose ability was not mean).
Word Combinations and Phrases
to be in good (bad) shape | to exhibit smth. in a show |
at a great sacrifice to one's health | a mature artist |
to take up art (painting) | to become a laughing stock |
to avert a disaster | to be accepted for the show |
a box of water colours | an inconspicuous place |
a tube of oils | to blush to the top of one's ears |
to send smth. to the cleaner's | the close of the exhibition |
to become involved in smth. | to award a prize (a medal) |
to execute a picture (a statue) |
READING COMPREHENSION EXERCISES
1. a) Listen to the recording of Text Five and mark the stresses and tunes, b) Repeat the text in the intervals after the model.
2. Put fifteen questions to the text.
3. Copy out from Text Five the sentences containing the word combinations and phrases and translate them into Russian.
4. Paraphrase the following sentences using the word combinations and phrases
1. Pygmalion fell in love with a statue of Galatea which he had made in ivory, and at his prayer Aphrodite gave it life. 2. The art dealer looked at the picture trying to judge its worth but refused to commit himself. 3. Another of his ambitions — a cherished dream — was one day to have a library. 4. Is it possible to determine what works will be given prizes before the close of the exhibition? 5. There is no denying the fact that the pictures are well done
technically. 6. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of the young artist who is giving an exhibition at the gallery. 7. When did Jane first begin to take an interest in painting? 8. Don't get mixed up in the quarrels of other people. 9. It's the maddest idea I've ever heard. It would make Alexander an object of ridicule. 10. She blushed furiously for shame. 11. You're in wonderful form, Diana. Where did you get that divine dress? 12. It's no use sending my clothes to be cleaned, they are past repair. 13. Our garden is in good condition after the rain.
5. Translate the following sentences into English using the word combinations and phrases.
1. Дела Герствуда были в плачевном состоянии, и, казалось, ничто не могло предотвратить катастрофу. 2. Он боялся, что станет посмешищем города. 3. Человек, которого вы называете многообещающим учеником, по-моему, зрелый художник, и чем скорее мы покажем его картины на выставке, тем лучше. 4. Карлтон стал крупным ученым, принеся в жертву здоровье. 5. Кто-то уронил на пол тюбик с красками, а я наступил на него. Теперь придется отдавать ковер в чистку. 6. Не говори глупостей (не будь смешным). Если бы ты положил записку на видном месте, я бы заметил ее. 7. Джон покраснел до корней волос, когда мать уличила его во лжи. 8. Статуя, которую создал Пигмалион, была так прекрасна, что он влюбился в нее. 9. После закрытия выставки 1882 года, будучи уже зрелым художником, Куинджи сделал ошеломляющее заявление, что он больше не будет демонстрировать свои картины на выставках. 10. Констебл, был награжден золотой медалью за картину «Воз сена» ("Hay Wain"), которая была выставлена в Париже в 1824 году. 11. К огромному удивлению хозяина мазня обезьяны была принята для показа на выставке. 12. Члены жюри пришли к выводу, что картины молодого художника выполнены с большим мастерством, и присудили ему первую премию. 13. Соме и Флер договорились, что пойдут на выставку современного искусства вместе. Соме пришел первым. С любопытством разглядывая произведения экспрессионистов, он не переставал удивляться, почему их приняли на выставку и поместили на самых видных местах. «Юнона», созданная «многообещающим» молодым скульптором Полем Поустом, была похожа на кривобокий насос с двумя ручками. Настоящее посмешище!
6. Make up and practise a short situation using the word combinations and phrases.
7. Make up and act out a dialogue using the word combinations and phrases.
8. Find in Text Five equivalents for the following words and phrases and use them in sentences of your own:
to think over carefully; at the expense of one's health; to devel¬op an interest in art; to prevent a great misfortune; a student likely to succeed; lower on one side than on the other; speak about smth. for a long time; to produce the desired effect; to get mixed up in smth.; to thirst for information; cherished dream; highly-skilled artist; object of ridicule or teasing; to caution against smth.; to one's great surprise; not easily seen or noticed; to move silently and secretly, usually for a bad purpose; to blush furiously; to give a prize; to speak quickly and sharply
9. Find in Text Five English equivalents for the following phrases and write them out:
1. Это для вас очень полезно.
2. Ничего не могу с ним поделать!
3. Он детально обдумал этот вопрос.
4. Случай был незаурядный.
5. С ущербом для здоровья и кошелька.
6. Я хочу вам что-то предложить.
7. Сердце больного не справилось с такой нагрузкой.
8. Катастрофу удалось предотвратить.
9. Это будет интересно.
10. Мое дело предложить.
11. Работал по ночам лифтером, чтобы заработать деньги на учебу в колледже.
12. Он смотрел на него оценивающим взглядом.
13. Давайте попробуем нарисовать вот ту вазу на камине.
14. Рисунок на столе отдаленно напоминал вазу.
15. Ну, как вам это нравится?
16. Вы не могли бы приходить два раза в неделю?
17. Давайте договоримся на понедельник и среду.
18. Он разглагольствовало переливах красок в вазе с фруктами.
19. Лечение шло успешно.
20. Совершенно новый мир предстал перед его зачарованным взором.
21. Он ошеломил всех своим заявлением.
22. Крупнейшая выставка года, если не по величине, то по значению.
23. Заветная мечта каждого зрелого мастера.
24. Картина была повешена так, что она не привлекала внимания.
25. Против обыкновения он был бодр и весел.
10. Explain what is meant by:
1. Doctor Caswell received the information with his usual professional calm.
2. He had done some constructive thinking since his last visit. 3. The old gentleman was in pretty good shape for a man of seventy-six. 4. All his purchases of recent years had to be liquidated at a great sacrifice both to his health and his pocketbook. 5. The doctor had his stethoscope ready in case the abruptness of the suggestion proved too much for the patient's heart.
6. But the old gentleman's answer was a vigorous "Rot!" 7. Collis P. Ellsworth looked at him appraisingly. 8. "There it is, young man," he snapped with a grunt of satisfaction. 9. He would dwell on the rich variety of colour in a bowl of fruit. 10. The treatment was working perfectly. 11. An entirely new world opened up its charming mysteries. 12. The old man displayed insatiable curiosity about the galleries and the painters who exhibited in them. 13. The lifetime dream of every mature artist in the United States was a Lathrop prize. 14. Fortunately, the painting was hung in an inconspicuous place where it could not excite any noticeable comment. 15. Young Swain sneaked into the Gallery one afternoon and blushed to the top of his ears when he saw "Trees Dressed in White", a loud, raucous splash on the wall. 16. As two giggling students stopped before the strange anomaly Swain fled in terror. 17. Swain and Koppel uttered a series of inarticulate gurgles.
1. Use the following phrases from Text Five to describe an art exhibition (picture gallery):
a lifetime dream; to take up art; to display insatiable curiosity; to visit the exhibition; to grow frequent; to open up its charming mysteries; a rich variety of colour; mature artist; to be hung in a conspicuous place
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Study the Vocabulary Notes and translate the illustrative examples into Russian.
2.Translate the following sentences into Russian. Pay attention to the words and word combinations in bold type:
A. 1. See at what intervals the guard is relieved at that bridge.
1. The thief relieved him of his watch. 3. Ann was grateful*to him for relieving her of the other girl's presence . 4. Her husband was annoyed because nothing had been said to him before, and relieved his feelings by shouting back at Johnny. 5. It was rather a relief to have him out of the way. 6. Sooner than renounce their principles Kramskoi and twelve others resigned from the Academy of Arts. 7. From the beginning to the end of his life Turner's one paramount artistic aim was the representation of light and atmosphere. 8. You could tell that the flowers she was wearing were artificial. 9. In those days conversation was still cultivated as an art.
10. This is a convenient tool for drawing nails out. 11. The snail draws in its horns when it is frightened. 12. Mr. McIntosh has many interesting stories of his travels if you can draw him out. 13. Moths are drawn by a light. 14. Certainly his name would still be a great draw for bourgeois audiences. 15. Gainsborough is famous for the elegance of his portraits and his pictures of women in particular have an extreme delicacy and refinement. 16. Going in and out of the court-room he was calm and courteous, the picture of rationality. 17. The picture was released three months later, and by that time they were back in New York. 18. Each of Gainsborough's portraits is distinct and individual, even though taken as a whole they depict an entire society in its significant manifestations. 19. In his "View Across the Thames" Turner has represented a scene looking directly into the rays of the afternoon sun, a condition which the human eyes normally cannot tolerate. With scientific precision he has portrayed the golden path of the reflection on the water and the sparkle of light on the wet lawn. 20. It was a strange situation, and very different from any romantic picture which his fancy might have painted.
В. 1. He stood watching the play of colours upon the water.
1. Before us, in this strange mountain world of grass, the colours were soft and delicate— fawns, pale greens, warm browns and golds. 3. The subject is neither pretty nor young, yet by subtle colouring and a rhythmic flow of simple lines an extraordinary feeling of beauty is created. 4.1 have little doubt that he will be as popular as he deserves here. 5. Doubtless, by this time, they are well on their way in quite another direction. 6. All this doubt and uncertainty made her very unhappy. 7.1 doubt if he is going to get away with it. 8. A series of Italian views decked the walls, a connoisseur had selected them, they were genuine and valuable. 9. The party was admirably selected. 10. Joan sat down at the piano in front of the platform to play a selection from a musical comedy. 11. They are both of a size. 12. "I don't want a life-sized portrait of myself," answered the lad, swinging round on the music-stool. 13. They met Edgar coming out of the house in a G. I. khaki shirt three sizes too big for him. 14. As a result the town remained the same size for a hundred years. 15. A fair-sized maple tree stood in front of the girl's private school. 16. With an almost visible effort the young man regained his control. 17. He made an effort to rise but his legs wouldn't support him. 18. With a strong mental effort Sir Lawrence tried to place himself in a like dilemma.
2.Paraphrase the following sentences using your active vocabulary:
A. 1. The doctor's treatment did not ease his pain. 2. It was a great comfort to know that the children were safe. 3. He felt himself somehow free of further responsibility. 4. I'm on duty until
2 p. m. And then Peter is coming to take my place. 5. The little boy said, "I can whistle with my mouth," and was eager to demonstrate his skill. 6. She has a kind of forced smile. 7. They know how to be pleasant. They've cultivated that accomplishment for centuries.
8. Her beauty attracted them as the moon the sea. 9. She crossed the room, pulled the curtains apart and opened those low windows.
10. I could not obtain any information from him. 11. Well known as it is, this is a painting one can go back to again and again, without coming to the end of its fascination. 12. Constable managed to paint the English countryside in all its moods. 13. You look an embodiment of health. 14. This doctor is a mild-looking man, not what I'd imagined at all. 15. I want to execute a really good likeness of your father. 16. Dirk Stroeve had a taste for music and literature which gave depth and variety to his comprehension of pictorial art.
В. 1. She was a dull, undistinguished-looking little thing.
2. Donald blushed violently and then looked away.
3. Monet preferred transparent light tints.
4. She'd be pretty if her complexion weren't bad.
5. The flowers added freshness and brightness to the room.
6. It's quite certain.
7. I'm uncertain as to what we ought to do under the circumstances.
8. Harris's shirt was in a questionable taste.
9. I secretly distrusted the accuracy of both descriptions applied to one girl.
10. Having looked through the catalogue the scientist carefully chose the books which he needed for his research work.
11. The choice of paintings for the exhibition was admirable.
12. The bump on the boy's forehead was as big as a duck's egg.
13. He noticed that Strickland's canvases were of different magnitude.
14. I don't want to camp out and spend the night in a tent no bigger than a tablecloth.
15. She found it a strain to talk of anything else with Bart.
16. Please try and come.
17. The giant lifted up the big rock quite easily.
18. Pouring out the cod-liver-oil she wrinkled her nose in an attempt to keep her nostrils closed.
3.Explain or comment on the following sentences:
A. 1. He relieved Poirot deftly of his overcoat. 2. Mallory's chief reaction was one of relief: he would have hated to have to speak to him again. 3. But Hilary could not relieve himself of his own burdens in that way. 4. Have you heard the news? What a relief!
4. Your room is arranged very artistically. 6. The arts of the painter and sculptor had been employed to make the palace beautiful.
5. "Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter," said Basil Hallward. 8. It was not long before I found, to my own surprise, that the difficult art of fishing I was attempting had, indeed, a powerful fascination. 9. When it was over he drew a deep breath. 10. Beauty drew him irresistibly.
11. If the reporter could not get facts for his stories, he often drew on his imagination. 12. A considerate host always tries to draw a left-out guest into conversation. 13. Mr. Strickland has drawn the portrait of an excellent husband and father, a man of kindly temper, industrious habits, and moral disposition. 14. I haven't had my picture taken for years. 15. "Mousehold Heath” is a magnificent picture by John Crome. It depicts a shepherd-boy and his dog with a few sheep on a piece of broken, tufted ground. 16. He pictured the house half-way to Plyn hill, ivy-covered and with a view of the harbour, and Janet waiting for him when the day's work was done. 17. Leonardo da Vinci loved to portray the smile and used it to give life and reality and the illusion of spiritual depth to his characters. 18. The president wasted no words, yet managed to paint a detailed and vivid picture of the nation's strength. 19. The Russian art students were anxious to paint national themes and to choose the subjects of their paintings themselves. Classical subjects did not appeal to them, for their hearts lay in realism and 'purpose' painting. 20. Cezanne would never have painted his exquisite pictures if he had been able to draw as well as the academic Ingres. 21. She painted his ingratitude in the blackest colours.
В. 1. He met her challenge with a bitter smile though all colour had left his face. 2. Tristram's face went stern as death, and he bit his lips, while his bride became the colour of the red roses on the table in front of her. 3. His reputation was a trifle off colour.
4. These pages form the record of events that really happened. All that has been done is to colour them. 5. Mr. Gaitskill never for a moment doubted his divine right to do, within the accepted limits, exactly what he liked. 6. The weather looks very doubtful.
7. I shouldn't like to live in such a doubtful neighbourhood.
8. Doris had now made it clear that she doubted the sincerity of Laura's deep affection for Conrad. 9. The whole art was to stay silent, to select one's time, and then pick off the enemies. 10. The boy's sailor-suit had been selected in the thrifty expectation of his "growing into it". 11. Books are often displayed on the counter to let the customers select what they like.
12. The man who had charge of the canoes was a tremendous fellow, brown all over, who had been selected for his strength. 13. He felt, as other men felt in her presence, a size larger than life. 14. Harris suggested that George never ought to come into an ordinary sized boat with feet that length. 15. We saw the ruins overgrown with creepers, halfburied in vegetation, but still gigantic in size.
16. I myself might have painted the portrait. The forlorn dark eyes gazed steadily back at me, sharing, or at least understanding, as it seemed, my foolish boyish dreams. 17. The "Young Man" seems to gaze at us with such an intense and soulful look that it is almost impossible to believe that these dreamy eyes are only a bit of coloured earth spread on a rough piece of canvas.
18. He made a gentle effort to introduce his friends into Bertolini society and the effort had failed. 19. Roy became aware that someone was approaching him, and pulled himself together with a strong effort. 20. He abandoned his fruitless efforts to sleep. 21. Lampton joined in the laughter but it was a considerable effort.
5. Choose the right word:
draw — paint
1. She placed the paper and pencil before me and told me I could ... anything I liked. 2. The picture was ... so that the eyes seem to follow you no matter where you are.
colours — paints
1. This possible picture she painted in glowing ... , until the child's pathetic dark eyes glistened with pleasure. 2. If you want cornflower blue you’d better mix these two ... . 3. The warm ... are red, yellow and orange.
picture — portray — represent
1. Roerich's paintings for the Kazan railway station in Moscow ... combats between Russians and Tatars. 2. I could hardly Charlie in this role. 3. The great tragic actress is ... in her day dress.
4. The artist was concerned more with re-creating the radiance of Venice than with ... the solid structure of its monuments.
choose — select
1. Meg had ... her second daughter to accompany her to the wedding. 2. The books were specially ... to attract and develop the youthful mind. 3. Members of the committee were ... by election.
6. Give English equivalents for the following phrases:
снять напряжение; облегчить боль; усомниться в чем-л.; выбрать новогодний подарок; воплощение здоровья; отобрать лучших испол-нителей; разные по величине; иметь широкий ассортимент чего-л.; на номер больше, чем нужно; сделать большое усилие; сомневаться в чьей-л. искренности; сгущать краски; заставить кого-л. разговориться; успокоить, утешить кого-л.; фальшивая улыбка; заурядный человек; неясный ответ; дать выход своим чувствам; скрасить однообразие; близиться к концу; выглядеть бледным; говорить с трудом; вздох облегчения; сделать вывод; представлять себе; сфотографировать кого-л.; платье кремового цвета; самый большой, если не по ве¬личине, то по значению; приложить все силы; черпать вдохновение; написать картину; писать с натуры; портрет в натуральную величи¬ну; яркие, сочные краски; тусклые тона; учитель рисования; искусствовед; художник-любитель; артистическая личность; портретист; пейзажист; живописное место; цветная репродукция; формат картины; художественная выставка; художественный вкус; изображать сцены из жизни простых людей
7. Translate the following sentences into English:
A. 1. Оливер с облегчением заметил, что человек напротив не узнал его. 2. Как часто меняются часовые у ворот? 3. Какое блаженство! Наконец я могу вытянуть ноги. 4. Молодая женщина вздохнула с облегчением, когда Шерлок Холмс согласился взяться за ее дело. 5 . Новое лекарство не помогло ему. 6. Оскар Уайльд был представителем теории «искусство ради искусства». 7. Этот предмет скорее похож на чайник, чем на произведение искусства. 8. Никогда бы не поверил, что эта картина написана художником-любителем. 9. Хотя Дирк Стрёв сам был плохим художником, он обладал тонким художественным вкусом, и ходить с ним на выставки было одно удовольствие (a rare treat). 10. Выставка прикладного искусства оказалась очень интересной, и мы бродили по залам час или два. 11. Старый негр не захотел раскрыть секреты своего искусства врачевания.
12. Рози отдернула занавеску и выглянула из окна. 13. Человек со шрамом вытащил платок и вытер лицо. 14. Чем больше сыщик старался вызвать Джерри на откровенность, тем меньше ему это удавалось. 15. Пьеса такого рода наверняка привлечет публику. 16. Мальчик очень хорошо рисует, но родители не одобряют его решения стать художником. 17. Я люблю рассматривать старые семейные фотографии. 18. Что касается младенца, он воплощение здоровья.
19. Сюжет картины очень прост. На ней изображен мальчик-пастух на фоне вечернего неба. 20. Женщина изображена сидящей перед зеркалом. 21. Жизнь столицы изображена в этом романе в самых мрачных тонах. 22. Известно, что Мона Лиза слушала музыку, в то время как Леонардо да Винчи писал ее портрет.
B. 1. О красках картин Рейнольдса, выдающегося английского живописца, трудно судить в настоящее время, потому что многие его картины потрескались и поблекли. 2. Н. Рерих много путешествовал по Индии и Тибету, и краски, которые он там видел, оказали влияние на его палитру. 3. Современники ценили в Гейнсборо портретиста, а сам художник всю жизнь считал себя пейзажистом. 4. Импрессионисты пытались передать игру красок на поверхности предметов.
5. У ребенка не совсем здоровый вид сегодня. 6. Дженет улыбалась, ее глаза блестели, и на щеках был румянец. 7. Не может быть сомнения в том, что мы должны воспользоваться моментом. 8. Джемма сомневалась, что листовки могут принести пользу. 9. У меня нет ни малейшего сомнения, что он просто пытается выманить у вас эту ценную книгу. 10. Вы зашли слишком далеко, вы сомневаетесь в честности вашего старого друга. 11. Не сомневаюсь, что она постарается устроить сцену. 12. У нас не хватит времени, чтобы выбрать хороший подарок к Новому году. 13. Товары были выставлены таким образом, чтобы покупатели могли выбирать то, что им нравится. 14. Он говорил медленно, останавливаясь время от времени, тщательно подбирая нужные слова. 15. Вот пара ботинок вашего размера. 16. Мне нужны перчатки на размер меньше. 17. Незнакомец вытащил из кармана предмет величиной со спичечный коробок. 18. Усилием воли Эндрю взял себя в руки. 19. Не отчаивайтесь, ваши старания будут вознаграждены. 20. Мне стоило большого труда уговорить его сотрудничать в нашей газете.
8. Review the Essential Vocabulary and answer the following questions:
1. How is one likely to feel on learning that the danger is averted?
2. What is the usual effect of a sedative?
3. What do we call a person with a university degree?
4. If the walls of the house are peeling off, what does the house want?
5. If a person deliberately emphasizes the gloomy aspects of the situation, what is he doing?
6. What do we say about a person who sticks at nothing to achieve his aim? 7. What is another way of saying that a person is pale?
8. How can we refer to a person who looks strong and healthy?
9. What often happens to the news in the tabloid press? 10. What do we call a person who is fond of the arts? 11. What do we call a person who practises one of the arts? 12. If an artist turns to nature for inspiration, what do we say about him? 13. WTiom do we usually refer to as "Old Masters"? 14. What kinds of pictures according to execution do you know? 15. What do you value most in a picture? 16. Whom do we call a colourist? 17. Where are works of art displayed? 18. How do we usually refer to works of undisputed greatness in character and execution? 19. What do we call a painting of inanimate objects, fruit and flowers in particular?
9. Respond to the following statements and questions using the Essential Vocabulary:
1.I'll make every effort to come. 2. They are both of a size. 3. It's her own selection. 4. What a relief! 5. It's doubtless a work of art. 6. How'd you like to take up art professionally? 7. I know, it's next to impossible to draw him out. 8. It's a great draw all right. 9. Why should you paint it in such dark colours? 10. There isn't the slightest doubt about it. 11. Unfortunately, it's a size too large. 12. What a nice colour you have got!
10. Use the following words and word combinations in situations:
1. tubes of oils; a box of water-colours; crayons; palette; to paint a picture; to doubt if; no ordinary painting; to depict; colours; cost smb. much effort; to sigh with relief;
2. a lifetime dream; to exhibit smth. in a show; selection committee; to be accepted for the show; to hang in an inconspicuous place; small in size; art critics; to be distinguished by a marvellous sense of colour and composition; a mature artist; to have no doubt; to excite some noticeable comment; to award a prize;
3. to have a painter for a neighbour; to display an insatiable curiosity about one's studio; to take advantage of the opportunity; to sigh with relief; to draw a curtain aside; a life-sized portrait; to paint against the background of smth.; glowing colours; to be drawn with utmost care and precision; to be lost in admiration; to become aware of smb.'s presence; to blush to the top of one's ears.
11. Find in Text Five and copy out phrases in which the prepositions or adverbs ‘from', ‘to’, 4vith' are used. Translate the phrases into Russian.
12. Fill in prepositions or adverbs:
1. This train starts ... Plymouth and goes ... London.
2. What country do you come ...?
3. You must try to look ... the matter ... my point... view.
4. Stop that boy ... spoiling the book.
5. Johnson never made any provision ... the future, he just lived ... hand ... mouth.
6. ... time ... time I will examine you on the work you have done.
7. I know it... my own experience.
8. We must keep them ... getting to know our plans.
9. The speaker never referred ... his notes, he spoke ... memory.
10. His arrival was a surprise ... me.
11. Don't pay attention ... what he is doing.
12. The guide drew our attention ... an old church, which was a fine specimen of Renaissance archi¬tecture.
13. It was rough ... the Atlantic and the girl had to keep ... her cabin.
14. The banquet drew ... its close.
15. The fact is, it never occurred ... me.
16. The chances are ten ... one.
17. Turner's colours were true ... nature.
18. The bus was filled ... the bursting point.
19. Everybody was scared almost ... death.
20. Mr. Wolfe took a great fancy ... his niece.
21. Sybil's father and mother might possibly object ... the marriage.
22. I am going ... home ... about exception the best pupil I have ever had.
23. I know you will work hard, that goes ... saying.
Thomas Gainsborough
The Market Cart. 1786 — 1787
13. Translate the following sentences into English. Pay attention to the prepositions and adverbs:
1. Хлеб пекут (делают) из муки. 2. «Какая жалость, что вы вынуждены не пускать ребенка в школу», — сказал Эндрю. 3. Поэты и художники часто черпают вдохновение у природы. 4. Братья так похожи друг на друга, что я не могу отличить одного от другого. 5. Если я советую вам это сделать, то я говорю на основании собственного опыта. 6. Вот картина в моем вкусе. 7. Дверь захлопнулась. 8. Гвендолен сказала, что она помолвлена с Эрнестом. 9. Как можно быть таким безразличным к своей работе? 10. Такое упрямство любого может довести до отчаяния. 11. Вам следовало бы извиниться перед хозяйкой за ваше опоздание. 12. Друзья подняли тост за счастливое окончание путешествия. 13. Не принимайте это так близко к сердцу. 14. Луиза с нетерпением ждала того дня, когда она пойдет в школу.
15. Он приобрел привычку читать газету за едой. 16. За свою работу он почти ничего не получал. 17. Майкл несколько раз делал Флер предложение. 18. Визит дружбы способствовал взаимному понима-нию. 19. Это было сделано без моего согласия. 20. Он легко решает такие задачи. 21. Нет дыма без огня.
14. a) Give Russian equivalents for the following English proverbs and sayings (or translate them into Russian), b) Explain in English the meaning of each proverb, c) Make up a dialogue to illustrate one of the proverbs:
1. When one loves his art no service seems too hard. 2. The devil is not so black as he is painted. 3. When in doubt leave it out. 4. Art is long, life is short. 5. That's a horse of another colour. 6. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. 7. Art lies in concealing art. 8. Art has no enemy except ignorance.
CONVERSATION AND DISCUSSION
PAINTING Topical Vocabulary
1. Painters and their craft: a fashionable/self-taught/mature artist, a portrait/landscape painter, to paint from nature/memory/ imagination, to paint mythological/historical subjects, to specialize in portraiture/still life, to portray people/emotions with moving sincerity/with restraint, to depict a person/a scene of common life/the mood of..., to render/interpret the personality of..., to reveal the person's nature, to capture the sitter's vitality/transient expression, to develop one's own style of painting; to conform to the taste of the period, to break with the tradition, to be in advance of one's time, to expose the dark sides of life, to become famous overnight, to die forgotten and penniless.
2. Paintings. Genres: an oil painting, a canvas, a water-colour/ pastel picture; a sketch/study; a family group/ceremonial/intimate portrait, a self-portrait, a shoulder/length/half-length/knee- length/full-length portrait; a landscape, a seascape, a genre/historical painting, a still life, a battle piece, a flower piece, a masterpiece.
3. Composition and drawing: in the foreground/background, in the top/bottom/left-hand comer; to arrange symmetrically/asymmetrically/in a pyramid/in a vertical format; to divide the picture space diagonally, to define the nearer figures more sharply, to emphasize contours purposely, to be scarcely discernible, to convey a sense of space, to place the figures against the landscape background, to merge into a single entity, to blend with the landscape, to indicate the sitter's profession, to be represented standing.../sitting.../talking..., to be posed/ silhouetted against an open sky/a classic pillar/the snow; to accentuate smth.
4. Colouring. Light and shade effects: subtle/gaudy colouring, to combine form and colour into harmonious unity; brilliant/low- keyed colour scheme, the colour scheme where ... predominate; muted in colour; the colours may be cool and restful/hot and agitated/soft and delicate/dull, oppressive, harsh; the delicacy of tones may be lost in a reproduction.
5. Impression. Judgement: the picture may be moving, lyrical, romantic, original, poetic in tone and atmosphere, an exquisite piece of painting, an unsurpassed masterpiece, distinguished by a marvellous sense of colour and composition.
The picture may be dull, crude, chaotic, a colourless daub of paint, obscure and unintelligible, gaudy, depressing, disappointing, cheap and vulgar.
1. Read the following text for obtaining its information:
Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1727, the son of John Gainsborough, a cloth merchant. He soon evinced a marked inclination for drawing and in 1740 his father sent him to London to study art. He stayed in London for eight years, working under the rococo portrait-engraver Gravelot; he also became familiar with the Flemish tradition of painting, which was highly prized by London art dealers at that time. "Road through Wood, with Boy Resting and Dog", 1747 is a typical 'genre painting', obviously influenced by Ruisdael. In Many aspects this work recalls Constable's "Cornfield".
In 1750 Gainsborough moved to Ipswich where his professional career began in earnest. He executed a great many small-sized portraits as well as landscapes of a decorative nature. In October 1759 Gainsborough moved to Bath. In Bath he became a much sought-after and fashionable artist, portraying the aristocracy, wealthy merchants, artists and men of letters. He no longer produced small paintings but, in the manner of Van Dyck, turned to full-length, life-size portraits. From 1774 to 1788 (the year of his death) Gainsborough lived in London where he divided his time between portraits and pictorial compositions, inspired by Geior- gione, which Reynolds defined as “fancy pictures" ("The Wood Gatherers", 1787). As a self-taught artist, he did not make the traditional grand tour or the ritual journey to Italy, but relied on his own remarkable instinct in painting.
Gainsborough is famous for the elegance of his portraits and his pictures of women in particular have an extreme delicacy and refinement. As a colourist he has had few rivals among English painters. His best works have those delicate brush strokes which are found in Rubens and Renoir. They are painted in clear and transparent tone, in a colour scheme where blue and green predominate.
The particular discovery of Gainsborough was the creation of a form of art in which the sitters and the background merge into a single entity. The landscape is not kept in the background, but in most cases man and nature are fused in a single whole through the atmospheric harmony of mood; he emphasized that the natural background for his characters neither was, nor ought to be, the drawing-room or a reconstruction of historical events, but the changeable and harmonious manifestations of nature, as revealed both in the fleeting moment and in the slowly evolving seasons. In the portrait of "Robert Andrews and Mary, His Wife", for example, the beauty of the green English summer is communicated to the viewer through the sense of well-being and delight which the atmosphere visibly creates in the sitters. Gainsborough shows the pleasure of resting on a rustic bench in the cool shade of an oak tree, while all around the ripe harvest throbs in a hot atmosphere enveloped by a golden light.
Emphasis is nearly always placed on the season in both the landscapes and the portraits, from the time of Gainsborough's early works until the years of his late maturity: from the burning summer sun in "Robert Andrews and Mary, His Wife" to the early autumn scene in "The Market Cart", painted in 1786—1787, a work penetrated throughout by the richness and warmth of colour of the season, by its scents of drenched earth and marshy undergrowth.
It is because his art does not easily fall within a well-defined the-oretical system that it became a forerunner of the romantic movement, with its feeling for nature and the uncertainty and anxiety experienced by sensitive men when confronted with nature: "Mary, Countess Howe" (1765), "The Blue Boy" (1770), "Elizabeth and Mary Linley" (1772), "Mrs. Hamilton Nisbet" (1785).
The marriage portrait "The Morning Walk", painted in 1785, represents the perfection of Gainsborough's later style and goes beyond portraiture to an ideal conception of dignity and grace in the harmony of landscape and figures.
Gainsborough neither had not desired pupils, but his art — ideologically and technically entirely different from that of his rival Reynolds — had a considerable influence on the artists of the English school who followed him. The landscapes, especially those of his late manner, anticipate Constable, the marine paintings, Turner. His output includes about eight hundred portraits and more than two hundred landscapes.
2. Answer the following questions:
1. How did Gainsborough start his career? 2. What is known about the Ipswich period of his life?
3. What kind of practice did Gainsborough acquire in Bath?
4. What is a self-taught artist?
5. What do you know about the Flemish tradition (school) of painting?
6. What contribution did Van Dyck make to the English school of painting?
7. What are Rubens and Renoir famous for?
8. Why did Gainsborough place the sitter in direct contact with the landscape?
9. How is his conception of the relationship between man and nature reflected in the portrait of "Robert Andrews and Mary, His Wife"?
10. What distinguishes "The Market Cart"?
11. What do you know about the portrait of Jonathan Buttall ("The Blue Boy")?
12. Who was Sir Joshua Reynolds? What role did he play in the history of English art?
13. How did Constable and Turner distinguish themselves?
3. Summarize the text in three paragraphs specifying the contribution Gainsborough made to the English arts.
4. Use the Topical Vocabulary in answering the questions:
1. What service do you think the artist performs for mankind?
2. Historically there have been various reasons for the making of pictures, apart from the artist's desire to create a work of visual beauty. Can you point out some of them? 3. How does pictorial art serve as a valuable historical record? What can it preserve for the posterity? 4. There are certain rules of composition tending to give unity and coherence to the work of art as a whole. Have you ever observed that triangular or pyramidal composition gives the effect of stability and repose, while a division of the picture space diagonally tends to give breadth and vigour? Be specific. 5. The painter who knows his own craft and nothing else will turn out to be a very superficial artist. What are some of the qualities a true artist must possess? 6. Why does it sometimes happen that an artist is not appreciated in his lifetime and yet highly prized by the succeeding generations? 7. The heyday of the Renaissance is to be placed between the 15th and 16th centuries. Artists began to study anatomy and the effects of light and shadow, which made their work more life-like. Which great representatives of the period do уоц know? 8. What national schools of painting are usually distinguished in European art? 9. Classicism attached the main importance to composition and figure painting while romanticism laid stress on personal and emotional expression, especially in colour and dramatic effect. What is typical of realism/impressionism/cubism/expres- sionism/surrealism? 10. What kinds of pictures are there according to the artist's theme? 11. Artists can give psychological truth to portraiture not simply by stressing certain main physical features, but by the subtlety of light and shade. In this respect Rokotov, Levitsky and Borovikovsky stand out as unique. Isn't it surprising that they п/anaged to impart an air of dignity and good breeding to so many of their portraits? 12. Is the figure painter justified in resorting to exaggeration and distortion if the effect he has in mind re-quires it? 13. Landscape is one of the principal means by which artists express their delight in the visible world. Do we expect topographical accuracy from the landscape painter? 14. What kind of painting do you prefer? Why?
5. Give a brief talk about an outstanding portrait painter. Choose one you really have a liking for.
6. You are an expert on an outstanding landscape painter. Note down about five pieces of factual information and five pieces of personal information. Your fellow-students will ask you questions to find out what you know about it.
7. Make a note of the title of the picture that is reasonably well known. Tell the others in the group about the picture. See if they can guess the title.
8. You are an expert on the Peredvizhniki/the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions. Your partner is a foreigner who is completely ignorant of this period in Russian history.
9. A painting can be studied on several levels and from a variety of perspectives. Here are a few examples of how pictures can be described, analyzed, interpreted and evaluated. Use the following texts for making imaginary dialogues about the pictures and act them out in class.
A
"Lady Elizabeth Delme and Her Children" by Reynolds is a typical family group portrait in the Grand Style of English portrait painting. Lady Delme was the wife of a member of Parliament and belonged to the privileged class of the landed nobility. Here, with an air of apparently casual informality, she is shown on the terrace before her country-house, while behind stretch the broad acres of her family estate.
Reynolds has taken care that the gestures, facial expressions, and poses of his subjects are appropriate to their age, character, and social status. "The joy of a monarch," Dryden once wrote, "for the news of a victory must not be expressed like the ecstasy of a harlequin on the receipt of a letter from his mistress." So, in this portrait, Lady Delme is dignified and gracious, secure in the knowledge of her beauty and wealth. Her son John, aged five, as if sensing the responsibilities of manhood, gazes sternly toward the distant horizon. Her other son, Emelias Henry, in unmasculine skirts as befits his three years, is coy and winsome. The fourth member of the group, the unkempt Skye terrier, is the embodiment of loyal affection. Note the simplicity of the pyramidal design and the low-keyed colour scheme. These features were for Reynolds symbols of dignity and good taste.
В
The "Mrs. Sarah Siddons" by Gainsborough has the distinction of being not only a remarkable work of art, but a unique interpretation of a unique personality. It is not only one of the artist's finest portraits, but also one of the best of the many likenesses of the great tragic actress, who sat to most of the celebrated masters of her day. It was painted in 1783—1785, when the queen of the tragic drama was in her twenty-ninth year and at the zenith of her fame.
An enthusiastic admirer who saw it in the Manchester exhibition of 1857 wrote as follows: "The great tragic actress, who interpreted the passions with such energy and such feeling, and who felt them so strongly herself, is better portrayed in this simple half- length in her day dress, than in allegorical portraits as the Tragic Muse or in character parts. This portrait is so original, so individual, as a poetic expression of character, as a deliberate selection of pose, as bold colour and free handling, that it is like the work of no other painter.
С
"Dedham Lock and Mill" (1820)
This is a brilliant example of Constable's view painting at its complete maturity. The salient features of the landscape are treated in sharp relief — even those not strictly necessary — yet they merge perfectly under a serene, perfect light. This painting contains, in synthesis, all the elements of landscape which Constable loved best: the river, the boats, the soaked logs, the river vegetation, the sun shining through the foliage of the tall trees, the scenes of rural life and, above all, Dedham Mill. The cultural origins of this work are apparent in the traditional composition, in the use of chiaroscuro, in the way the landscape fades into the distance, after the Dutch manner, and in the complex, laboured palette. The compact tree mass in the foreground is blocked in against a sky filled with movement, reflected in the calm and transparent waters over which plays a pallid sun, as we find in Ruisdael.
D
For Constable I have an affection that goes back to my earliest reco^ections. In the first years of my childhood, there hung in the halls of my father's house a large steel engraving of "The Cornfield". Often in the long hot summers of the Middle West, I used to lie on the floor, gazing for hours into this English landscape carried from the dry and burning world around me into a vista of blessed coolness, thick verdure, dampness and everlasting peace.
I lived in that picture. To me it was more beautiful than a dream: the boy, flat on the ground drinking from a running brook; the sheep dog waiting patiently with turned head; the ambling flock; the old silent trees; the fat clouds reeking moisture ...
Some years later, when I went to London to study pictures, I saw "The Cornfield" and many others by Constable, and my first impressions were confirmed. In his grasp of the stable, one might almost say formidable, repose that man feels in the presence of nature, and in communicating the spiritual contentment induced by companionships with nature, Constable is the master of the English school.
E
Constable never travelled outside England. He was slow to develop as an artist, and slow to become famous. In all these things he was the very opposite of Turner. If he was Wordsworthian in his attitude to nature, Turner was Byronic. The elements which seem so domesticated in Constable's pictures are at their most extreme and battling in Turner's grandest pictures. The large "Fire at Sea" depicts man's hopeless fight amid storm and disaster. Human beings are literal flotsam in a raging sea. Turner himself actually experienced the "Snowstorm: Steamboat off a Harbour Mouth" in which wind and snow and spray sport with the unfortunate steamboat until it is barely visible except for a straining mast. There is a tremendous exhilarating terror in this moment when all nature's forces are unleashed. Something of the same drama is in "Rain, Steam, and Speed", where the glowing train forces its way over the high viaduct through the driving mist and rain — and here man is winning through, thanks to the newly invented steam engine. But Turner's intense receptivity to nature's moods made him able to capture also moments of utter tranquility. In the "Evening Star" there is nothing but the merging of sea and sky, day and night, as evening slowly sucks the colour from things; and only the diamond point of the single star shines out, caught tremblingly on the dark water. The same poignancy hovers about "The Fighting Temeraire" in which between dusk and day an old ship is tugged to its last berth. The ghostly hulk floats over the calm glassy sea, and the sun sinks like a bonfire in the west, seeming a symbol of the life that is ended, stirring us to a quite irrational sadness for days gone by. Such is Turner's poetry.
10. Select a reproduction of a portrait painting and discuss it according to the following outline:
1. The general effect. (The title and name of the artist. The period or trend represented. Does it appear natural and spontaneous or contrived and artificial?)
2. The contents of the picture. (Place, time and setting. The age and physical appearance of the sitter. The accessories, the dress and environment. Any attempt to render the personality and emotions of the model. What does the artist accentuate in his subject?)
3. The composition and colouring. (How is the sitter represented? Against what background? Any prevailing format? Is the posture bold or rigid? Do the hands (head, body) look natural and informal? How do the eyes gaze? Does the painter concentrate on the analysis of details? What tints predominate in the colour scheme? Do the colours blend imperceptibly? Are the brushstrokes left visible ?)
4. Interpretation and evaluation. (Does it exemplify a high degree of artistic skill? What feelings, moods or ideas does it evoke in the viewer?)
11. Because of their special environment, museums and picture galleries offer the kind of conditions that allow a student to experience the intrinsic qualities of the art object. The atmosphere of museums evokes marvel. When our emotions are roused, we are more sensitive, we openly explore, make discoveries, and ultimately are more receptive to the learning experience. Enlarge on the benefits of museums and picture galleries.
12. Give an account of your own visit to a picture gallery.
13. Communication Work:
a) Get your fellow-student to give you information about his/ her favourite museum. Try to get as many details as you can.
b) You are a novice teacher getting ready to take your charges to the Tretyakov Gallery/the Russian Museum/the Hermitage. Ask for advice and suggestions from an expert.
c) Persuade your partner to agree with your opinion that life is made much more colourful if you regularly visit art exhibitions.
d) One of you has recently returned from England. The other is questioning him/her on the impressions of the National Gallery/ the Tate Gallery.
e) The great value of visiting a museum and studying works of art first-hand is that one becomes aware of the qualitative difference between original art and photographic reproductions. Work in pairs and enlarge on this statement.
14. Read the following dialogues. The expressions in bold type show the WAYS ENGLISH PEOPLE EXPRESS LIKES AND DISLIKES. Note them down. Be ready to act out the dialogues in class:
— Isn't that lovely?
— What a dull picture! Why, there's no colour in it.
— That a dull picture! Why, it's beautiful, it's perfect, if it had
any more colour it would be wrong.
— But I don't think so. Each to our own opinion, dear Simon.
— ... Forgive me, darling. To lose my temper because you didn't like that picture, how childish!
— Yes, you were funny; I have never seen you like that before, quite a baby, Simon. If I really thought you liked that thing, Simon, I'd begin to wonder at your taste.
— But I did like it. I haven't seen a picture for years I have liked so much.
They paused before the prizewinner.
— I think that one's got something. For once I believe that I'd agree with the judges.
— I hate it like hell.
— What don't you like about it?
— Everything. To me it's just phoney. No pilot in his senses would be flying as low as that with thermo-nuclear bombs going off all around.
— It's got good composition and good colouring.
— Oh, sure. But the subject's phoney.
15. Discussing and evaluating things often involves stating your preference. Here are some ways of expressing likes and dislikes. Notice that you need to be very polite when criticizing things in English — even speaking to someone you know quite well.
Expressing likes
I like ... very much indeed.
I (really) enjoy...
I've always liked/loved ...
There's nothing I like/enjoy more than ...
I'm (really) very fond of...
... is (really) terrific/great, etc.
It's too lovely for words.
Expressing dislikes
(I'm afraid) I don't like ...
I've never liked I'm afraid.
... is not one of my favourite ...
I (really) hate...
I think ... is pretty awful/really unpleasant.
I'm not (really) very keen on ...
... is ghastly/rubbish.
I can't say ... appeals to me very much.
I must say I'm not too fond of...
16. Work in pairs, a) Find out each other's feelings about these subjects. Use the cliches of likes and dislikes:
1. An art book for a birthday present. 2. Snapshots from a family album. 3. Pupils' drawings for the school exhibition. 4. Your grandma's picture postcards. 5. A guided tour of a museum. 6. Landscape paintinq. 7. Impressionism. 8. Genre painting. 9. Animals in art. 10. Still life.
b) Report your partner’s opinion to the students in another group.
17. Read the following text. Find in it arguments for including popular arts in the art curriculum and against it. Copy them out into two columns (I — "for", II — "against"):
A new issue in aesthetic education today has to do with the choice of art examples to use in the classroom, specifically, whether they should be restricted to recognized works of fine art or allowed to include such art forms as posters, album covers, billboards, and particularly cinema and television.
Since the popular arts are a reflection and product of popular culture, exploring the popular culture should be a valid method of inquiry. Popular arts are already a part of the children's lives and they enable the teacher to "start where the kids are". Further, they facilitate the responses the children are already having with their preferred art forms rather than imposing adult middle class standards on them. We know also that art which students encounter in schools — the official or high art embodied in the official curriculum — stands in an adversary relation to the media of popular entertainment. A critical analysis of the forms reflected in popular art is imperative if we want to elicit meaningful dialogue about art.
Not all writers in art education have taken a positive position in regard to the popular arts. An opinion exists that fine art objects are the only objects with the power to impart a markedly aesthetic aspect to human experience. Certain scholars "refuse to cheapen art's magnificent and supreme excellence by comparing it to comic strips and other essentially vulgar commodities", claiming that popular culture was the result of the public's inability to appreciate high art. Even those who recognize popular arts as art forms suggest that the schools should go beyond them, because "serious art” makes more demands on the viewer.
Some art educators argue that concepts of fine art and popular art are relative and that the distinction between the two is slight if not illusory. What we see in art museums and art galleries includes a lot of different things from all over the world, from cultures and periods of time in which the concept of art, as we know it, did not exist. In their original contexts, such objects often served a variety of functions, such as magical, ritualistic, narrative, or utilitarian but almost never aesthetic.
It is well known that many of the things we regard so highly today, such as Gothic cathedrals, El Grecos, Rembrandts, Goyas or Cezannes, were ignored or scorned at different periods of time. Many things we ignore or scorn today, such as the work of the French or Royal Academies in the 19th century, were at one time highly regarded. A work's reputation can be affected precipitously by the accident of reattribution. A highly regarded Rembrandt, subsequently discovered to be not by Rembrandt drops in value immediately. The same thing can happen in reverse. Finally, there are cases in which objects have lost not only their monetary and intrinsic value, but also their status as art objects because they are fakes.
18. Discuss the text in pairs. One partner will take the optimistic view and insist that popular arts should be included in the art curriculum. The other will defend the opposite point of view.
Consider the following:
For:
1. The differences between popular and fine art are often matters of classification.
2. Popular art facilitates the aesthetic experience and therefore is appropriate for study in the field of art education.
Against:
1. Fine arts in each epoch supplied the models from which the rules and principles were derived.
2. Fine arts are more noble, more worthy than all the other opportunities available for visual aesthetic experience around us.
3. The content of the popular arts is of relevance to the students and, through art criticism, can lead to a more penetrating analysis of these and other art forms.
4. The popular arts allow students to talk about emotionally meaningful experiences.
5. They can aid the student's understanding of his culture as well as the cultures of other peoples.
6. Once the teacher is able to establish a trusting relationship and a rapport with his students, the students might be more responsive to the forms of art which the teacher wishes to introduce.
3. Tastes should be developed through images of high artistic culture, whereas works of popular culture as a rule meet consumer's tastes.
4. Excellent, or fine art is better than poor art for providing students with a strong personal and cultural awareness.
5. A lot of popular art is debased and meretricious.
6. We have no right to "condemn" students to the easily comprehensible forms of popular art. Any student can develop an appreciation of the fine arts.
7. The habit of looking at good pictures is in itself a means by which taste can be formed.
19. Role-Playing.
The Thing They Need
Situation: A group of students from a teacher training institute now on school practice and their instructor are discussing what sort of social event to organize for the pupils of form 9 "A". In the course of the discussion opinions differ. You must decide whose arguments sound more convincing.
Characters:
1. Anna K., aged 23, is fond of pictorial art and suggests visiting the town's art gallery where the works of M.Vrubel are on display at present ("Pan", "The Swan Princess’’, "Seated Demon" among th?in). The harmonious combination of the fantastic and the real, the gorgeous colour schemes are sure to appeal to the pupils of form 9 "A". What they want is something noble and worthy, an uplifting experience.
2. Victor М., aged 25, does not share Ann's enthusiasm for classical art. He has nothing against it personally but thinks that teenagers need a different kind of artistic experience, something that they can possibly share in. He wants to take the pupils to a pop concert to be held in the near future not far from the school. According to him young people prefer pop to the classical arts. It is closer to their own experience of life, and provides an emotional outlet and release. Picture galleries are for elderly spinsters with nothing to do.
3. Katherine L, aged 51, resents Victor’s outburst and tells of her own school days: they used to visit the Tretyakov Gallery every week and studied the art of the famous Russian painters of the 18th and 19th centuries. A professional artist showed them round the Gallery. It was all thanks to this very artist that she fell in love with classical art. She remembers as if it were yesterday the joy of listening to his lively descriptions of the subtleties of the composition and colour combinations. It is unacceptable to her that the younger generation should be allowed to remain indifferent to such a wealth of classical heritage.
4. Marina K., aged 24, listened with pleasure to the views of her supervisor K. L. and couldn't agree more. She suggests inviting a specialist from the Museum of Fine Arts to give a lecture on the history of English painting. She had been present at the lecture on the French impressionists and loved every minute of it. The slides were a dream. "English painters" might be great fun too. She knows the telephone number and offers to do it herself.
5. Alexandra Т., aged 23, is rather sceptical about Marina's project. Experience tends to show that pupils from 9 "A" make a point of not participating in any of the schools activities, they are unlikely to be attracted to something so sophisticated and dry as a lecture on art, slides or no slides. She puts forward the idea of a film, perhaps even about a painter, but not on any account a lecture.
6. Helen B., aged 23, admits she is no great art specialist herself, nevertheless she believes in handing down one's cultural heritage from one generation to the next. Why not take the pupils on an excursion to Abramtsevo, the former estate of the famous art- patron Mamontov, where Korovin and Vrubel worked on stage decorations and Valentin Serov painted his famous "Girl with Peaches". Even if the pupils fail to appreciate the works of art, a day in the open air is sure to do them a world of good.
7. Lucy В., aged 24, does not care for fine arts and is not ashamed to admit it. 9 "A" has worked hard all year. How can one expect them at the end of term to continue taking an active interest in serious, heavy subjects such as classical art. What they need now is diversion, relaxation, a chance to unwind. Why not organize a picnic, perhaps on bicycles. She knows some fine woods not too far away where they could escape from the bustle of the city and play volleyball, badminton or whatever.
20. Group Discussion.
Topic 1. Is the appreciation of pictures a special faculty which only a few can possess?
Talking points:
1. The excellency of style is not on the surface, but lies deep. It is the florid style which strikes at once. There is no need to be ashamed of one's apparent dullness.
2. The habit of looking at good pictures is in itself a means by which taste can be formed and the scope of one's enjoyment widened and developed.
3. The acquisition of good taste is a matter of time. Painting in this respect does not differ from other arts (poetry, music).
Topic 2. A great painting enriches our experience of life, just as a great poem does or a great musical composition
Talking points:
1. The more we look at it the more it reveals and this is not necessarily because of the amount of detail and incident it contains.
2. Great painters make us see and think a great deal more than the objects before us, they teach us to look at a scene through their eyes, with something of their own imagination.
3. The masterpieces of painting, like the masterpieces of music and poetry transform experience; they are an inexhaustible source of beauty which derives from the originality of the artist's outlook, his capacity for combining form and colour into a harmonious unity.