Host: Welcome to our Game-Show "There’s Russia’s Spirit … Russian Scent” dedicated to the greatest Russian poet A.S. Pushkin. But we’ll speak about him only in English. We’ll do a lot of amazing reading and listening exercises, quizzes in grammar and lexis. In a word, we’ll remember the great writer? His wonderful books and have a lot of fun. But it’s a game that’s why I’m going to divide you into 4 mixed groups. I offer each of you to choose the number of a group. (Music) Now please take your places in your groups and let’s start. Each class had some homework to make a report about A.S.Pushkin. Some students learned the information by heart and some prepared good reading. Speakers, you are welcome and listeners, be attentive because the first task will be connected with the author’s biography. TASK №1: Put the passages in the correct order to make a short biography of A.S.Pushkin, then answer the questions: 

In Mikhailovskoe Pushkin's talent was improved. Among the well-known poems he wrote in the mid to late 1820s were "The Prophet" and "The Poet." Also during these years he worked on a "novel in verse" that he had begun in 1823 "Eugene Onegin”. Written in realistic manner, the novel provides an amazing portrait of a bored young member of the nobility who fails to appreciate a woman's love until it is too late and she is married to another. Pushkin also tried his hand at drama, and in 1825 he wrote the sweeping tragedy, "Boris Godunov”.
By the mid-1830s, Pushkin was regarded by some readers and critics as old-fashioned, and this opinion irritated him. Then, he became the target of an even more personal insult; a gossip that his wife had been unfaithful to him. Pushkin provoked Baron Georges d'Anthes, to challenge him to a duel. The event took place on January 27, 1837, and Pushkin was mortally wounded. He died two days later. Fearing a public protest over the senseless loss of this great figure, the authorities falsely declared that a funeral service would be held in St. Isaac's Cathedral, but the real service was held in secret a day before the announced service was to have taken place, and Pushkin's body was smuggled out of the capital.
Generally recognized as Russia's greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin was born in Moscow in 1799 into an aristocratic family with a long and distinguished lineage. He attended an exclusive school for the nobility in Tsarskoe Selo, outside the capital city, St. Petersburg. While still a student at the Lyceum, Pushkin wrote poetry which his teachers and peers enjoyed very much. Around 1819-20, he fell under the spell of Byron's work, and he wrote a series of narrative poems that reflect this influence; exotic Southern scenery, etc. Some of his poetry seemed too liberal for Tsar Alexander I, and Pushkin was banished from the capital, first to the south of Russia, and later to Mikhailovskoe, an estate belonging to his mother.
In 1827 Pushkin was allowed to return to St. Petersburg. Two years later he met the beautiful Natalia Goncharova, whom he wished to marry. In the autumn of 1830, however, he was separated from Goncharova by a cholera epidemic and he was forced to remain at his estate in Boldino. There, during a period of incredible creativity, Pushkin finished Eugene Onegin, wrote four "little tragedies" in verse, and the cycle of short stories, The Tales of Belkin. Pushkin finally married Goncharova in 1831, but he was not happy in his married life.
In Mikhailovskoe Pushkin's talent was improved. Among the well-known poems he wrote in the mid to late 1820s were "The Prophet" and "The Poet." Also during these years he worked on a "novel in verse" that he had begun in 1823 "Eugene Onegin”. Written in realistic manner, the novel provides an amazing portrait of a bored young member of the nobility who fails to appreciate a woman's love until it is too late and she is married to another. Pushkin also tried his hand at drama, and in 1825 he wrote the sweeping tragedy, "Boris Godunov”.
Natalia was very popular at the imperial court, and Pushkin was forced to spend more time in the capital than he wished. His creative output began to weaken, although he wrote the witty short story "The Queen of Spades" and the dynamic narrative poem "The Bronze Horseman" in 1833, and the historical novel The Captain's Daughter in 1836.
1. When & where was the author born? 2. What famous school did he study at? 3. When did he start to write poems? 4. When did A.S Pushkin begin and finish writing "Eugene Onegin”? 5. Name the year of his famous autumn in Boldino. 6. When and where did he die?
TASK №2: Listen to the information about the way Alexander Pushkin influenced the Russian language and agree or disagree with the following sentences:

1. The impact of A.S.Pushkin in Russian Literature is in significant. (T/F)

2. Russian literature is believed to start with A.S. Pushkin. (T/F)

3. A. S. Pushkin introduced Russia to Eastern Literature. (T/F)

4. He made Russian poetic speech more natural. (T/F)

5. A.S. Pushkin wrote only poetry. (T/F)

6. This Great Russian poet enriched folk tales making them eternal and popular in all times. (T/F)

7. Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol was the teacher of Alexander Pushkin. (T/F)

8. A.S. Pushkin had also a great influence on Russian cinema. (T/F)

9. A.S. Pushkin is hardly can be called one of the greatest Russian national geniuses. (T/F)

2 TEXT: Alexander Pushkin is usually credited with developing Russian literature. His rich vocabulary and highly sensitive style are the foundation for modern Russian literature. Russian literature virtually begins with Alexander Pushkin. His talent set up new records for development of the Russian language and culture. He became the father of Russian literature in 19th century, marking the highest achievements of 18th century and the beginning of literary process of 19th century. Alexander Pushkin introduced Russia to all the European literary genres as well as a great number of West European writers. He brought natural speech and foreign influences to create modern poetic Russian. Though his life was brief, he left examples of nearly every literary genre of his day: lyric poetry, narrative poetry, the novel, the short story, the drama, the critical essay, and even the personal letter. He improved folk tales and was at the beginning of genre pieces of other authors: Esenin, Leskov and Gorky. His use of Russian language formed the basis of the style of novelists Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, and Leo Tolstoy. Pushkin was recognized by Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol, his successor and pupil. Alexander Pushkin became an inseparable part of the literary world of the Russian people. He also had a great influence on other aspects of Russian culture, most notably in opera. Pushkin’s intelligence, sharpness of his opinion, his devotion to poetry, realistic thinking and incredible historical and political intuition make him one of the greatest Russian national geniuses.
TASK №3: Listen to the information about Pushkin and Europe and insert proper words

1. France looks upon Pushkin as "its …".

2. Pushkin was ahead of the French classical literature of the … th century.

3. "Frost and the sun, … a wonderful day"

4. In … Pushkin's work gained fame in his lifetime.

5. In the 20th century Pushkin fell victim to the political and particularly … events of the century.

3 TEXT: France looks upon Pushkin as "its poet". Pushkin had a perfect command of French. He translated into Russian Voltaire, Rousseau, and Andre Chenier. He also wrote some of his poems in French and then translated them into Russian. An excellent translator of Pushkin, Efim Etkind believes that Pushkin was ahead of the French classical literature of the 19th century. "I'm convinced," says Etkind, "that there wouldn't have been the prose of Andre Gide if there hadn't been Pushkin's 'The Queen of Spades'. Many French authors owe Pushkin more than we know. For example, there wouldn't have been Proper Merimee's 'Carmen', if long before this novel Merimee hadn't translated Pushkin's poem 'The Gypsies'. On the whole the French prefer Pushkin's lyrical verses. One of Pushkin's first translators, Prince Elim Meshersky created for the French a Pushkin of his own. He invented his own things but so that the French reader took them for granted. For example, translating Pushkin's famous "Frost and the sun, what a wonderful day", he turned Pushkin's "wonderful day" into a passionate night of love, which appealed to the amorous nature of the French admirers of Russian classical literature." In Poland Pushkin's work gained fame in his lifetime. Many compared him with Adam Mickiewics. It was thanks to Mickiewics, one of Pushkin's first translators, that Pushkin's name ranked next to the name of Byron. Both Pushkin and Mickiewics were fond of Byron's poetry and translated it into their languages. For Germans Pushkin was a worthy successor to Goethe's work. They took delight in reading Pushkin's "Scenes from Faust", "The Queen of Spades", "Mozart and Salieri" and philosophical verses. But this was the case in the 19th century. In the 20th century Pushkin fell victim to the political and particularly military events of the century. Therefore, for many years Pushkin was known to the wide public in Germany mainly by the operas of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky. "Pushkin is such a great phenomenon in Russian culture that his influence has long gone beyond Russian borders."



Task 4. Match the contest of a tale and its title.

Host: Now the task will be very difficult.

Task 5 You should arrange the lines of the most famous poem in a correct order.

Host: Last game. Task 6. Match English and Russian Titles of Pushkin’s works.

Ответы:

1.

2. 1.F  2.T  3.F  4.T  5.F  6.T  7. F  8.F   9.F

3.  1. Poet,   2. 19,  3. What,  4. Poland,  5. Military

4. 

1. B  2. D 3.C 4.E 5.A

5.  3,1,6,4,5,2

6.  1г  2ё  3б  4в  5з  6а  7е  8и  9д  10ж