The Old Man and the Sea - the 65th anniversary

This afternoon the Window on America center in Dnipro was visited by a mixed group of NMetUA students and NMetAU teachers (Myrgorodska Oleksandra and Pavlienko Anna). 

This group has been studying English through the great writing by E. Hemingway, which brought his author the Nobel Prize. It is The Old Man and the Sea. In the course of studies, the students a bi-lingual (English and Ukrainian) edition of The Old Man and the Sea. This very edition allows reading the original and comparing the professional translation with the own decisions. The translation was made in1974 by Volodymyr Mitrofanov and published by Dnipro Publishers (Kyiv) in 1991 with wonderful illustrations by a Ukrainian artist Mykola Pshinka.
We briefly looked through E. Hemingway’s milestone facts with the presentation of the WOA and watched the beautiful cartoon film, a screen version of The Old Man and the Sea by E. Hemingway. We discussed the themes touched in the novel: the teacher and the student, the life and the death, relations between the generations. We even tried to act as the actors and played the dialogue as if we were shooting a new screen version of the novel. The students had a good opportunity to exchange the ideas about the novel with Mr. Jason, an American volunteer who also decided to participate in the class. 

We continue working with the novel. What did the fisherman do with the marlin’s head? Why did everything in the old man’s house was old and dirty though he was strong enough to do the jobs around the house?
Participants number – 6 person.

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The Old Man and the Sea

on October 9/10-
“The Old Man and the Sea”- the 65th anniversary.
This afternoon the WOA Dnipro was visited by a group of students from school No. 141.
They listened to a presentation about the popular E. Hemingway’s book. The information was illustrated with the YouTube videos about the writer and his novel. We focused on the most important things that one must know about the novel.
The highlight of the presentation was the DOUNB Library’s book – a bi-lingual (English and Ukrainian) edition of “The Old Man and the Sea”. It was translated in1974 by Volodymyr Mitrofanov and published by Dnipro Publishers (Kyiv) in 1991 with wonderful illustrations by a Ukrainian artist Mykola Pshinka.
The students were impressed with the story and the symbolism of the novel. Some of them promised to read the original novel.
Participants number – 11+8.

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“The Last of Mohicans” celebrates the 25th Anniversary !

The project Discover USA continues. This afternoon a group of the 7th year students from school # 141 visited the Window on America center in Dnipro. The school is WOA’s longtime partner as its focused on the English language study.
The WOA staff member T. Gavryliuk familiarized the group with the life and work of James Fenimore Cooper. Cooper is considered to be the first national writer in the USA. He was one of the first major American novelists to include Native American characters in his works. Native Americans play central roles in his “Leatherstocking Tales”. However, his treatment of this group is complex and highlights the tenuous relationship between frontier settlers and American Indians. In the presentation we focused on the novel “The Last of the Mohicans”. It depicts the iconic character Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohicans. He is portrayed as noble, courageous, and heroic.
The Cooper’s works from the DOUNB Library collection were presented as well as the video from the WOA’s video collection – “The Last of Mohicans” (1992) film.
Participants number – 11 (10 students + 1 teacher).

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Celebrating Arthur Miller at 100 - 2

"On the Art of Drama in English" "Window on America" (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) information and resource was visited by a group of 9th year students from the local highs school No. 23. WOA center has a long-time partnership project with this school.
The visit was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of ArthurMiller (1915-2005) - a famous American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. WOA’s HEAD Svetlana Usenko prepared for the students a slide show which presented the most interesting facts from the biography of the playwright who was a prominent figure in the realm of American theater. The group also watched video excerpts from the play "DeathOfASalesman," which has brought worldwide fame to A. Miller.
 

The play "Death of a Salesman" (1949, director Elia Kazan) was staged 742 times. Miller received the Pulitzer Prize (1949) for this play and later – a bunch of other less prestigious awards. Other popular Miller’s plays: "After the Fall," "Incident at Vichy ", The Creation of the World and Other Business." He also wrote an autobiographical book “Timebends: A Life”.
"Death of a Salesman" was re-made on Broadway 4 times by different directors with different casts. It was staged in many countries, including the USSR and China. At least 7 times it was filmed in different countries. The play put forward very important human problems: intertwining of personal and economic problems; craving for wealth, craving for love and respect and their conflict. The play was well taken by the public and impressed many people in the theater world. However, Arthur Miller is known for his social life as well. For four years (1956-1961) he was married to Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller's novella "The Misfits" was filmed in 1961 – the last movie where Marilyn Monroe starred. It was writer’s farewell gift to his beloved woman and the only dramatic role of M. Monroe.
"I tried to help her cope with the problems ... Unfortunately, I have failed to do that" – wrote Miller.
Number of participants – 11 (10 – pupils, 1 – teacher) persons.
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Celebrating Arthur Miller at 100

"On the Art of Drama in English" at "Window on America" (#Dnipropetrovsk #Ukraine) information and resource was visited by a group of 10th year students from the local highs school No.141. WOA center has a long-time partnership project with this school.
The visit was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Arthur Miller (1915-2005) - a famous American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. WOA’s HEAD Svetlana Usenko prepared for the students a slide show which presented the most interesting facts from the biography of the playwright who was a prominent figure in the realm of American theater. The group also watched video excerpts from the play "Death of a Salesman", which has brought worldwide fame to A. Miller.
 

The play "Death of a Salesman" (1949, director Elia Kazan) was staged 742 times. Miller received the Pulitzer Prize (1949) for this play and later – a bunch of other less prestigious awards. Other popular Miller’s plays: "After the Fall," "Incident at Vichy ", The Creation of the World and Other Business." He also wrote an autobiographical book "Timebends: A Life”.
"Death of a Salesman" was re-made on Broadway 4 times by different directors with different casts. It was staged in many countries, including the USSR and China. At least 7 times it was filmed in different countries. The play put forward very important human problems: intertwining of personal and economic problems; craving for wealth, craving for love and respect and their conflict. The play was well taken by the public and impressed many people in the theater world. However, Arthur Miller is known for his social life as well. For four years (1956-1961) he was married to Marilyn Monroe. 

Arthur Miller's novella "The Misfits" was filmed in 1961 - the last movie where Marilyn Monroe starred. It was writer’s farewell gift to his beloved woman and the only dramatic role of M. Monroe.
"I tried to help her cope with the problems ... Unfortunately, I have failed to do that" – wrote Miller.
Number of participants – 32 (30 – pupils, 2- teachers) persons.
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Jack London

Within the frame work of the “Discover USA” project Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk arranged a session for the students from the local school No. 141. 
The session was dedicated to the anniversary of the American writer Jack London who was born on January, 12.
The WOA’s Head Svitlana Usenko introduced the 8th-graders to the biography of Jack London. The slide show presented the writer as a colorful, controversial personality. Prior to literary and journalistic accomplishments London tried numerous jobs. This experience enabled him to write fascinating stories about life of seamen, farmers and factory workers of California, the gold-diggers in the Yukon Territory, etc.
 Between 1900 and 1916 J. London completed more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books, hundreds of short stories and numerous articles. Several of the books and many of the short stories are classics and still popular; some have been translated into as many as 70 languages.
To popularize J. London’s books among the library patrons Ukrainian librarians created several book-trailers to his books. The WOA’s guests were offered the screening of “The Sea Wolf” and “The Love of Life” book trailers.
The group was introduced to the WOA’s collection of J. London’s books. The students examined them with interest and the most ambitious borrowed the original (not adapted) versions of the books.
Number of participants – 18 persons.

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Longfellow

  Today’s session at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk was dedicated to the 205^th anniversary of the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The club members watched a slide show about the biography and poetic heritage of Longfellow.

The information was illustrated with several You Tube videos:

-  about the poet’s memorial house;

-  the recitals of popular poems by nativespeakers,

-  a modern rock group performing a song withLongfellow’s lyrics, etc.

Special attention was given to a world known poem by Longfellow – the Hiawatha. We have introduced the translation of the poem by a famous Ukrainian translatorOlexander Oles'. The Club members had the opportunity to compare the original text with the translation and give tribute to the challenging job of the poetry translators.
Have a look at Disney's Little Hiawatha. 

To summarize the outcome of the session we have taken a quiz about the poet’s life and work. The score was quite satisfactory – 15 correct answers out of 20 questions.

The topic of Native Americans was further continued by the proposition of an out-of-class activity: the club members were invited to attend a movie theater and watch a new film “The one who passed through the fire flames”. The movie is about a Ukrainian man who became an Indian tribe chief after the WWII.

Once the official part of the session was over the Club members used the last opportunity to have an informal conversation with each other.

The number of participants – 19 persons.
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