Topic: The world is a theater

Target group

1st‑grade students of high school

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

1) processes and hierarchizes information from texts, such as journalistic, popular science and scientific;

6) reads non‑literary cultural texts, using the code proper in a given field of art.

3. Language communication and language culture. Student:

5) uses different varieties of Polish depending on the communication situation;

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

1) formulates theses and arguments in oral and written speech using appropriate syntax structures;

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

1) agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion;

2) build a statement in a conscious manner, with the knowledge of its language function, taking into account the purpose and the addressee, keeping the principles of rhetoric;

4) in accordance with standards formulates questions, answers, evaluations, edits information, justifications, comments, and a voice in the discussion.

IV. Self‑study.

1) develops the ability of independent work, among others, by preparing various forms of presenting their own position;

2) organizes information into a problematic whole by valuing it; synthesizes the learned content around the problem, topic, issue and uses it in your statements;

3) uses scientific or popular science literature;

6) selects relevant quotes from the text and applies them in the speech;

7) enriches its statement by non‑linguistic means of communication;

8) uses general Polish dictionaries and specialist dictionaries (eg etymological, phraseological, abbreviations, dialect), also in the on‑line version;

9) uses multimedia sources of information and makes their critical evaluation.

General aim of education

Students learn about the theatricality of baroque life - they present examples, evaluate them, refer to the present day.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes:

Student:

• explains the theatralization of life in the Baroque era;

• gives the purpose of theatralization of life in the Baroque era;

• shows examples of theatralization of life in the Baroque era;

• gives contemporary examples of theatralization of life;

• presents the results of his own work.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion;

  • drama.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. Students refer to the abstract content. They shall be able to summarize it in they own words and solve the exercices.

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the purpose of the classes, which is to learn examples of theatralization of everyday life in the Baroque era, as well as contemporary everyday life. He/she gives students the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks students to recall the features of the Baroque style, and exchange examples of Baroque art. Then he/she asks why the Baroque is called the „theater era”. Students should come to the conclusion that almost the entire public life of that time was a kind of spectacle.

Realization

1. Students together perform exercise 1 in abstract. They combine concepts (theatricality, play, spectacle, parade) with their dictionary definitions.

2. Students together perform exercise 2 in abstract. They complete the given sentences with the words: theater, comedy, drama. They draw attention to various meanings: the basic meaning relating to the theory of literature and the importance of the portable used in everyday language.

3. The teacher divides the class into groups (the number of groups depends on the number of students in the class, the group should not be more than 5 people). Individual groups are developing the examples of theatralization of life in the Baroque era published in the textbook:
   1. The manifestations of theatralization of court life on the example of the Spanish court.
   2. The union of public executions with the theatralization of public life.
   3. Performances of life and death - a description of the phenomenon, examples.

4. Individual groups in any form prepare a presentation, which they present to the whole class. Students use the materials included in the lesson (illustrations, examples) and material included in the section „Theatrum mundi”. They should use elements of drama in their presentation.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students questions for a summary, e.g.
   - What were the manifestations of the theatricality of public life in the Baroque era?
   - What did it serve for?
   - Explain the term „theatrum mundi”.

2. Students write in their notebooks the keywords to the lessons they consider the most important.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Look for examples of theatricality of behaviors in your surroundings. Describe the observed situations and events in the multimedia diary, taking into account the individual fields. You can also add photos and quotes. Draw conclusions from your observations.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The world is a theater

Baroque is the theatre era. It's not only because it was the time of writing of such prominent playwrights as Shakespeare (England), Pedro Calderon de la Barca (Spain) or Molier (France). And not only because the writers who weren't playwrights and the authors who were preparing plays for e.g. Jesuit schools were actively writing. Baroque is the era of the theatre, because basically the whole public life of that time was a sort of the spectacle. Theatricalization noticeable in various fields wasn't only the fashion. There was a deeper reason behind it: in the reflections of philosophers and in the works of the Baroque artists there is a strong belief that the world is a theatre and people are actors. The topos „world is a theatre” (theatrum mundi) has its roots in the Antiquity. The fact that the gods treat us like toys was mentioned by the outstanding Greek philosopher Platon (V/IV century BC). Roman stoics repeated that we only play the roles assigned to us by the Fate. It was also a popular motif in Renaissance used by Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus and Jan Kochanowski.