English

English part text

1.LISTENING

Watch the following video and answer the questions

GAUDI’S BIOGRAPHY

Where and when was Gaudí born?

Why did Gaudi rest in the summer house at Riudoms?

Gaudi followed the patterns of ______.

Where did Gaudi study?
Who helped Gaudi begin a rich, and professional career?
When did Gaudi die?
What was the reason for his death?

2.READING

Read the text and answer the following questions

Modernisme

Modernisme is an art and literature movement. Its main form of expression was in architecture, but many other arts were involved (painting, sculpture, etc.), and especially the design and the decorative arts), which were particularly important, especially in their role as support to architecture. Modernisme was also a literary movement (poetry, fiction, drama).

Although it was part of a general trend that emerged in Europe around the turn of the 20th century, in Catalonia the style acquired its own unique personality. It was active from roughly 1888 (the First Barcelona World Fair) to 1911 (the death of Joan Maragall, the most important Modernista poet).

Main concepts

Catalan nationalism was an important influence upon Modernista artists, who wanted Catalan culture to be regarded as equal to that of other European countries. They were against the Spanish army  in some authors near anarchism. They also opposed the traditionalism and religiousness of the Catalan Renaixença.

 Consequently, they adopted two attitudes:

·         They set themselves apart from society in a bohemian attitude.

·         They attempted to use art to change society.

Architecture and the plastic arts

The first example of Modernista architecture is the café Castell dels tres Dragons designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in the Parc de la Ciutadella for the 1888 Universal Exhibition. It is a search for a particular style for Catalonia drawing on Medieval and Arab styles. Like the currents known in other countries as Art Nouveau Modernisme was closely related to the English Arts and Crafts movement and the Gothic revival. It is characterized by:

·         The predominance of the curve over the straight line

·         Rich decoration and detail

·         Frequent use of vegetal and other organic motifs

·         The taste for asymmetry

·         Dynamic shapes.

Antoni Gaudí is the best-known architect of this movement. Other influential architects were Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

• Antoni Gaudí, created a personal style based on observation of the nature and exploitation of traditional Catalan construction traditions.
• Lluís Domènech i Montaner created a genuine alternative architecture. His work was characterized by a mix of constructive rationalism and ornaments inspired in the Hispano-Arab architecture. He designed the Palau de la Música Catalana, in the Hospital de Sant Pau .

• Josep Puig i Cadafalch was a Catalan architect, politician and historian who was involved in many projects to restore older buildings. One of his most well-known buildings is his rebuilding of the Casa Amatller in Passeig de Gràcia.

Literature

In narrative we can find novels of decadent writers such as Prudenci Bertrana, Caterina Albert (also known as Víctor Catala). Those writers often, though not always, show influences from Russian literature of the 19th Century and also Gothic novels. But  works not influenced by those sources, such as  L'Auca del Senyor Esteve are perhaps even more influential than foreign authors, L'Auca del Senyor Esteve (roughly "The Tale of Mr. Esteve"; an auca is a type of illustrated pamphlet, similar to a one-sheet comic book) is an ironic critique of Catalan bourgeoisie.

Modernista poetry is Joan Maragall's "Paraula viva" (Living word) school, which defends vitalism and spontaneous and imperfect writing over cold and thought-over poetry

Modernista theatre was also important. There were two main schools of Modernista theatre:

·         Social theatre, which intended to change society and denounce injustice Aigües Encantades ("Enchanted Waters") by Puig i Ferrater; Rusiñol's antimilitaristic play L'Hèroe.

·         Symbolist theatre, which emphasised the distance between artists and the bourgeoisie.

Questions

What was Modernisme?

When did it start?

When did it finish?

What did Catalan Nationalism want?

What two different attitudes did modernist artists have?

What type of line predominates in modernism?

What type of observation did Gaudi base his personal style on?

What type of architecture inspired Domènech i Montaner?

What other professions did Puig i Cadafalch have?

What influences did Catalan Modernist writers have?

What did L'Auca del Senyor Esteve criticize?

What is the most relevant Modernist poet?

What is the name of an antimilitarist play by Rusiñol?

3.ORAL INTERACTION

Modernist artists believed in theater as the best expression of “total art “. Modernisme is also characterized by rebel attitudes towards the parents as depicted in L'Auca del Senyor Esteve.

Write a short play in which teenagers have a conflict with their parents. All the members of the group have to say at least three sentences. The play can be placed nowadays or at the beginning of the twentieth century and the type of conflict doesn’t have to be specially original;

Parents don’t like their sons or daughters boyfriends or girlfriends… 
or teenagers want to study something that parents consider useless…
or parent don’t like the way their sons and daughters dress…
or parents complain because sons and daughters don’t do any housework… 
or sons complain because parents don’t let them do anything….

The play will be performed in front of the class, you can read from a paper but you have to do it properly.

This is a group task you have to write it together, you have to rehearse and read it in front of the class. 

4.ORAL PRESENTATION/ WRITING

 Prepare a presentation about what you have learnt. Decide with your mates who is going to say what.
Follow the scheme:
Student 1: With reference to the English area we have learnt various things; First, we now know that ..............................because we watched a video about Gaudí's biography.

Student 2: Second, we also know that ..................................................................................because we read a text about Catalan Modernism.

Student 3 Then we prepared a theater play  about ..............................................................................

Student 4: Finally, we think that this part of the project was ............................................ because.................................................................................................................................................