Одноактная историческая пьеса «РУССКАЯ РЕВОЛЮЦИЯ».
Предмет: ВСЕМИРНАЯ ИСТОРИЯ
(George
Cassutto, social studies teacher, North Hagerstown High School, Hagerstown,
Maryland, USA).
Objectives:
Students
will understand the following:
1. Some of the people involved in the
Russian Revolution had strong personalities and lend themselves to a
dramatization of the events.
2. Historical drama, like other historical
fiction, is rooted in history but contains imaginary elements as well.
Materials:
For this
lesson, you will need:
• History textbooks
• Biographies
• Reference sources such as
encyclopedias
Procedures:
1. Tell students that they are going to
participate in small-group drama workshops. Each group will write a one-act
play based on what they have learned about a figure associated with the Russian
Revolution.
2. Discuss with students the people
intimately involved with the Russian Revolution. Explain that each group will
select one or more of those people on whom to base its drama. The list will
probably include the following:
* Rasputin
* Nicholas
* Alexandra
* One or more of the Romanov children:
Alexis, Tatiana, Olga, Marie, and Anatasia
* Lenin
* Kerensky
3. Direct each group to review multiple
reference sources (primary and secondary) to learn more about the individual or
individuals it will focus on. In particular, explain that students can lend
authenticity to their dramas by finding passages from their subjects' writings
or reported conversations that they may want to include in the dialogue. If
necessary, help groups to determine which group member should scour which
reference source. All members should then report back to the group, which will,
by consensus, pick one event from the person's life (or persons' lives) to
dramatize.
4. Go over with the class the following
important elements of a one-act play:
* The script must contain both dialogue and
stage directions.
* A one-act play usually deals with a
single conflict and occurs in a single setting.
* As one or more characters try to solve
the conflict, the act builds to a climax. Then the play shows the characters'
reactions to the climax and moves on to a final outcome.
* A play based on a historical event must
stick to some historical facts but can also include fictional
details—especially dialogue but also actions.
5. In a series of minilessons, as detailed
here, review with students how to proceed from prewriting the act, through writing,
to revising and editing. Give the groups time to apply each minilesson.
PREWRITING
2. The characters need to have a conflict
between themselves or with someone else or something else. Ask the characters
to recall or imagine conflicts involving their characters—either real-life
problems they faced or problems that the group decides the charactersmighthave
faced.
3. Selecting one of those problems, each
group should think about and prepare notes on how the characters will respond
to the problem and how the problem will be solved.
4. Each group should imagine how its
characters look (including how they dress), sound, and act—and jot down notes
for later use.
5. Each group must also be clear on where
and when the act takes place, so the students should jot down their thoughts on
background scenery, furniture, and props.
WRITING
1. When students in each group are ready to
move on to the actual drafting stage, let them figure out how multiple authors
can work together. Review with them, if necessary, the mechanics of listing
characters and of writing stage directions and dialogue.
2. Advise students to follow their
prewriting notes to unfold the scene: introducing characters and the problem,
building suspense, and winding up with a historically accurate or believable
ending. Students should, however, be free to abandon prewriting notes that may
take them to dead ends—and rethink their act.
3. Rather than let an act simply peter out,
remind students that the audience needs to know what each character is doing
and feeling—or, at least, what each character's situation is—at the end of the
act.
4. If they have not done so earlier,
students should now title their act.
REVISING
AND EDITING
1. Share with students a checklist such as
the following, giving them time to revise as necessary so that they can answer
yes to all the questions:
1. Content
Does the dialogue or stage directions
clearly show the character(s) facing a conflict, lead up to a conclusion, and
always include characters' reactions?
2. Style
Is the dialogue realistic and easy for an
actor to say?
3. Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
Have you checked to make sure
capitalization, spelling, and matters such as agreement, comparison, and
pronoun references are correct?
6. Ask each group to perform, or at least
read, its act for the rest of the class.
Discussion Questions
1. How did Rasputin gain such a
strong influence over the czarina? What was his effect on the process of policy
making within Russian government? What qualities do you think Rasputin had that
made him a powerful character in
2. What was Rasputin's role in the coming
of the Russian Revolution?
3. Discuss the validity of the following
statement:
"For the
first time in history, a revolution is being engineered not from below but from
above, not by people against their government, but by the government against
the welfare of the people."
How does
this statement reflect the course of events that took place in the life of the
czar?
4. What caused the Russian people to revolt
against the czar in March 1917?
5. Discuss the reasons Lenin had for
killing the Romanov family. Do you think he was right in ordering their death?
6. How did Lenin obtain the power base he
needed to overthrow the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky? Why do
you think Lenin received support from the Russian citizens? What methods did he
use?
7. Describe the results of the Bolshevik
ascension to power as the Kerensky government fell in November of 1917.
8. Why do you think Lenin felt it was
important to hide the truth about the murder of the czar and his family?
Evaluation
You can evaluate each
group's historical drama using the following three-point rubric:
Three
points:inclusion of historically accurate elements; well-formulated story line
with conflict and outcome; smooth, realistic dialogue and clear stage
directions
Two
points:some basis in historical fact; inadequately developed story line; some
unrealistic dialogue and incomplete stage directions
One
point:absence of historical accuracy; inadequate outcome to conflict examined
in the act; unrealistic dialogue and incomplete stage directions
Extensions
Leaders Stepping Down
When
civil war gripped
The Royal
Families of
Many of
the royal families of
Suggested
Tsar: The
Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra
Peter
Kurth.
Rich with
illustrations, this book chronicles the lives of Nicholas and Alexandra from
romantic beginnings to the tragic end.
Philip
Ingram. In theCambridge History Programme. University Press, 1997.
A history
of the
The
Romanovs: The Doomed Dynasty
A graphic
description of the murder of the czar and his family, this site also contains
biographies of each of the Romanov children.
A Tribute
to Tsar Nicholas II and his family, 1868-1918
This site
contains stunningly colorized photos of the Czar and his family. It is a great
resource because of its incredible list of Romanov links.
Anastasia:
The Lost Romanov Princess
Graphically
beautiful, this site uses images from the animated movie Anastasia as a hook to
get the viewer interested in the topic.
The Fall
of Imperial
Another
member of the Imperial Russia and Romanov Web rings, the site is very well done
but eerie in that Rasputin is the background.
Genealogy
of the Romanov Family
This
Finnish database on the Romanov family has a hypertext guide to the
relationships of the family members. Biographies are included.
Vocabulary
Click on
any of the vocabulary words below to hear them pronounced and used in a
sentence.
speaker abdicate
Definition:To
step down from a high office, such as the throne, and formally relinquish
power.
Context:Nicholas
had given up; he had inwardly abdicated some six months before the actual
abdication.
speaker abyss
Definition:A
huge chasm or gulf in the earth. Also, the dwelling place of evil spirits
(hell).
Context:"If
the czar does not take steps to rid
speaker asylum
Definition:Protection
from arrest and extradition given to political refugees from a foreign country.
Context:The
provisional government asked
speaker autocracy
Definition:Government
by a single ruler with unlimited power.
Context:We
celebrated when the czar abdicated because we thought autocracy was over,
replaced by a democratic republic.
speaker coup d'etat
Definition:A
sudden overthrow of the government, usually by a small group of people in
authority or in the military.
Context:The
provisional government was swept from power in a coup d'etat staged by the
Bolsheviks.
speaker debauchery
Definition:Extreme
indulgence in worldly pleasures such as drinking alcohol.
Context:Rasputin
was careful to act respectful in the czarina's presence as though all rumors of
debauchery were only rumors.
speaker depose
Definition:To
remove a monarch from the throne, usually by way of revolution.
Context:The
czar took on the life of a common citizen after he was deposed by the
Revolutionary Guard.
speaker monarchist
Definition:A
political ally of the monarchy. One who supports the existence and policies of
the reigning king or queen.
Context:One
prominent monarchist in the Duma had the courage to say what others were
thinking about Rasputin.
speaker pariah
Definition:An
outcast; someone who has been rejected by society.
Context:With
no place to find asylum, the former czar was now an international pariah.
speaker provisional government
Definition:A
temporary government set up as a caretaker until a permanent leadership can be
installed by way of democratic elections.
Context:Alexander
Kerensky rapidly became the leader of the provisional government after the czar
abdicated.
speaker regime
Definition:A
government in power or the period in which a certain government is in power.
Context:The
new regime seized power in what was a coup d'etat.
Standards
This
lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards listed below. These
standards are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and
Benchmarks for K-12 Education: 2nd Edition and have been provided courtesy of
theMid-continent Research for Education and
Grade
level:9-12
Subject
area:world history
Standard:
Understands
major global trends from 1750 to 1914.
Benchmarks:
Understands
the importance of ideas associated with republicanism, liberalism, socialism,
and constitutionalism on 19th-century political life in such states as Great
Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, the
Ottoman Empire, China, or Japan (e.g., how these movements were tied to new- or
old-class interests).
Grade
level:9-12
Subject
area:world history
Standard:
Understands
patterns of global change in the era of western military and economic dominance
from 1800 to 1914.
Benchmarks:
Understands
the advantages and disadvantages of imperialism (e.g., the chief benefits and
costs of introducing new political institutions and advances in communication,
technology, and medicine to countries under European imperialist rule; how
medical advances, steam power, and military technology were used in European
imperialism).
Grade
level:9-12
Subject
area:world history
Standard:
Understands
reform, revolution, and social change in the world economy of the early 20th
century.
Benchmarks:
Understands
the diverse events that led to and resulted from the Russian Revolution of 1905
(e.g., the Russo-Japanese War, Bloody Sunday, the October Manifesto, and groups
agitating for political reform and those supporting radical changes).
Grade
level:9-12
Subject
area:world history
Standard:
Understands
the causes and global consequences of World War I.
Benchmarks:
Benchmark
1:Understands the extent to which different sources supported the war effort
(e.g., how nationalism and propaganda helped mobilize civilian populations to
support "total war" ways in which colonial peoples contributed to the war
effort of the Allies and the Central Powers by providing military forces and
supplies, and what this effort might have meant to colonial subjects; the
effectiveness of propaganda to gain support from neutral nations; how and why
original support and enthusiasm to support the war deteriorated).
Benchmark
2:Understands Lenin's ideology and policies and their impact on Russia after the
Revolution of 1917 (e.g., Lenin's political ideology and how the Bolsheviks
adapted Marxist ideas to conditions particular to Russia; why Lenin declined to
follow Marxist economic philosophy; the platforms and promises of Kerensky and
Lenin in 1917, the impact of war upon Kerensky's program, and the importance of
Lenin's promise, "land, bread, peace").
Benchmark
3:Understands the impact of the Russian Revolution on other countries (e.g.,
the challenge that revolutionary