Obiettivi

Allowing the students to:
1. grasp the main features of Beckett's "Theatre of the Absurd" with a more specific focus on his Waiting for Godot;
2. improve their general knowledge of modern British drama;
3. enlarge their vocabulary through the study and acquisition of new words;
4. comprehend what beckettian may possibly and partially mean

Tempo di apprendimento

Apprendimento in: 4 hours

L'argomento

A How-To Guide

Stage 1 – On your textbook

1.1. Read pages 375 [Samuel Beckett]
Just a bare summary of Beckett’s life interspersed with some of his works. After all, what really matters is that you are able to understand:

1. What kind of writer he is;
2. How his plays are built;
3. The treatment of the absurd in his plays.

1.2. Read page 376/7 [Waiting for Godot] and do Exercise 2

1. As to the its plot, the following are the missing words: 1. medias res, 2. tramps, 3. country road, 4. hunger and pain, 5. quarrel, 6. dependent, 7. and purposeless, 8. only apparently, 9. still waiting
2. Be sure to understand what features of the Theatre of the Absurd are used by Beckett;
3. Focus on the themes of meaninglessness (of time and human life as well), uncertainty, mutual dependence;
4. Pay a particular attention to the various verbal and non-verbal devices he uses.

Stage 2 – Online

2.1. Samuel Beckett (PPT Presentation)
Sum up your knowledge through the reading of the PPT presentation from your textbook.
Be advised that, sometimes, in order to see the pictures of the slides you may need to click or tap otherwise they may look like blank spaces.

2.2. ZTE Test (Online Activity)
Do the self evaluation test on the ZTE website.

2.3. Samuel Beckett (Video Resource)
Complete your knowledge of Beckett as a man and a writer watching the video. In case you aren’t able to understand some words or sentences you may turn on the subtitles.

2.4. “Waiting for Godot” Explained with Philosophy (Video Resource)
Do as you did in Activity 2.3.

2.5. An introduction to Waiting for Godot (Online Reading)
Explore and organise the main themes of the play together with a better comprehension of the characters, the staging and the circularity of the play.

Testing yourselves

Do the attached test and grade your knowledge.

0

IMPORTANT
You have 4 minutes to complete it.

Time is over.

Samuel Beckett & "Waiting for Godot"

1 / 22

"Quelle catastrophe!" was the reaction of Beckett's wife to a piece of news concerning her husband. Which?

2 / 22

Which is not one of Estragon's characteristics?

3 / 22

What is different about the tree Vladimir and Estragon stand by at the beginning of Act II?

4 / 22

What has happened to Lucky when he and Pozzo return on the second night?

5 / 22

Whose painting of two men looking at the moon allegedly gave Beckett the inspiration for Waiting for Godot?

6 / 22

Beckett's dramatic works inspired critics to invent a new label: 'The Theatre of the Absurd'. Who published a book with the same name and was the leading theorist to 'The theatre of the Absurd'?

7 / 22

In 1938 Beckett was stabbed by a clochard. After recovering, Beckett visited him in prison to ask him why he had tried to kill him. What did his answer sound like in English?

8 / 22

Why has Estragon taken the rope out of his trousers?

9 / 22

Godot does not appear, but his (or her) identity has been much puzzled over. Only one of the following has NOT been suggested as a key. Which one?

10 / 22

Who says "Nothing to be done"?

11 / 22

What does Vladimir ask the boy about Mr. Godot's beard?

12 / 22

What idea sounds more appealing to both Vladimir and Estragon?

13 / 22

What is one obvious connection that the reader can infer about Estragon and Vladimir?

14 / 22

How is the set in Waiting for Godot different from the kinds of sets one sees in the traditional theater of the time?

15 / 22

One recurrent motif of the play is

16 / 22

How does Vladmir wish he and Estragon had committed suicide when they had the chance?

17 / 22

What message from Godot does the boy deliver?

18 / 22

Waiting for Godot was originally En attendant Godot. Why did Beckett wrote it in French?

19 / 22

Which of the following is the closing line of Waiting for Godot?

20 / 22

As they wait for Godot, what does Vladmir become unsure of?

21 / 22

What has happened to Pozzo when he and Lucky return on the second night?

22 / 22

What is the meaning of Vladimir and Estragon's poor memories?

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Attività

As outlined above.

Risorse

Harold Pinter - "The Caretaker"

John Osborne - "Look Back in Anger"

Pubblicato: 11.04.2020 - Revisione: 10.05.2020

Eccetto dove diversamente specificato, questo articolo è stato rilasciato sotto Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 3.0 Italia.