Starting off

This is potentially quite a controversial task and needs to be set up carefully. In particular, it is important that the students do not treat the discussion as an argument about which of the people suggested they prefer. Therefore I recommend strongly that you initiate a discussion on what makes a person `great' before you give out the material.

The goal is to guide the students to an understanding that `great' can refer not to the moral or aesthetic value of an individual but to their effect on the world. In this sense, we can dislike an individual while still recognising that they had a huge effect on the world. This will allow for a discussion about the influence each individual had/has had/ will have on the world without arguments based on personal preferences.

After a suitable definition of `great' has been established you can hand out the task and the students can discuss the various suggestions and add their own ideas to the lists. The important thing to focus on in feedback, of course, is not the names chosen but the justifications they provide for those choices. You may be able to generate something of a debate at this stage if the students are sufficiently interested in the topic or any of the categories (perhaps music and film will be the most fruitful, but allow them to choose their own areas to focus on). Some notes on the examples provided:

POLITICS

NELSON MANDELA - President of South Africa (1994-1999), winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV - General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR, winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1990.

MUSIC

JOHN LENNON - With Paul McCartney, the lead singer of The Beatles , also recorded many famous solo songs.

BONO - The lead singer of the band U2 and writer of their lyrics, also a campaigner for third-world debt relief.

MICK JAGGER - The lead singer and songwriter of The Rolling Stones, one of the most influential groups in modern music.

MADONNA - A modern cultural icon and one of the most popular pop singers in the world.

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI - One of the greatest tenors in history, has helped to popularise classical music.

FILM

STEVEN SPIELBERG - One of Hollywood's most popular and successful directors, maker of E.T. and Jaws.

MARLON BRANDO - One of Hollywood's greatest actors, starring in films such as The Godfather and On the Waterfront.

ROBERT DE NIRO - One of the most popular actors in the world, has appeared in The Godfather and The Deerhunter.

BUSINESS

BILL GATES - Founder and, until recently, CEO of Microsoft, one of the world's largest companies.

KARL BENZ - Inventor of the first true motorcar and founder of the Mercedes-Benz automobile company.

AKIO MORITA - Inventor, co-founder of Sony, one of the largest electronics companies in the world.

SPORT

ROGER FEDERER - For many years, the best tennis player in the world, winner of 13 grand slam titles.

MUHAMMAD ALI - Three-time heavyweight champion of the world, commonly accepted as the greatest boxer of all time.

HAILE GEBRE SELASSIE - Ethiopian long- and middle-distance runner who has broken 26 world records and won many titles.

CRISTIANO RONALDO - A Portuguese winger playing for Manchester United, World Footballer of the Year in 2008.

Before you read / First reading

The brainstorming task is a very difficult one, as it is quite unlikely that students at this age will possess much detailed information about Leonardo. Gathering all the information they have in feedback, therefore, is important so that they will have enough to provide a task for their first reading. I would recommend collecting all the information they have and putting it on the board, using `?' to denote guesses or uncertain information.

They should read only the first part of the text at this point.

First reading

The students should, of course, search only for the words in their texts. Key:

1. an apprentice

2. eccentric

3. a habit

4. a cage

5. release

6. prowess

7. iconic

8. survive

9. unstable

10. extent

11. prolific

12. throughout

13. whatever

14. a topic

15. a cannon

16. including

17. a diving suit

18. know no bounds

Second reading

The task is a relatively open one here. You will need to monitor quite closely to help with any vocabulary issues.

Question formation

Check the students understand that they should make questions for the texts they do not have - i.e. six questions.

Key:

DA VINCI THE ARTIST

1. How many of Leonardo's paintings have survived?

2. Why have so many paintings been lost?

3. Do we have anything else from Leonardo, or just paintings?

DA VINCI THE SCIENTIST

1. How many pages of notes did Leonardo make?

2. Why are they hard to read?

3. Why did Leonardo write this way?

DA VINCI THE INVENTOR

1. Did Leonardo only create theoretical plans?

2. Were Leonardo's designs built in his lifetime?

3. What was the most amazing thing Leonardo designed?

Speaking

Organise the students into groups of three or four, with at least one student with each text. After they have asked and answered their questions the students can share their texts and read the ones they did not receive at the start.

Vocabulary 2

Work in the same groups and complete the sentences below using one of the items from Vocabulary 1.

Key:

1. iconic

2. eccentric

3. topic

4. knows no bounds

5. throughout

6. release

7. whatever

8. including

9. extent

10. prolific

11. survive

12. prowess

Speaking

This task is intended to encourage some personal reflection and will work best if you can provide some examples from your own life of inspiring examples or individuals. The final question is potentially controversial and needs to be handled sensitively, but it is a fruitful area for discussion and an important topic which the students should be aware of and able to discuss. Obviously, your role in managing any disagreements which may arise is crucial.

Extension

The final question in the speaking task lends itself to project work very nicely. The students could choose an individual who has had a big influence on their country, for better or worse, and put together a poster about them, using the internet, libraries, encyclopaedias and their course books from other subjects to help them. They could then present their chosen individuals to the rest of the class in a future lesson. This project would help to bring in elements from across the curriculum, especially from history and literature classes.

Contact

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas for future editions of Around English.

Peter Moran [e-mail]

TEACHER'S NOTES AND KEY

March 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009

Leonardo produced some of the

world's most famous and iconic

pieces of art, including two of the

world's most famous paintings,

the Mona Lisa (above) and The

Last Supper. Surprisingly for

such a famous artist, only some

fifteen of his paintings survive.

This is partly Leonardo's fault:

ever the experimenter, Leonardo

was forever trying out new

techniques and new technologies,

including new kinds of paint.

Many of these were unstable and

the paintings were lost as a result.

Fortunately, many of Leonardo's

notebooks, sketches and essays

have survived to show the extent

of his genius as an artist.

Leonardo was a prolific writer,

producing more than 13,000

pages of drawings, descriptions,

observations and notes

throughout his life. The notes are

not easy to read as Leonardo

wrote backwards, from right to

left. Perhaps Leonardo wanted

his notes kept secret or perhaps it

was simply easier for him to

write this way, being left-handed.

Whatever the reason, Leonardo's

notebooks are a treasure and it is

hard to believe that one man

could write so much, so

originally, on so many topics -

from engineering to medicine,

from mathematics to art, from

astronomy to chemistry.

Leonardo designed many

practical inventions: new kinds of

bridges, lifting machines,

machines, cannons, to name but a

few. He also designed many

completely original inventions,

including some that would not be

built for centuries. Indeed, many

of Leonardo's ideas were

astonishingly far ahead of his

time. In a world without engines,

electricity or steam power, he

designed helicopters, airplanes,

parachutes, diving suits,

submarines and even a tank!

Some of these designs have been

constructed in modern times

successfully. Truly, Leonardo's

genius knew no bounds.

da Vinci the artist

da Vinci the inventor

da Vinci the scientist

Leonardo di ser Piero

da Vinci was born in Vinci, a

small town near Florence, Italy,

in April 1452. Not a great deal

is known of his early life, but

we do know that his artistic

talent was recognised very early: he was sent as an

apprentice to one of the greatest painters of the day,

Verrocchio when he was fourteen years old.

Leonardo worked in Florence, Rome, Bolonga and

Venice, as well as living abroad in France later in

his life. He was a man of eccentric habits and

appeared to love animals: he was a vegetarian,

which was unusual for the time, and he had a habit

of buying birds in cages and then releasing them.

So what makes Leonardo so special? Was it his

skill at painting? His scientific prowess? Perhaps

his imagination as an inventor? Rather, it is all of

these things and more. What makes Leonardo

special is the fact that he was recognised as a genius

in so many different fields: as an artist, as a scientist

and as an inventor, to name but three...

- 4 -

---