Travelers,
The topic of our second discussion is the city of Venice, Italy.
Let's start with some Venice history. It's important to understand some of the history of Italy and the cities of Italy. The history of Pompeii catches our ears because it is so famous and so tragic. But, keep your "history minds" open! One thing that will "hit you," I think, is that SO MANY OF THE PLACES WE WILL SEE in Italy have buildings which were built before Columbus discovered America. So, as you look at the "history" of Venice, TUNE IN.
Did you know?
MARCO POLO was a Venetian merchant...
The Venetian Film Festival was begun in Venice in 1932...
Venice is famous for its Venetian glass as well as its waterways...
Venice is the home of the famous Doge's Palace AND St. Mark's Basilica...
Here are a few details you might notice as you read the info. in the link below.
The ruler of Venice was called a doge. (The Doge's Palace is a place we will visit.)
The famous basilica in Venice is called St. Mark's. (St. Mark's Basilica is a place we will visit.)
Venice (considered by some as the most beautiful city in the world) WAS NOT BOMBED during WWII.
http://www.veniceword.com/vehistory.html
Venice is the city of canals (waterways) and gondolas (the long, narrow boats used for transportation through parts of the city.)
If you "google" images of Venice, you'll immediately see pictures which you'll probably recognize. That will give you a "reminder" of what you may have already learned about the unique city of Venice. It's one of the places we will be visiting.
HERE IS A VIDEO ABOUT VENICE, ITALY'S Doge's Palace. (3 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLsGE3_kqsc
We plan to visit the Doge's Palace.
When you click on the video clip link above, you will notice that the narrator of the video pronounces the name for you so you can hear the word spoken. Maybe some of you will recognize the man in the video clip, Rick Steves. He is often on Channel 2 talking about traveling. PLEASE NOTE how he pronounces the word DOGE (Venetian political ruler) and DOGE'S Palace (the home of the Venetian political ruler.)
The next BLUE LINK below is ANOTHER VIDEO CLIP. IT'S ABOUT St. Mark's Basilica.
BEFORE YOU VIEW the video clip, (3.5 minutes,) please read the comments included here: This video clip offers a HUGE amount of important information in 3 and 1/2 minutes. Please listen carefully, (just get used to the narrator's voice.) This little "clip" talks about religion, politics, and architecture related to St. Mark's.
We plan to visit St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on our trip.
[When I give you a pronunciation guide, as I have done below in brackets, the letters which are capitalized represent the ACCENTED syllable. The letters which are in lower case represent the UNACCENTED syllable.]
VOCABULARY WORD: facade = [ fuh SAWED ] DEFINITION: the front of a building, the "face" of a building (often given special architectural attention)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1A91YLE1B4
ARTICLE ABOUT THE LIONS OF VENICE: 2 pages
http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/winged_lion_of_st_mark.htm
VIDEO CLIP: The Piazza San Marco
VIDEO CLIP: The Piazza San Marco
The Piazza San Marco is a famous gathering place in Venice. The Doge's Palace and the Basilica of St. Mark's - San Marco - are on the "piazza." Here's a link which gives you idea of how these buildings look when you are standing on the Piazza San Marco.
http://www.iguidez.com/Venice/piazza_san_marco/
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/vocabulary/numbers.asp
OK! Now for a little English-teacher commentary... When you click on that "language" link above, you will see a menu on the left-hand side. If you click on ITALIAN LITERATURE, you'll see a little summary of three famous Italian authors.
They are ... a) Dante, b) Boccaccio, and c) Petrarch, and I mention all three of them in my classes at CHS. WHY, you may ask? BECAUSE they all contributed to "world" literature.
a) Dante --- this man wrote The Divine Comedy
(a.k.a. The Inferno, The Purgatorio, the Paradisio)
b) Boccaccio --- this man wrote a book entitled The Decameron
(a book which influenced English poet Geoffrey Chaucer)
c) Petrarch --- this man created the poetic form we call a sonnett
(a 14-line poem, often written in iambic pentameter)
Isn't it nice to know that you'll be learning things before and during the Italy trip which will be talked about in your CHS classrooms? (SMILE!)
ANOTHER THING THAT IS FAMOUS ABOUT VENICE is the art of glassblowing.
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikWkbZeo1w
ARTICLE: http://www.thehistoryof.net/history-of-glass-blowing-in-Murano.html
A SITE ABOUT THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE. Click on the link below. Take a look at some Italian "words."
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/vocabulary/numbers.asp
OK! Now for a little English-teacher commentary... When you click on that "language" link above, you will see a menu on the left-hand side. If you click on ITALIAN LITERATURE, you'll see a little summary of three famous Italian authors.
They are ... a) Dante, b) Boccaccio, and c) Petrarch, and I mention all three of them in my classes at CHS. WHY, you may ask? BECAUSE they all contributed to "world" literature.
a) Dante --- this man wrote The Divine Comedy
(a.k.a. The Inferno, The Purgatorio, the Paradisio)
b) Boccaccio --- this man wrote a book entitled The Decameron
(a book which influenced English poet Geoffrey Chaucer)
c) Petrarch --- this man created the poetic form we call a sonnett
(a 14-line poem, often written in iambic pentameter)
Isn't it nice to know that you'll be learning things before and during the Italy trip which will be talked about in your CHS classrooms? (SMILE!)
ANOTHER THING THAT IS FAMOUS ABOUT VENICE is the art of glassblowing.
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikWkbZeo1w
ARTICLE: http://www.thehistoryof.net/history-of-glass-blowing-in-Murano.html
