Lesson 3

Modern art: weird or wonderful?

-What is “modern”?

-What is “art” for you? And what is “modern art” for you?

-Would you pay thousand dollars for modern art masterpiece?

-Have you visited museums of modern art?

  1. Which art form (music, theatre, dance, painting, etc.) do you like best/least? Why? Try using these phrases:

I feel that …

I guess/imagine …

I have no doubt that / I’m certain that …

I strongly believe that …

I’ve never really thought about this before, but …

My personal opinion is that / Personally, my opinion is that …

To be honest / In my honest opinion, …

  1. How well do you know culture? Let’s do culture quiz!

3. Study the vocabulary below:

Let’s check if you were right. Listen to Track 1.

1.b, 2.c, 3.c, 4.a, 5.c, 6.b, 7.c, 8.c

-Which artist does the man guess for question 3?Pollock

-Which question did the woman get wrong?7

  1. Read questions a)-d) and answer questions 1-3 below.

1. Which questions ask us to name the subject (the person who does the action)?a, b

2. Which questions ask for other information about the subject?c, d

3. Compare questions a) and b) with questions c) and d). Which extra words are in c) and d)?did

Questions without auxiliaries (do/does, did etc.). Remember:

4. Let’s practice! Write questions for the underlined answers. Two questions use auxiliary verbs (does/did).

1. Where does Bjork come from?

2. When did Samba music become popular?

3. Which Shakespeare's play is the longest?

4. Who continued composing music after he became deaf?

5. Who invented afrobeat?

6. How many self-portraits did Frida Kahlo painted?

7. Whose art is famous for its fat people?

8. Why are Alberto Giacometti's sculptures famous?

5. Think of 5 questions without auxiliaries about art that you could ask your friend.

E.g. Whopainted “Mona Lisa”?

6. Do online exercise on questions without auxiliaries.

7. Is it art? Who decides what art is?

Look at the four things in the image below. Not everyone has agreed they are art.

(Top left, Flying Machine by Carsten Holler; top right, Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh; bottom left, some graffiti street art; bottom right, Fountain by Marcel Duchamp)

What do you think about these pieces of art? Express your opinion using prompts:

  • Inmyexperience…
  • AsfarasI'mconcerned…
  • Speakingformyself…
  • Inmyopinion…
  • Personally, I think…
  • I'dsaythat…
  • I'dsuggestthat…
  • I'dliketopointoutthat…
  • I believethat…
  • What I meanis…

8. How can you describe 4 pictures in Ex 6? Try to describe age, size, colour, and material.

Flying Machine is…

Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh is of…. colours

Graffiti street art is made with help of…

Fountain is….

9. Put these adjectives into the correct place in the chart below. Think of at least two more words for each heading.

redAfricanhugeroundunusualwoodenold

Opinion / Size / Age / Shape / Colour / Nationality / Material

Sometimes we usemore than oneadjective in front of a noun:

He was aniceintelligentyoungman.
She had asmallroundblackwoodenbox.

When a number of adjectives are used together, the order depends on the function of the adjective. The usual order is:

10. Complete these sentences with adjectives in the correct order.

11. Let’s imagine that we are going to describe very beautiful piece of art. We need to use adjectives in the correct order. You start with the first adjective, I repeat your adjective and add mine.

E.g. You: The one…

I: The one beautiful…

You: The one beautiful… (add adjective of size).

12. Writing comics is also art! Do you like comics? Do you have your favourite comics?

Make up a story using the pictures. Include at least 3 adjectives (don’t forget about the order) in every section of the story. Continue until all the pictures have been used.

Thank you for the lesson!

Home task:

  1. Complete the questions with the pars of words in the box
  1. Write questions for the underlined answers. Start your questions with Who, What (music) or Whose.

2 . What was invented by African Americans in the USA?

3. Who brought the blues to the north?

3. Whose song Laughing Song was the first blues recording?

4. Whose nightclub played afrobeat?

5. Who first played bhangra music to celebrate the spring?

  1. Rewrite any incorrect sentences, putting the adjectives into the correct order.
  1. Click the link and do the exercises
  1. Describe this very famous piece of modern art giving your opinion about it.

You can use

phrases: