Mini essay-reasoning based on Chekhov's story "Longing" on the topic: Loneliness, pain and longing of the protagonist. Essay on Literature
The story "Tosca": audiobook
The story "Tosca" is rightfully considered the pinnacle conquered by Chekhov's skill. Subtle lyricism and an oppressive feeling of sadness are perfectly conveyed by him, so reading this work is physically painful. I want to crawl through the lines, come and listen to Jonah, because any person feels sorry for him. It seems that, compared to him, I am happy, although before reading I had my own hardships and worries. I admire Chekhov, because not every author can evoke such emotions. It seems to me that the secret of his success is that he found how to describe loneliness, the most bleak human feeling. Everyone has experienced it and everyone understands what it is, and at the same time the author managed to show it in a new way.
Pain and longing in Chekhov's image are comparable to a powerful stream that could flood everything, but is placed in an "insignificant shell" in the form of a pitiful figure of a cabman. It is these feelings that characterize Jonah's longing, which can only be quenched by sincere participation. However, the driver cannot find him anywhere, although he travels all over the city. The problem posed by Chekhov in the story "Longing" is not even that the hero yearns for his son, but that no one wants to listen to him and break the vicious circle of his loneliness. That is, the grief of another person does not concern anyone, a big city lives its own life, and Jonah lives its own, and this is the vice of a big city in which people become smaller.
The inner world of the hero of the story "Tosca" is completely flooded with loneliness. Jonah is revealed only from this tragic side. His soul is Christian rich. He does not grumble at fate for the death of his son, he resigned himself, although he was ready to die in his place. He is open to kindness, has not become embittered by the indifferent world, and forgives people for their rudeness. He does not even want to bother them with his outpourings and falls silent when he sees that the listener is not up to him. Surprisingly, it is spiritual riches that make him lonely. Vulgar and empty people are united by their primitiveness, but Jonah is doomed to bear the burden of his spirituality. This is an unobvious reason for his loneliness, but Chekhov brings it to the fore by all means, revealing the character of his hero.
Jonah is a type of little person. He has very modest requests, he lives almost from hand to mouth, and all his property is a skinny horse. He came to the city to work, in the village he left a daughter who needs to be supported. Therefore, the miserable and wordless cab driver learned one rule: do not argue with the gentlemen. Whatever they do with him, a free, in theory, a man, not a serf, he endures and also praises the masters. Maybe in this endless humiliation, Jonah established himself in his loneliness. He considers himself unworthy of communication, believes that rudeness towards him is justified, therefore he does not make attempts to find an equal to himself and make friends. He always, as it were, asks for mercy, talking about longing. Jonah humiliates himself to such a level that he begs for what is due and endures the unbearable. In the loss of dignity, his loneliness takes on a monstrous dimension.
Thus, the theme of loneliness in the story "Tosca" is revealed by Chekhov from different angles: it is both a vice of a big city, and an element of Jonah's subtle mental organization, and a consequence of his humiliation. This versatile loneliness drives the hero into hopeless longing, which the author put into the title of the story. This capacious word fully expresses the tragedy of the fate of the hero.
Interesting? Save it on your wall! She turned to the topic of the essay dedicated to “The loneliness of a person in the world based on the story of A.P. Chekhov “Tosca””, it is no coincidence, because Chekhov in his short stories posed problems that are relevant for our modernity, he deeply investigated life phenomena, exposing the causes of social disorder . Chekhov saw with pain that under the conditions of reaction the Russian intelligentsia openly broke with the ideals of progress and democracy. The standard of social behavior was lack of spirituality, pessimism, sometimes outright betrayal of the ideals of good, which reflected the general crisis of the noble-bourgeois culture. Chekhov was not associated with the emerging proletarian movement, but, anticipating a radical restructuring of all forms of social life, the writer spoke out against inertia, stagnation, and resolutely denied the existing order. “Vulgarity was his enemy, he struggled with it all his life ... No one before him could so mercilessly and truthfully draw people a shameful and dreary picture of their life in the dull chaos of philistine everyday life.” (M. Gorky).Satisfied philistine happiness irritated Chekhov, he suffered because the beauty of human relations was destroyed in the sleepy stupor of the philistine. Hence the writer's yearning for a real, spiritually significant life, full of work and creativity. In this feeling, perhaps, the whole of Chekhov with his hidden suffering, merciless denunciation of vulgarity, active defense of the healthy, active principles of human life.
Indifference is another reason for my appeal to this topic. How often, when we hear this word, we are surprised and indignant, thinking to ourselves that this does not apply to us. And how often we forget about the insults and sorrows brought by us to our closest and dearest people. Indeed, often so little is required of us: to listen, to say a kind word, to smile. But even this smallness we sometimes regret so much. Well, what did the heroes of the story “Tosca” cost to show a minimum of affection, compassion and patience in order to ease the grief of Iona Potapov. In their soul it would become much brighter and purer, if they understood the grief of the cabman. How much brighter and better our world will become when dryness, callousness, and indifference finally leave us.
2. Goals and objectives that I set for myself:
deeper knowledge of this work of literature;
identify the topic, problems of the story;
take a deeper look at the work of A.P. Chekhov.
I. The history of the creation of the story by A.P. Chekhov "Tosca"
II. The theme of human loneliness in the world, expressed in one work by A.P. Chekhov.
The story "Tosca" as a reflection on the comprehensive patterns of human existence.
The plot, composition, storyline of the work.
Artistic detail in the story.
“Chekhov least of all claimed the role of a preacher, the ideological leader of the youth, and meanwhile, we managed to protect ourselves from many dark and unworthy deeds only because he, as if with a click, etched out all spiritual rubbish from us.”
K. Chukovsky
LONGING (crowd?) constraint of the spirit, languor of the soul, excruciating sadness;
mental anxiety, anxiety, fear, boredom,
grief, sadness, heartache, grief.
V. I. Dal (“Explanatory Dictionary
living Great Russian language")
A.P. Chekhov is a subtle psychologist of the human soul. He showed how hopeless longing of a person can be, lonely, like a person. They fill each other, vessels with deep, viscous contents. And human deafness, which leads to boundless loneliness and emptiness, to the emptiness of vessels that should be filled with living moisture.
Entering Russian literature, Chekhov became a master of the "small" form. This is a great artist of the word. He is able to convey in a short story the whole life of a person, adhering to the rules he himself formulated: “to write with talent, that is, briefly” and “brevity is the sister of talent.” Behind his landscapes, often drawn with the help of one precise and accurate detail, behind short dialogues and monologues, behind small details, an attentive reader always distinguishes not named by the author, but clearly visible depths of life.
The story "Tosca", dedicated to the topic of disunity of people and the loneliness of a person, is recognized by many researchers of the literary heritage of A.P. Chekhov as the pinnacle of the writer's early works. This work was published in January 1886 in the Petersburg newspaper, in the section “flying notes”, where before that A.P. Chekhov had already published many ironic sketches and other short satirical works that brought him literary fame as a witty, observant comedian - Antosha Chekhonte. What served as the leading motive for A.P. Chekhov's address to this topic is not known for certain. In December 1885, the writer visited St. Petersburg for the first time and "the whirlpool full of monstrous fires, restless cod and running people", into which he plunged upon arriving in the capital, contrasted with his defensive psychasthenic mental warehouse and, perhaps, this to a certain extent served as one from the incentives for writing "Tosca". Moreover, the psychasthenic characterological pattern manifests itself most clearly at the age of 20–40 years (Lichko, 1977). The author of Tosca is twenty-six. Draft versions of the manuscript of "Tosca" have not been preserved, since during this period of creativity, A.P. Chekhov had the habit of destroying all preliminary sketches and used preparatory materials at the end of the work.
Chekhov's stories pose serious problems for the reader, receive a thorough development in their plot structure, and become a genre of great literature. Paving the way for the story, Chekhov started from old techniques, dilapidated themes, external entertainment. On the other hand, Chekhov's story absorbed the best
achievements of the former Russian literature. Chekhov was the master of this "small"
forms. Chekhov's stories are fraught with great meaning, differing from the rest in clarity and conciseness, carrying a certain moral conclusion. An example of such a story
his short story “Tosca” can be considered. This is a story about well-fed, indifferent people who consider themselves a class above, unable to understand, pity another person, support him with a friendly soft and kind smile, alien to responsiveness and compassion.
The plot of "Tosca", at first glance, is another reflection of the young Chekhov's favorite literary device - with warm irony to build a composition, a storyline of a story from an anecdotal, in fact, situation: an old cab driver who did not find understanding from any person he met on the way, who buries his son, pours out his grief to the horse. However, the story told by Antosha Chekhonte on the pages of the periodical is “not an ironic trinket” of entertaining humorous journalism, but an age-old tragedy of a man knocking on people's souls (Dunaev, 1998).
In the plot of “Tosca”, at least, two interrelated plans can be found: on the one hand, the author encourages the reader to empathize with Iona Potapov, and on the other hand, to reflect on the comprehensive regularity of human existence - longing for someone’s soul, consonant with himself, able to understand, respond, sympathize, listen.
Without setting ourselves the goal of conducting a comprehensive textual analysis, we would like to consider only one aspect of the story - clinical and psychological, the study of which, of course, enriches the understanding of the basic meaning of "Tosca", and also clearly shows the ethical and philosophical position of A.P. Chekhov, not only as a writer, but also as a doctor.
Medical education, according to one of the literary critics, gave the observations of A.P. Chekhov the writer "a special character: it gave them an extraordinary breadth and depth" (Kroichik, 1982: 6). Practical medicine, no less than literature, was the true vocation of A.P. Chekhov. For example, A. I. Kuprin notes in his memoirs: “If Chekhov had not been such a wonderful writer, he would have been an excellent doctor. Doctors, who occasionally invited him for consultations, spoke of him as an extremely thoughtful observer and a resourceful, insightful diagnostician. (...) He believed in medicine firmly and firmly, and nothing could shake this faith ”(quoted in: Kroychik, 1982: 6).
A.P. Chekhov himself writes about his clinical, natural-scientific attitude, which served as a starting point and a kind of tuning fork in literary work, in his autobiography: “I have no doubt that my studies in the medical sciences had a serious influence on my literary activity; they greatly expanded the scope of my observations, enriched me with knowledge, the true value of which for me as a writer can only be understood by someone who is a doctor himself; they also had a guiding influence, and, probably, thanks to my closeness to medicine, I managed to avoid many mistakes ”(Chekhov, 1979: 271).
The epigraph to “Tosca”: “To whom shall we sing my sadness?..”, the opening line of the spiritual verse “Joseph’s Lament and the Reality,” once performed by Russian wanderers as “transitory stones,” sets a certain psychological tone for Chekhov’s story. The author thus expands the boundaries of the upcoming narrative, encourages the reader to think about the "existential" dilemma of human existence - the topic of human loneliness among people, the lack of response to someone else's pain, the inability to be heard, pour out one's grief, establish confessional contact with another person.
The beginning of "Tosca" resembles an overture to a piece of music, in which the main theme of the story sounds, emotional, eventful, philosophical and clinical-psychological plans are combined into a single whole. "Evening twilight. Large wet snow swirls lazily around the newly lit lanterns and lies in a thin, soft layer on the roofs, horses' backs, shoulders, hats ... ”(Chekhov, 1982: 42). Running people in the usual street bustle of a big city do not notice either the falling snow or the cabman Iona Potapov, who is “white as a ghost” and with his immobility, resembles a snow statue.
The stories of A.P. Chekhov are distinguished by their brevity and saturation of the plot, and this work is no exception. In the story "Tosca" it seems that nothing happens. The driver Ion Potapov is covered with snow in the dull winter twilight. He is waiting for his passengers. In fact, Jonah is no longer waiting for anyone or anything. For a whole week now he has been living as if half asleep: his son has died. The tragedy of Jonah is of no interest to anyone: neither the military, nor the idle youth, nor a man of his own class - a cab driver. Iona Potapov is of no interest to anyone, his soul-bursting pain is of no use to anyone. Everyone is in a hurry somewhere, everyone is dissatisfied, annoyed, only Jonah has nowhere to rush. He is lonely, sad, lost in thought. Death made a mistake, "misidentified the door", took away the heir, who "was a real cabman." After several attempts to pour out his soul to strangers, Iona Potapov understands that there are no and will not be sympathizers in grief, people become isolated, they want anything, but not talk about someone's death. People do not want to think about frailty, they mindlessly scurry around the world, hoping that luck will save them, they will find their place in life, and that they care about the death of some person. Winter. Snow falls. It will melt when it gets warmer, there will be no trace left of it. Ion's longing will also dissipate if he finds a warm response and participation. Yes, the pain of loss will remain, like a memory of the past snowfall, but it will be possible to live, taking care of the horse, calmly thinking about your death. To whom can Jonah cry? Only a living soul, only she is able to understand the grief of another. Jonah found such a silent friend - his partner - a horse, old, hackneyed, tired of work, which can only breathe its warmth into the hands of its owner.
Among other writers, A.P. Chekhov is distinguished by extraordinary powers of observation. A deep knowledge of life and people helped him, with the help of small details, individual strokes, to depict truthfully and vividly the character of a person, objects, nature. Therefore, the artistic detail is of great importance in the work of Chekhov. He was very strict in the selection of details, he checked everything to the smallest detail - nothing can be accidental in his works. The writer said that if a gun hangs on the wall in the first act, then at the end it must fire. Chekhov brought the genre of the story to perfection. In a small work, he could convey a large amount of information, this was important for the writer. Artistic detail contributed to the reduction of volume. In his works, Chekhov omitted such important information as the genealogy, biography of the characters. The main means of characterization was a portrait, although it also did not correspond to the usual idea. It was not a description of the color of hair, eyes, and the like, the writer chose two or three of the most accurate and accurate details, and this was enough to vividly represent the image as a whole. Craftsmanship of detail: in the story, the author mostly calls the horse a horse. As soon as the suffix appeared, the reader sees this old, hackneyed, work-tired horse, as miserable as her owner, and just as poignantly pitiful. And only she can breathe her warmth into Jonah's arms. In his stories, Chekhov shows only the main, most important points, and omits the rest. Artistic detail helps him condense time. Chekhov does not say this directly, but the reader vividly imagines these changes, and all this is due to artistic detail.
The development of artistic detail is an important merit of Chekhov, he made a huge contribution to world literature. This technique has been introduced into short stories with great skill. Chekhov painted ordinary, everyday life and achieved the maximum approximation to it. From small strokes, strokes, a colorful realistic picture is created. The reader forgets that the text is in front of him, so clearly he imagines everything described.
A.P. Chekhov describes the mental state of Iona with clinical thoroughness: the immobility of an unnaturally bent body for many hours, apathy - “if a whole snowdrift fell on him, then it would seem that he would not have found it necessary to shake off the snow from himself ...” (there g), inhibition of the reaction. Like a snow cover, Jonah is enveloped in a depressive veil, which the old cabman cannot “pull back” on his own, and when someone’s voice reaches him through it: “Cab!”, he intuitively begins to seek help from the person who called him. Jonah is overwhelmed with feelings about his departed son, and in order to cope with his grief, he needs to talk to someone “smartly, with arrangement” and about how his son fell ill, and how his son suffered, “what he said before his death”, and about the daughter who remained in the village, and much more. But Jonah fails to speak out, to pour out his grief. Four times in the story, the situation of failed communication and the establishment of a full-fledged psychological contact between Jonah and another person is repeated.
The first rider, a military man, brings the cabman out of his spiritual stupor: “Jonah fidgets on the goats, as if on needles, pokes his elbows to the sides and drives around like a madman, as if he does not understand where he is and why he is here” (Chekhov, 1982: 43) . But as soon as he drops off the military at the destination, he again bends on the goats in a frozen pose, and the soul freezes in painful immobility for an indefinite time. "An hour passes, then another..."
A noisy company of young people - the new riders - also do not want to hear about his grief, but even the spinning body of one of the riders behind his back and cursing at himself help Jonah for a moment overcome the burning feeling of loneliness. Young people pay and disappear into a dark entrance, "Jonah looks after them for a long time." “Again he is alone, and again there is silence for him…” (Chekhov, 1982: 45). Another unsuccessful attempt to establish contact raises a new wave of longing that subsided for a while, painful numbness is replaced by excruciating anxiety in the soul, Jonah’s eyes “run through the crowds scurrying around on both sides of the street: isn’t there at least one of these thousands of people who would listen to him? But the crowds flee, not noticing either him or longing ... ”(ibid.).
Describing the longing of Iona Potapov, using the literary device of metaphor, A.P. Chekhov reveals the essence of the mental and physical suffering of a person with a depressive disorder: “The longing is enormous, knowing no boundaries. Burst Jonah's chest and pour out of her melancholy, so she would seem to flood the whole world, but, nevertheless, she is not visible. She managed to fit into such an insignificant shell that you will not see her in the daytime with fire ... ”(ibid.).
In the story of A.P. Chekhov, nowhere is there a direct indication of the religiosity of the protagonist. Jonah's longing is not directed to the higher world, it is not "longing for the transcendent" - this is how the Russian philosopher N.A. Berdyaev defines this state of mind (cited in Burno, 2008: 123). Meanwhile, the understanding of the Russian theologian and literary critic M. M. Dunaev of the Chekhov story as a person addressed to a religious feeling deserves attention. In a situation of acute grief, a person feels the need to experience closeness to himself in someone's soul, the ability to understand, to sympathize. And God, notes M. M. Dunaev, “is invisibly present in the event - in His expectation that a person will respond to His truth. “Behold, I am standing at the door and knocking…” (Dunaev, 1998: 262). Did A.P. Chekhov want to say this when he told the story of the cab driver Ion Potapov, who buried his son and, in his excruciating anguish, for several days did not meet a single person who would see his anguish and smooth out the painful “heartache”? Let us turn to several statements of the writer, made by him on the pages of his notebooks: “Between “there is a god” and “there is no god” there is a whole huge field, which a true sage passes with great difficulty. A Russian person, on the other hand, knows one of these two extremes, while the middle between them is of no interest to him, and he usually knows nothing or very little” (Chekhov, 2000: 19). And further: “Without faith, a person cannot live” (ibid.: 20).
The above words of the writer, of course, cannot give an exhaustive answer to the question either about the degree of religiosity of the young A.P. Chekhov, or even more about the development of a religious theme by him in the story “Tosca”, since these reflections on God and faith refer to the records of 1891– 1904. Iona Potapov, who did not see a living soul capable of compassion in the human flow that flickered before his eyes among the city lights dazzling in the twilight, returns to the court. But even here there is no listener imagined by Jonah: groaning, sighing, lamenting over the misfortune that befell him. “People are snoring on the stove, on the floor, on the benches. There is a “spiral” and stuffiness in the air ... Jonah looks at the sleeping people, scratches himself and regrets that he returned home so early ... ”(Chekhov, 1982: 45). A person in a state of acute grief, overwhelmed by depressive experiences, on the one hand, is constantly drearily focused on the personality of the deceased, on the other hand, remaining alone, he “thinks and draws his image for himself unbearably terribly ...” (ibid.: 46). Sleep is disturbed, and the need to talk with someone about the deceased only intensifies at night.
Jonah is unable to speak out in any way to alleviate his grief. And longing grows, “an enormous longing that knows no bounds.” At the end of the story, Jonah goes to the stable and pours out his longing for the horse's son. But such a denouement of Chekhov's story is by no means sentimental or pessimistic. On the contrary, Iona Potapov, in the end, finds the best listener in his position, sincere in his natural naturalness, consonant with a languishing soul being.
From the beginning of the story, A.P. Chekhov points to the harmony present in the relationship between the old cabman and his "horse", sensitively catching the slightest changes in the state of mind of its owner. Either she is “white and motionless”, similar to a “penny gingerbread horse”, together with the silent Jonah stands for hours under wet snow, “immersed in thought”, then “begins to trot”, when the owner’s anguish becomes unbearable, bursts out of her chest and dictates to quickly leave the bustle of the city crowd and return to the court. The world of people rejected him, and the old man goes to his horse - a dumb creature - which alone understands him: "the horse chews, listens and breathes into the hands of its owner." With warm irony to his hero, to all people lonely in their longing, vainly looking for a response, salvation in another person, and, perhaps, to himself, A.P. Chekhov ends the story with the following two phrases: “The horse chews, listens and breathes into the hands of her master… Jonah gets carried away and tells her everything…” (ibid.).
The theme of loneliness declared by A.P. Chekhov in the story is developed and comprehended by the writer throughout his subsequent literary activity. The leitmotif of A.P. Chekhov's plays is also the problem of spiritual loneliness and disturbed psychological contact between people - the monologues of the characters do not resonate with each other, they meet either with mockery or indifference. In solving this eternal problem for a person, A.P. Chekhov manages to avoid sentimentality, an edifying tone, condemning sarcasm and philosophical pathos. A.P. Chekhov does not accuse anyone either of people's self-absorption, or of their inability to understand and hear each other - this is a primary given, due to the otherness of each person for another. Overcoming alienation, entering into a psychologically full-fledged contact with another person who is not like himself, is possible only when a minimal effort is made to transmit one's spiritual warmth or sincerely perceive it from another person. The loneliness of a person among people is the terrible essence of the story "Longing". And Chekhov nowhere allows himself to moralize - he simply draws life, but the laconic narration perfectly conveys everything that the author would like to say.
The lack of sincerity, responsiveness, understanding is a problem not only of the 19th century, but also of the present. Iona Potapov may be a taxi driver whose son tragically died. Will it find a response in the souls of modern passengers? I think no. Jonah has "an enormous longing that knows no bounds," the same is true of the boundless callousness and indifference of those around him.
Indifference. How often, when we hear this word, we are surprised and indignant, thinking to ourselves that this does not apply to us. And how often we forget about the insults and sorrows brought by us to our closest and dearest people. Indeed, often so little is required of us: to listen, to say a kind word, to smile. But even this smallness we sometimes regret so much. Well, what did it cost the heroes of the story “Tosca” to show a minimum of affection, compassion and patience in order to alleviate the grief of Iona Potapov? In their soul it would become much brighter and purer, if they understood the grief of the cabman. How much brighter and better our world will become when dryness, callousness and indifference finally leave us.
This topic is also relevant for us, living in the 21st century, because we are always in a hurry somewhere, not paying attention to the suffering of other people, not thinking that we ourselves can find ourselves in a similar situation.
^ BIBLIOGRAPHY
Burno, M. E. (2008) About the characters of people (psychotherapeutic book). Ed. 3rd, rev. and additional M.: Academic project; Mir Foundation.
Dunaev, M. M. (1998) Orthodoxy and Russian Literature. In 5 vols. M.: Christian Literature. T. 4.
Kroichik, L. (1982) A man with a hammer // Chekhov A.P. Stories and tales. Voronezh: VSU Publishing House. pp. 5–23.
Chekhov, A.P. Autobiography (1979) // Chekhov, A.P. Complete Works and Letters. In 30 t. M.: Nauka. T. 16.
Chekhov, A.P. (1982) Longing // Chekhov A.P. Stories and tales. Voronezh: VSU Publishing House. pp. 42–46.
Chekhov, A.P. (2000) Notebooks. M.: Vagrius.
1. To continue acquaintance of students with the work of A.P. Chekhov.
2. Continue to form the ability to analyze a literary text. Develop creative imagination and the ability to boldly express your own opinion.
3. To instill in the children a sense of compassion, sympathy, a desire to help their neighbor in difficult times.
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Lesson summary
Teacher: Bekyasheva Raisa Borisovna
Subject: literature
Grade: 9 B
Lesson topic: A.P. Chekhov. The story "Tosca". The theme of human loneliness in the world.
Lesson type: reading and study lesson
Forms of work: individual, frontal, group
Lesson Objectives:
- To continue acquaintance of students with the work of A.P. Chekhov.
- Continue to develop the ability to analyze a literary text.Develop creative imagination and the ability to boldly express your own opinion.
3. To instill in children a sense of compassion, sympathy, a desire to help
Near in difficult times.
Lesson equipment:
- Projector, screen, computer presentation.
- Explanatory Dictionary edited by S.I. Ozhegov.
- Cards for group work.
During the classes
I. Organizational moment.
Purpose: emotional mood for the lesson. Awareness of the importance of this lesson, motivation for its result.
Hello guys!
I want to start our lesson today with a parable borrowed from the notebook of the French writer Alphonse Daudet:
“Once a wise songbird was asked: “You sing so beautifully, but why are your songs so short?” To which the bird replied: “I have so many songs, I must tell them to the world.”
A.P. loved this parable. Chekhov. He, like that bird, knowing the world, its people, was in a hurry to tell us, his readers, about everything. In his short stories, he, like a doctor, tries to cure people of such ailments as vulgarity, servility, servility, ignorance, limited horizons.
The famous Russian writer Korney Chukovsky said: “Chekhov least of all claimed the role of a preacher, the ideological leader of the youth, and yet we managed to protect ourselves from many dark and unworthy deeds only because he, as if with a click, etched out all spiritual rubbish from us.”
Can we say these words about us today? We will try to answer this question today in the lesson.
And the subject of our conversation will be the story of A.P. Chekhov "Tosca".
Open notebooks, write down the topic of the lesson.
State the objectives of the lesson. What should we learn in the lesson? What to learn? (continue acquaintance with the work of A.P. Chekhov; develop the ability to analyze a literary text; find artistic means in it; learn to boldly express your own opinion).
II. A word about a writer. Student message.
Target: development of monologue speech of students, the ability to highlight the main information, work with sources.
A student's story about the life of A.P. Chekhov (using presentation).
The story, "Longing", which will be the subject of our analysis in the lesson, was written by the writer in 1886.
III. Work on the content of the story.
Purpose: to form the ability to analyze a literary text, to find out what the system of figurative and expressive means of language serves in a story. Improve the skills of working in groups in the analysis of a work of art.
Guys, tell me what associations you have when you hear this word - longing.
Building a cluster.
Questions to the class:
What does it mean to be lonely?
Can a person be lonely among people?
Do you feel lonely?
What is the lexical meaning of this word?
Let us turn to the explanatory dictionary, ed. S.I. Ozhegov.
Yearning
1. Mental anxiety, despondency.
2. Boredom, as well as (colloquial) something very boring, uninteresting.
What is the meaning of this word in the story?
Give synonyms for this wordsorrow, grief, chagrin, melancholy, sadness, despondency).
Why did the writer choose the word yearning ? Guess how you think. (It can be assumed that the stressed vowel a emphasizes the infinity, boundlessness of this feeling, hopelessness).
You have already read the story at home. But just reading Chekhov's story is not enough. To understand the true meaning of his works, one must pay attention to every detail. To this end, we turn to the story test.
Frontal discussion on:
What is the beginning of the story? Read out.
(Snow, twilight, lit lanterns. Every object, a living being is entangled, separated from the outside world by a cold blanket).
What impression does this winter evening make on you?
(The soul becomes gloomy, cold and lonely).
What is the role of this description?
(With the help of the landscape, the internal psychological state of a person is transmitted).
And how does the main character Jonah feel?
(He is sad, bad).
Why is he bad? (His son died.)
Quite right. He buried his son and stayed one . How can you help someone in this situation?
(Talk to him, listen, smile, show a minimum of affection, compassion and patience).
Did Jonah try to talk about his grief? (Yes.)
To whom?
(To a military man, a hunchback, a janitor, a young cab driver.)
Let us follow the text how these people react to Jonah's story about the death of his son.
Work in groups. Find and discuss. Prepare a speaker for the group.
1 group: meeting of Iona Potapov with the military.
2 group: meeting of Iona Potapov with Gorbach.
3rd group: Meeting of Iona Potapov with the janitor.
4th group: meeting of Iona Potapov with a young cab driver.
So let's conclude:
Iona Potapov is among people, but he has no one to tell his sadness, because they are indifferent people, they do not know how to feel the pain of another person, they do not know how to sympathize. Nobody cares about his grief. Everyone on their own.
What artistic means does Chekhov use to convey the longing of the hero?
Let's do this task in groups.
1 group:
Epithets: a great longing, a longing that knows no bounds.Epithets evoke in the reader not very bright, not very joyful associations. Without a doubt, they convey the author's feeling for the events and images depicted.
2 group:
Metaphors : bursting the chest, would flood the whole world, fit in the shell.
Metaphors, personifications, comparisons carry a negative emotional load, help to feel the state of Jonah.
3rd group:
gradation : evening twilight - evening haze - darkness.
Repeat: the son died - from what? ... go; the son died - we will all die, drive; son died... These techniquesreinforce the expression.
Let's draw conclusions about the role of these artistic means:
The linguistic means used in the text are not accidental, they help to reveal the theme of the work, to express the author's idea. In a small work, with the help of various artistic techniques, Chekhov reveals a great misfortune in a person's life.
To whom did Jonah pour out his soul? Who listened to him anyway? (Horse.)
Why did Jonah decide to tell her everything?
(In the horse, Iona Potapov sees a kindred spirit. As he lost his son, so she lost her master and oats. He begins to remember and talk about his son, and then “gets carried away and tells her everything.” Because in this emptiness and silence, in this "soulless" city - this is the only creature that listened to him, did not push him away.)
How did Jonah address the horse? (Brother filly)
Does the emotional coloring of this word change throughout the story? (Yes)
(From contemptuous horse, to neutral - horse, to diminutive - filly.)
Read aloud the last two sentences of the story.
How do you explain the ellipsis?
Indifference is the laziness of the soul. After all, a person needs so little from people - it is necessary that they listen to him, say a kind word, smile. But even this smallness is not something that is a pity - just too lazy to sympathize, understand ...
Let's look at the epigraph of the story. Read.
How do you understand the meaning of the epigraph?
(There is no one to tell, only the man himself and God know).
Let's go back to the question I asked at the beginning of the lesson: "Etched all the spiritual rubbish out of us." Can we say these words about us today? (Yes)
Chekhov in many works gives us a lesson in the relationship between people, encourages us to be sensitive, teaches us to be tolerant of each other, to drive indifference and complacency out of our hearts.
Listen to Varlam Shalamov's poem:
Where is life? Though the rustle of a leaf
She would have spoken.
But behind is emptiness
But behind is silence.
And I'm scared to step forward
Step into a hole, into a black forest,
Where memory takes by the hand
And there is no heaven.
Varlam Shalamov 1938
What do you think, is there anything in common between A.P. Chekhov's story "Tosca", written in 1886, and the poem of the poet and writer, who, like A. Solzhenitsyn, went through the GULAG Varlam Shalamov, written in 1938?
(The theme of loneliness. A poem, like a story, teaches sympathy, understanding of a person.)
IV. Summarizing. Grading.
Purpose: to assess the knowledge of students and motivate them to work in the following lessons.
The result of our work will be writing a syncwine. As a keyword, let's take the word - longing.
Yearning
green, huge
Covers, absorbs, oppresses
No one to tell about your grief
Loneliness
Grading a lesson.
Thank you all for the lesson.
V. Homework.
Target: motivate students to do homework and work in subsequent lessons.
In the next lesson, we will continue to study the work of A.P. Chekhov. Read the story "Death of an official".
1 group:
Find epithets. What feelings do they evoke in the reader? What is their role in the text?
3rd group:
Find examples of gradation, repetitions. What is their role?
2 group:
Find metaphors, personifications. Do they carry a negative or positive emotional load? What do you think, for what purpose did the author use these linguistic means?
1 group:
Find epithets. What feelings do they evoke in the reader? What is their role in the text?
3rd group:
Find examples of gradation, repetitions. What is their role?
2 group:
Find metaphors, personifications. Do they carry a negative or positive emotional load? What do you think, for what purpose did the author use these linguistic means?
- Talented, smart people get lonely too
- Loneliness kills a person, especially if it is forced
- The reason for loneliness may be a person's views on the world around him.
- It is much more difficult for a single person to live than for someone who has family and close friends.
- Loneliness can be forced: a person becomes lonely due to terrible circumstances
- It is hard for a person who has no friends to live in society
Arguments
K.G. Paustovsky "Telegram". Daughter Nastya literally doomed Katerina Ivanovna, her mother, to loneliness. The girl lived a busy life in Leningrad. She did not even imagine that she could break away from work to visit her old mother. Nastya, receiving letters from Katerina Ivanovna, was also glad that the old woman was alive, because she could write. The girl realized too late that she left alone the only person who truly loved her - her mother. Nastya received a letter asking her mother to come, but did not take it seriously. Only after the telegram that Katerina Ivanovna was dying did the girl realize what a serious mistake she had made. Nastya blamed herself for leaving her old mother alone, whom she should have valued most in life.
A.S. Pushkin "The Stationmaster". The loneliness of Samson Vyrin was forced. Dunya, his daughter, ran away from home with officer Minsky, who stopped at their station. The desire to at least see his daughter prompted Samson Vyrin to walk to St. Petersburg. There he received only Minsky's promise to make Dunya happy. He saw his daughter later, but at the sight of her father she fainted. Minsky pushed the old man up the stairs. Since then, he had not heard from Dong for three years. Samson Vyrin died alone, never seeing his daughter. Dunya returned to her father, whom she condemned to loneliness, but it was already too late. She spent a lot of time at the grave.
I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons". Nihilist Yevgeny Bazarov can also be called lonely. At first he communicates with Arkady Kirsanov, but soon the paths of young people diverge. The loneliness of Yevgeny Bazarov is connected with his view of the world. Far from everyone would decide to agree with the opinion of this person, the views of the hero are too far from what has been accepted in society for centuries. It is difficult for people to look at nature as a workshop, to deny almost everything they are used to. The hero has many followers, but we understand that none of them are truly committed to nihilism. Therefore, Bazarov's loneliness, although natural, is to some extent difficult for him.
M. Sholokhov “The fate of man”. Andrey Sokolov was made lonely by the war. His entire family died: first, a shell hit his house, where his daughters and wife were at that time, and on May 9, at the very end of the war, his son Anatoly died from a sniper's bullet. Andrei Sokolov was left alone, without a home and family. Vanya, a little boy whose parents died, helped the hero find the strength to live and to some extent brighten up the loneliness. Andrei Sokolov introduced himself as his father and took the child to him. So two lonely people found each other, in whose fate the war mercilessly intervened.
A.I. Solzhenitsyn "Matryona Dvor". Matrena Vasilievna Grigorieva had neither a living husband nor children. There was only a pupil of Cyrus, tied to her. Matryona was doomed to loneliness. She could not even work properly, because from time to time she suffered for several days from a strange illness. People came to the woman only when they needed something. So part of the hut was taken away during life, without thinking about the consequences. But Matryona's kindness knew no bounds, it is rare to meet such a person. The woman did not refuse to help others when asked, even if she was unable to do so. Only after the death of Matrena Vasilievna did everyone care about her: everyone wanted to receive some kind of inheritance. The selfishness of people who doomed a person to loneliness during life, and after death began to divide property, is striking.
Jack London Martin Eden. Until Martin Eden was rich and famous, no one believed in his future, no one spoke well of his undertakings. When the hero began to build the future of the writer, he was alone and saved only by the love of Ruth. Soon the beloved turned away from Martin Eden. But when they started talking about him, when he had money, friendly invitations to dinners rained down, Ruth returned with a plea for forgiveness. Only for Martin Eden all this meant nothing. He realized that he had not changed a bit since the time when his work was still rejected. All the work had already been done by that time. Therefore, in the midst of everyone's attention, Martin Eden became even more alone than before. The world around him seemed disgusting.
D. Keyes “Flowers for Algernon”. The history of Charlie Gordon is controversial. At the beginning of the work, we see him as a weak-minded person, an object of ridicule. Later, Charlie Gordon becomes a genius, albeit temporarily. But he is even lonelier than before. Everyone considers Charlie too smart, selfish, incapable of showing feelings and emotions. The intellectual abilities of a person, growing exponentially, do not contribute to communication with people. The hero is alone. It is much easier for an imbecile Charlie Gordon to live than a Charlie Gordon with an outstanding intellect. Mental abilities only push towards loneliness, although at first it seems to the hero that people communicate more willingly with an intelligent person. In reality, everything turns out to be completely different.
Material overview
Material overview
The lesson "A.P. Chekhov. The story "Longing". The theme of human loneliness in the world" is a lesson in the complex application of knowledge. On it, I apply elements of cooperation technology and group technology, person-oriented and research.
Purpose: creating conditions for the analysis of Chekhov's story "Tosca", determining its ideological sound.
Tasks:
Educational: to deepen students' knowledge about the personality and work of A.P. Chekhov, a humanist writer;
Developing: to form over-subject methods of educational activity: understanding and analysis of a work of art, research skills, the ability to participate in discussions, express one's opinion, the ability to organize oneself to solve the tasks;
Educational: to educate the moral qualities of a person who is able to be responsive to someone else's pain, able to resist immoral acts
Teaching aids: the text of A.P. Chekhov's story "Tosca", a portrait of the writer, an educational presentation
Type of lesson: lesson of complex application of knowledge.
Forms of organization of students' activities: frontal, individual, group
During the classes
Organizational moment.
Motivation for cognitive activity:
The famous Russian writer Korney Chukovsky said: “Chekhov least of all claimed the role of a preacher, the ideological leader of the youth, and yet we managed to protect ourselves from many dark and unworthy deeds only because he, as if with a click, etched out all spiritual rubbish from us.” (slide2)
Can we say these words about us today? We will try to answer this question today. To do this, let's start with you by getting to know the creative path of A.P. Chekhov., With which the 3rd group of students will introduce us
I. Individual report on the work of A.P. Chekhov
II. Introduction to the topic of the lesson. (slide 1)
1. Teacher's word
Chekhov, in his short stories, posed problems that are relevant to our time, he deeply investigated life phenomena, exposing the causes of social disorder. The writer saw with pain that in the conditions of reaction the Russian intelligentsia openly broke with the ideals of progress and democracy. The standard of social behavior was lack of spirituality, pessimism, sometimes outright betrayal of the ideals of good, which reflected the general crisis of the noble-bourgeois culture. Chekhov was not associated with the emerging proletarian movement, but, anticipating a radical restructuring of all forms of social life, the writer spoke out against inertia, stagnation, and resolutely denied the existing order.
(slide 3) “Vulgarity was his enemy, he struggled with it all his life ... No one before him knew how to so mercilessly and truthfully draw people a shameful and dreary picture of their life in the dull chaos of bourgeois everyday life.” (M. Gorky).
Satisfied philistine happiness irritated Chekhov, he suffered because the beauty of human relations was destroyed in the sleepy stupor of the philistine. Hence the writer's yearning for a real, spiritually significant life, full of work and creativity. In this feeling, perhaps, the whole of Chekhov with his hidden suffering, merciless denunciation of vulgarity, active defense of the healthy, active principles of human life.
And in order to better understand the essence of the story "Longing", we will work according to the following plan(slide 4)
I. The history of the creation of the story by A.P. Chekhov "Tosca"
II. The theme of human loneliness in the world, expressed in one work by A.P. Chekhov.
1. The story "Longing" as a reflection on the comprehensive patterns of human existence.
2. Plot, composition, storyline of the work.
3. Artistic detail in the story.
III. The loneliness of a person among people is the terrible essence of the story "Longing"
IV. Analysis of the story "Tosca"
1. Vocabulary work
What do you think longing is? What is the lexical meaning of this word? The 2nd group has dictionaries, tell us this concept - “longing”
(slide 5) From the Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language by V.I. mental anxiety, anxiety, fear, boredom,
grief, sadness, heartache, grief"
Teacher: A.P. Chekhov is a subtle psychologist of the human soul. He showed how hopeless longing of a person can be, lonely, like a person. They fill each other, vessels with deep, viscous contents. And human deafness, which leads to boundless loneliness and emptiness, to the emptiness of vessels that should be filled with living moisture.
Entering Russian literature, Chekhov became a master of the "small" form. This is a great artist of the word. He is able to convey in a short story the whole life of a person, adhering to the rules he himself formulated: “to write with talent, that is, briefly” and “brevity is the sister of talent.” Behind his landscapes, often drawn with the help of one precise and accurate detail, behind short dialogues and monologues, behind small details, an attentive reader always distinguishes not named by the author, but clearly visible depths of life.
2. History of the creation of the story. The 1st group of students will introduce us to it:
(slide 6) The story "Tosca", dedicated to the topic of disunity of people and the loneliness of a person, is recognized by many researchers of the literary heritage of A.P. Chekhov as the pinnacle of the writer's early works. This work was published in January 1886 in the Petersburg newspaper, in the section “flying notes”, where before that A.P. Chekhov had already published many ironic sketches and other short satirical works that brought him literary fame as a witty, observant comedian - Antosha Chekhonte. What served as the leading motive for A.P. Chekhov's address to this topic is not known for certain. In December 1885, the writer visited St. Petersburg for the first time and "the whirlpool full of monstrous fires, restless cod and running people", into which he plunged upon arriving in the capital, contrasted with his defensive psychasthenic mental warehouse and, perhaps, this to a certain extent served as one from the incentives for writing "Tosca". Moreover, the psychasthenic characterological pattern manifests itself most clearly at the age of 20–40 years (Lichko, 1977). The author of Tosca is twenty-six. Draft versions of the manuscript of "Tosca" have not been preserved, since during this period of creativity, A.P. Chekhov had the habit of destroying all preliminary sketches and used preparatory materials at the end of the work.
Chekhov's stories pose serious problems for the reader, receive a thorough development in their plot structure, and become a genre of great literature. Paving the way for the story, Chekhov started from old techniques, dilapidated themes, external entertainment. On the other hand, Chekhov's story absorbed the best
achievements of the former Russian literature. Chekhov was the master of this "small"
forms. Chekhov's stories are fraught with great meaning, differing from the rest in clarity and conciseness, carrying a certain moral conclusion. An example of such a story
his short story “Tosca” can be considered. This is a story about well-fed, indifferent people who consider themselves a class above, unable to understand, pity another person, support him with a friendly soft and kind smile, alien to responsiveness and compassion.
3. Work on the epigraph:
Teacher: read out: slide 7)
To whom shall we sing my sorrow,
Whom shall I call to weeping?
Only to You, my Lord,
Sadness is known.
What is an epigraph for? (work idea)
The epigraph to “Tosca”: “To whom shall we sing my sadness?..”, the opening line of the spiritual verse “Joseph’s Lament and the Reality,” once performed by Russian wanderers as “transitory stones,” sets a certain psychological tone for Chekhov’s story. The author thus expands the boundaries of the upcoming narrative, encourages the reader to think about the "existential" dilemma of human existence - the topic of human loneliness among people, the lack of response to someone else's pain, the inability to be heard, pour out one's grief, establish confessional contact with another person.
4. Working with text
Where does the story begin? (urban winter landscape - reading an excerpt to students)
The landscape prepares us for a meeting with the main characters - Jonah and his horse, emphasizes the complete alienation of the world from Jonah.
What do Jonah and his horse look like? (reading an excerpt)
What is each of them thinking about?
Tell us about the main character. (student answer)
How many storylines are in the story? (Jonah-son, Jonah-horse, Jonah-outside world: military, three merry revelers)
5. Composition of the story (slide 8)
Teacher: the plot of "Tosca", at first glance, is another reflection of the young Chekhov's favorite literary device - with warm irony to build a composition, a storyline of a story from an anecdotal, in fact, situation: an old the driver, who has buried his son, pours out his grief to the horse. However, the story told by Antosha Chekhonte on the pages of the periodical is “not an ironic trinket” of entertaining humorous journalism, but an age-old tragedy of a man knocking on people's souls (Dunaev, 1998).
(slide 9)In the plot of “Tosca”, at least, two interrelated plans can be found: on the one hand, the author encourages the reader to empathize with Iona Potapov, and on the other hand, to reflect on the comprehensive regularity of human existence - longing for someone’s soul, consonant with himself, able to understand, respond, sympathize, listen.
Teacher: guys, now let's try to think, what is the conflict of the story? (The conflict of the story lies in the fact that longing and loneliness stem from the fact that people’s hearts are closed, callous, not ready for compassion for their neighbor. That’s why “my sorrow” (epigraph) remains unknown to anyone except God, and Jonah’s answer to his bitter words-silence of the whole world). (slide 10)
(Simultaneous repetition of literary terms: plot, plot, conflict)
6. The role of the artistic detail (slide 11)
Teacher: among other writers, A.P. Chekhov is distinguished by extraordinary powers of observation. A deep knowledge of life and people helped him, with the help of small details, individual strokes, to depict truthfully and vividly the character of a person, objects, nature. Therefore, the artistic detail is of great importance in the work of Chekhov. He was very strict in the selection of details, he checked everything to the smallest detail - nothing can be accidental in his works. The writer said that if a gun hangs on the wall in the first act, then at the end it must fire. Chekhov brought the genre of the story to perfection. In a small work, he could convey a large amount of information, this was important for the writer. Artistic detail contributed to the reduction of volume. Craftsmanship of detail: in the story, the author mostly calls the horse a horse. As soon as the suffix appeared, the reader sees this old, hackneyed, work-tired horse, as miserable as her owner, and just as poignantly pitiful. And only she can breathe her warmth into Jonah's arms.
7. Individual work on cards in groups.
Instruction.
Working time - 5 minutes. 1 minute for presentation.
Support your thoughts with text. Comment must be reasoned
Card number 1.
1. How many times does Jonah try to tell about his son's death? (3)
2. Write down the reaction of the interlocutors. (The son died - from what? ... go; the son died - we will all die, drive; the son died - ... .. (no answer)
3. What is the name of this expressive means? (repeat)
4.Comment.
Card #2
1. What time of day did the events of the story take place? (in the evening)
2. Write down the change in evening lighting (evening twilight - evening haze - darkness).
3. What is the name of this expressive means? (gradation)
4. How many times does this change occur? (3)
5.Comment.
Card #3
1. Write out from the text verbs that characterize the actions of a crowded city (dark masses are moving - crowds are running - crowds are scurrying)
2. How many times does Chekhov talk about this in the story? (3)
3.Comment.
Additional task for all groups
1. Write out from the text how Jonah's appeal to the horse changes.
2. How did the emotional coloring of the word change (from a contemptuous little horse, to a neutral one - a horse - to a diminutive - filly)
3. What is the name of such vocabulary (1 and 3 words)? (expressive).Comment.
Teacher: Read the last sentence aloud. How do you explain the ellipsis? (Indifference is the laziness of the soul. After all, a person needs so little from people - he needs to be listened to, said a kind word, smiled. But even this smallness is not something that is a pity - just laziness to sympathize, understand)
What is the essence of the story "Longing" (slide 12)
From the beginning of the story, A.P. Chekhov points to the harmony present in the relationship between the old cabman and his "horse", sensitively catching the slightest changes in the state of mind of its owner. Either she is “white and motionless”, similar to a “penny gingerbread horse”, together with the silent Jonah stands for hours under wet snow, “immersed in thought”, then “begins to trot”, when the owner’s anguish becomes unbearable, bursts out of her chest and dictates to quickly leave the bustle of the city crowd and return to the court. The world of people rejected him, and the old man goes to his horse - a dumb creature - which alone understands him: "the horse chews, listens and breathes into the hands of its owner."
The theme of loneliness declared by A.P. Chekhov in the story is developed and comprehended by the writer throughout his subsequent literary activity. The leitmotif of A.P. Chekhov's plays is also the problem of spiritual loneliness and disturbed psychological contact between people - the heroes' monologues do not resonate with each other, they meet either with mockery or indifference. becoming a human being is possible only when a minimal effort is made to transmit one's spiritual warmth or sincerely perceive it from another person. The loneliness of a person among people is the terrible essence of the story "Longing". And Chekhov nowhere allows himself to moralize - he simply draws life, but the laconic narration perfectly conveys everything that the author would like to say.
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