Picturins America

Skills covered:
Visual interpretation
Analysis
Logical reasoning
Critical thinking.

General goal:
To develop students’ ability to prove their point of view giving convincing arguments.

Activity	Type of work	Time (minutes)
Warm-up activity “ Which scarf is more beautiful?”	All class work	5
Brainstorm the word ‘beauty’	All class work	5
Lead-in activity ’Discussing controversial statement (appendix A)	Group work	5
Discussing pictures of The Peacock Room	Teacher-students work	2
Vocabulary extension activity,( appendix b) Vocabulary extension game	Individual work Chain-work	2 3
Tell me what you see	Teacher-students	5
Listening for gist ( appendix c)	Individual-work	7
Reading for specific information	Group work	10
Extra-class writing (Argumentative writing) Why is The Peacock Room beautiful?	Teacher students	3
Lesson assessment	individual	3
Total 11 activities		50

After greeting the teacher asks students which of the 2 scarves would they choose (the scarves or two other objects are prepared beforehand with the idea if contrasting them, f.e bright-modest ,funny-dull,etc)
The students choose, giving their arguments, and the teacher asks if the chosen scarf is more beautiful than the other. When the discussion arises, the teacher offers to make a brainstorming exploring the notion beauty

The spider-gram with the core word BEAUTY is written on the blackboard and all possible adjectives and other words and phrases are written down.

Discussing a cotroversial statement
When a brain storm has reached a stage of a pause the teacher offers to discuss a well-known saying ‘Beauty is only the matter of taste’ and offers to discuss the statement in group and present the result to the class. No less than 3 groups are organized to have the range of opinions and the time is limited for the task-3 minutes.

The teacher shows three pictures of the Peacock Room and asks students if the room is beautiful and why. After that the teacher offers to give the answer avoiding the word beautiful and spreads handouts with praising adjectives. When the students have looked through handouts and found suitable words they are asked.

The teacher offers a game but before starting a game all handouts with adjectives are collected.
The student who gave the most number of adjectives is the winner.

The teacher pays students’ attention to the pictures again and asks the students what do they see in the room
Possible answers- glassware, vases, a fireplace, a picture of a woman, peacocks, lamps.

The teacher- What do you think the room was used for?
Possible answers- dining, dancing, as a living room, as a guest room.

Possible answers- because they are beautiful, they are artist’s favorite birds, it was the order.

The teacher- I think you need some background information to understand this work better

The teacher announces that now the students will get some background information about The Peacock Room and while listening they must fill in the task list
Handouts ( appendix d) are spread and the teacher reads text ( appendix c) once
After listening all answers are discussed.

The teacher explains that this is a time-limited task. While reading students must find answers to all questions ( handouts f)
Students are given 3 minutes for reading. After that all additional information is discussed.

The teacher explains that a home assignment is to write an essay (100-120 words) explaining
‘Why is the Peacock Room’ beautiful?

Students are given handouts with a questionnaire ‘My favorites of the lesson’ and fill it in.

Stimulating
Heady
Exhilarating
Provocative
Teasing
Piquant
Tantalizing
Evocative
Emotive
Suggestive
Spine chilling
Agitating
Moving
Inspiring
Rousing
Stirring
Sensational
Dramatic
Mind boggling
Gripping

The Peacock Room was once the dining room in the London home of Frederick R. Leyland, a shipping magnate from Liverpool, England. Originally designed by the interior architect Thomas Jeckyll to display Leyland's extensive collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, the room was radically redecorated in 1876 and 1877 by the American-born artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), whose painting The Princess from the Land of Porcelain hung over the mantel. Although he was at first merely asked for advice about what color to paint the shutters and doors, Whistler took over and eventually transformed the entire room into a "harmony in blue and gold," adorning its shutters with gorgeous golden peacocks and painting every inch of the ceiling and leather-covered walls with a pattern of peacock feathers. Leyland was shocked by the unauthorized redecoration and refused to pay the full amount that Whistler demanded for his efforts. In response to the contentious lawsuit that ensued, Whistler painted two peacocks squabbling over a bag of coins at the far end of the room--and he never saw his masterpiece again.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peacock_Room

1. It was ………………………	The dining room	The living room	The guest room
2. It was situated ……………….	In Paris	In London	In New York
3. The owner was ……………………	American	French	British
4. The name of the room was …………….........	Golden room	Porcelain room	Peacock room
5. The collection was of …..……………... porcelain	Japanese	British	Chinese
6. The picture above the mantel piece showed ………………….	Queen	Leady	Princess
7. The main coloring of the room was ………………….	Blue	Greenish blue	Gold

The Peacock Room
Text for reading

Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room[56] is Whistler's masterpiece of interior decorative mural art. He painted the paneled room in a rich and unified palette of brilliant blue-greens with over-glazing and metallic gold leaf. Painted in 1876-1877, it is now considered a high example of the Anglo-Japanese style.
Unhappy with the first decorative result by another artist, Leyland left the room in Whistler's care to make minor changes, "to harmonize" the room whose primary purpose was to display Leyland's china collection. However, Whistler let his imagination run wild, "Well, you know, I just painted on. I went on—without design or sketch—putting in every touch with such freedom…And the harmony in blue and gold developing, you know, I forgot everything in my joy of it."[57]
Upon returning, Leyland was shocked by the "improvements". Artist and patron quarreled so violently over the room and the proper compensation for the work that the important relationship for Whistler was terminated. At one point, Whistler gained access to Leyland's home and painted two fighting peacocks meant to represent the artist and his patron; one holds a paint brush and the other holds a bag of money.[58]
Whistler is reported to have said to Leyland, "Ah, I have made you famous. My work will live when you are forgotten. Still, per chance, in the dim ages to come you will be remembered as the proprietor of the Peacock Room."[57] Adding to the emotional drama was Whistler's fondness for Leyland's wife, Frances, who separated from her husband in 1879.[59]
Having acquired the centerpiece of the room, Whistler's painting of The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, American industrialist and aesthete Charles Lang Freer purchased the entire room in 1904 and had it installed in a room in his Detroit mansion. After Freer's death in 1919, the Peacock Room was permanently installed in the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.. The gallery opened to the public in 1923.[60]

The Peacock Room
Questions for a reading text
Answer True or False
1.The Peacock Room is Whistler’s masterpiece of canvas painting.
2.The style of the room decoration belongs to Anglo- Japanese style.
3.The Peacock Room was carefully designed and planned.
4.The patron was amazed by Whistler’s work and very grateful.
5.The artist was very well paid for his job.
6. Leyland’s wife was not very fond of her husband.
7 The Peacock Room can be visited in Freer Gallery in Detroit.
7. The Freer Gallery was opened for public in 1924,