N. A. Nekrasov: an extract from «Мороз, Красный нос»
Lessons 29 · 1 lessons · S. Yu. Islambekova, U. T. Yaminova, Z. Kh. Abduraimova. Russian Language, Grade 7 (textbook for general secondary schools with Uzbek and other languages of instruction), 2nd revised edition. “Uzbekistan” Publishing and Printing Creative House, Tashkent, 2017
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N. A. Nekrasov: an extract from «Мороз, Красный нос»
Textbook: pp. 99–101
GoalTell in Russian about Nekrasov’s life and the extract from «Мороз, Красный нос»; know what a metaphor is.
Nikolay Alekseyevich Nekrasov (1821–1878) was born on 10 December 1821 in the small town of Nemirov in Ukraine; his youth passed in the village of Greshnevo near Yaroslavl, on his father’s estate. His father wanted him to be an officer, his mother hoped he would finish the gymnasium and enter a university. In 1832–1837 he studied at the Yaroslavl gymnasium. At sixteen he went to Petersburg against his father’s will, so he was left without financial support, and with no home and no money he gave up the idea of the university. Despite the hardships, his willpower and talent won: his first collection «Мечты и звуки» appeared in 1840, and real fame came after the collection of 1856. His main theme is the Russian people; he wrote about the people and for the people. A metaphor is the use of a word in a figurative sense based on similarity.
Worked examples
Content of the extract: Frost the voyevoda goes round his domain. He is neither the wind nor running streams. He checks whether snow has covered the paths, whether the pattern on the trees is beautiful, whether the ice is firm. The sun plays in his shaggy beard.
Examples of metaphor in the book: «Идёт – по деревьям шагает» (Frost walks over the trees) and «Не ветер бушует над бором». Frost is shown as a living man, which is also personification.
Class activity
“Frost the voyevoda”: one pupil plays Frost and says «Я обхожу свои владенья» while going round; the others say in Russian what he is checking.
Practice
1
When and where was Nekrasov born?
10 декабря 1821 года в городке Немирово на Украине
2
What was Nekrasov’s first collection called?
«Мечты и звуки» (1840 год)
3
What does Frost the voyevoda do in the extract?
Он обходит дозором свои владенья и проверяет лес и воды.
4
Why is «Идёт – по деревьям шагает» a metaphor?
Because frost walks like a man: the words are used in a figurative sense, based on similarity.