Halloween Lesson

The past two weeks' lessons were on Halloween. Each lesson was slightly different from the rest- different levels of English, lots of material. I just went with what seemed to work for the particular group. So, I'll just post all of what I used and leave it at that!

--Started each class by drawing a calendar showing October on the white board and indicating Oct 31. What's this? What's this day?
--Brainstorm words about Halloween
--Show a short series of pictures depicting American Halloween (I googled 'Halloween images' and just chose about 6 of those, plus used a pic of friend's daughter and her Trick-or-Treat haul.)
--Short audio about history of Halloween (this could be worked up in quite a bit more detail; I picked out words/phrases I wanted them to understand and wrote them on the white board as they heard them and then asked the students about them. Also asked if they needed other words explained) note- this is actually a National Geographic video on YouTube but I can only play audio, don't actually have access to the video.
--When using the Dracula text, asked leading questions about vampires first. Read text, cover new words and phrases (there are MANY). They tend to ask a lot of questions about the text itself which lead to discussion.
       The Terrifying Truth About Dracula

How a 15th-century Wallachian prince became a frightening modern legend

by David Johnson

The rugged Transylvanian Alps provide one of the most spectacular landscapes in Europe. Hawks soar around the craggy, snow-covered peaks, while bears and chamois take refuge in the dense forests below. Medieval villages and the ruins of once-proud castles can abruptly materialize through the mist, as if daring outsiders to uncover their secrets.

Transylvania also produced a leader known as a defender of the Christian faith, a Romanian hero, and a subhuman monster. His name was Prince Vlad, but the world knows him by his nickname: Dracula.

The Order of the Dragon

Vlad, or Dracula, was born in 1431 in Transylvania into a noble family. His father was called "Dracul," meaning "dragon" or "devil" in Romanian because he belonged to the Order of the Dragon, which fought the Muslim Ottoman Empire.

"Dracula" means "son of Dracul" in Romanian. Therefore young Vlad was "son of the dragon" or "son of the devil." Scholars believe this was the beginning of the legend that Dracula was a vampire.

Warrior in Chains

Dracula lived in a time of constant war. Transylvania was at the frontier of two great empires: the Ottoman Turks and the Austrian Hapsburgs. Treachery, vindictiveness, and revenge ruled the day, as young Dracula soon discovered.

Dracula was imprisoned, first by the Turks, who hauled him away in chains, and later by the Hungarians. Dracula's father was murdered, while his older brother, Mircea, was blinded with red-hot iron stakes and buried alive.

Vlad the Impaler

From 1448 until his death in 1476, Dracula ruled Walachia and Transylvania, both part of Romania today. Twice he lost and reclaimed his throne, once by fighting his own brother, Radu. Although the Vatican once praised him for defending Christianity, it disapproved of his methods, which soon became infamous.

Dracula earned another nickname, "Vlad Tepes" (pronounced tsep-pesh), which means "Vlad the Impaler." Dracula's favorite method of torture was to impale people and leave them to writhe in agony, often for days. As a warning to others, the bodies would remain on rods as vultures and blackbirds nibbled the rotting flesh.

During one battle, Dracula retreated into nearby mountains, impaling people as he went. The Turkish advance was halted because the sultan could not bear the stench from the decaying corpses.

Another time, Dracula was reported to have eaten a meal on a table set up outside amidst hundreds of impaled victims. On occasion he was also reported to have eaten bread dipped in blood.

Defender of the Faith

At that time it was believed that religious charity, and a proper burial, would erase sin and allow entry to heaven. Dracula surrounded himself with priests and monks and founded five monasteries. Over a period of 150 years, his family established 50 monasteries.

Killed in December 1476 fighting the Turks near Bucharest, Romania, Dracula's head was cut off and displayed in Constantinople.

The Corpse Disappears

Dracula was buried at the isolated Snagov Monastery near Bucharest, which was also likely used as a prison and torture chamber. When prisoners prayed before an icon of the Blessed Virgin, a trap door opened dropping them onto sharp stakes below.

In 1931 archaeologists searching Snagov found a casket partially covered in a purple shroud embroidered with gold. The skeleton inside was covered with pieces of faded silk brocade, similar to a shirt depicted in an old painting of Dracula.

The casket also contained a cloisonné crown, with turquoise stones. A ring, similar to those worn by the Order of the Dragon, was sewn into a shirtsleeve.

The contents were taken to the History Museum in Bucharest but have since disappeared without a trace, leaving the mysteries of the real Prince Dracula unanswered.

--Bad Moon Rising, lyric sheet 

Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

I see the bad moon arising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin’. I see bad times today.

Don’t go around tonight, Well it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise.

I hear hurricanes a’blowin’. I know the end is coming soon. I fear rivers overflowin’. I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Don’t go around tonight, Well it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise.

Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we’re in for nasty weather. One eye is taken for an eye.

Well don’t go around tonight, Well it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise.

Don’t come around tonight. Well it’s bound to take your life. There’s a bad moon on the rise.

Cover new vocab. Ask questions that get them to come up with word 'omen'. (What is the song about? What is a 'bad moon'? What bad signs does it talk about in the song? What are these things? I keep writing down words and phrases- mostly they come up with it.)

-- Discussion questions about Halloween

What legends about scary Halloween characters do you know?

Do you believe in bad omens? Why or why not? Which ones frighten you or do you believe in?

Tell us about a horror movie you’ve seen or a horror book you’ve read.

What Halloween traditions do you know about and which ones would you like to celebrate in Ukraine?

Tell me about some legendary Ukrainian scary characters.

Some people say that Halloween encourages an interest in devil-worship and the occult. Do you think Halloween is harmful or harmless? Is it ok for Christians to celebrate Halloween?

They tend to love to talk about Ukrainian 'scary' characters. Talking about the various superstitions and how to protect yourself from them is also a favorite.

--Trick-or-Treat Game 

Because they get candy in this game it's a huge hit! To get a little ESL value out of it, I make them read each square aloud when they land on it AND they HAVE to count in English....which is harder to enforce than you might think! This game is photocopied from a book of Holiday Games that we have.

This is the same game Karen referred to here

Idioms used (and which MUST be introduced. This is nearly an entire lesson on its own.)
Death/Dead/Dying idioms (student cards)
Death/Dead/Dying idioms (teacher doc)
Devil Idioms (student cards)
Devil Idioms (teacher doc) 
Sentences to illustrate these idioms 
(Many of the idioms and sentences come from here (death) (devil) although quite a few are my own)

For fun, used this playlist when student were involved in group activities (getting their skits ready, playing the games)

Lesson 4 Oct/Nov, 2014 (Vigilantism)

Start out by passing out lyric sheets and playing Beer for My Horses. For the most part, this is an easy lesson. They tend to love the song and the idea is easy for Ukrainian students to understand right now.

--Go over vocab/phrases they need to have clarified. Make sure they understand what 'saddle up', 'draw a hard line', 'long arm of the law', 'settle down' mean.
--Go over themes in the song (they should remember the song from lesson 1 and easily recall this)
--Introduce the words 'vigilante', 'vigilante justice', 'vigilantism'
ask appropriate questions: What is vigilante justice? Does it happen in Ukraine? (Interesting that most of the students don't think it does until I bring up specific instances: The citizens of Ternopil publicly shaming their police and special forces as well as other public employees last winter; the burning of Ternopil police headquarters the night of Feb 18. There are quite a lot of recorded instances from the past year, actually. This becomes an easy discussion then.) Why does it happen? Is it OK? When? When isn't it?
--Pass out text :  Vigilante is Spanish for watchman, guard; from vigilante vigilant, from Latin vigilant-, vigilans.

 
Vigilante justice (also called frontier justice or street justice) is extrajudicial punishment (punishment by the state or someone else carried out without legal process or supervision from a court or tribunal through a legal proceeding) that is motivated by the nonexistence of law and order or dissatisfaction with justice. Lynching and gun-fighting are forms of vigilante justice.
 
During the 19^th century in the US many areas of the Wild West had no established institutions of law and order. This led the local community to literally take the law into its own hands and dispense justice through Vigilante Committees.
 
In San Francisco news of the discovery of gold to the north depleted the police force while simultaneously triggering a population explosion. The resulting increase in crime and violence prompted the establishment of a Vigilante committee to maintain law and order. The Committee was made up of 600 local volunteers, most of whom were prominent members of the business community. During its first year (1851), the Committee hanged four law breakers, whipped one, deported 20 and released 41 after trial. As a result, violent crime was reduced in the city.  
 
Vigilantism happens in the 21^st century as well. It is often spurred on by the perception that criminal punishment is either nonexistent or insufficient for the crime.
 
Those who believe this see their governments as ineffective in enforcing the law; thus, such individuals fulfill the like-minded wishes of the community. In other instances, a person may choose a role of vigilante as a result of personal experience as opposed to a social demand.
Persons seen as "escaping from the law" or "above the law" are sometimes the targets of vigilantism. It may target persons or organizations involved in illegal activities in general or it may be aimed against a specific group or type of activity, e.g. police corruption. Other times, governmental corruption is the prime target of vigilante freedom fighters.
 
Vigilante behavior may differ in degree of violence. In some cases vigilantes may assault targets verbally, physically attack them or vandalize their property. Anyone who defies the law to further justice is a vigilante, and thus violence is not a necessary criterion.
 
In New York City on December 22, 1984, Bernhard Goetz shot four young black men when they tried to mug him. He was eventually arrested and tried on several criminal counts but a jury found him not guilty of all charges except the one for carrying an unlicensed firearm. Mr Goetz was dubbed the ‘Subway Vigilante’ by the NYC press and came to symbolize New Yorkers’ frustrations with the high crime rates of the 1980’s. He was both praised and vilified in the media and public opinion.
 
In Ukraine, Amnesty International has raised concerns of vigilantism by many people during the recent crisis- including both pro-Kyiv and separatist groups. In particular, Amnesty International has accused Oleg Lyashko of this: Oleg Lyashko is supposed to be a lawmaker, but he has taken the law into his own hands.(references: vigilante, Wikipedia, Princeton.edu, amnesty international, Bernhard Goetz)

--Talk a bit about the 2 mentioned (Goetz and Lyashko). Hero? Villain?
--Divide class into 2 groups (One class was small so I used only one discussion card.) Give each group a discussion card.       

Card One: 

-          You were on the metro in Kyiv during the morning rush hour. You were pick-pocketed AND you know who did it. You filled out the proper papers at the police station but after two weeks, nothing has been done. You have some pretty intimidating friends; you know where to find the person who robbed you.

-          In your group, decide whether or not you will pursue this on your own or leave it up to the police.

-          Discuss legal options you have.

-          Talk about What you will do and How.

Give us as many details as you can!

Card Two: 

-          It’s 1867, New Mexico (which is a US Territory). You have a cattle ranch and about 10 cowboys who help you work the ranch. You know that cattle thieves have been rustling (stealing) your cattle. In the past year, you estimate you have lost more than 50 cows.

-          Each person in your group is a rancher in a similar situation. You decide to form a posse and go after the rustlers.

-          Describe in detail What you will do and How.

-          Talk about how many cowboys there will be all together.

Give us as many details as you can!

As already noted, this was an easy lesson and, in my opinion, an excellent one for these kids right now. 

Lesson 3, Sep/Oct 2014 (Brilliant Disguise)

Still working on this lesson- not satisfied with it. First go at it last week; 2nd go today. Need to add something to help them get the point, to tie it all together!

Start out by asking if they'd ever heard of someone finding out that their quiet next door neighbor was, in fact, a notorious criminal. Trying to work in the current issue of the worldwide hunt for the last of the Nazi war criminals. One who is currently being investigated is, in fact, a Ukrainian. This might not be the way to focus on this issue! Would like to use this article to create a short text to read at the beginning of class. 

Need more/better questions/something structured for talking about whether or not we know the people who are close to us.

Pass out lyric sheets and have students follow along with Bruce Springsteen's song 'Brilliant Disguise' 

- go over unfamiliar vocab and ideas in the song (obviously they have to know what a disguise is)

- Who are the people in the song? 

- Do they know each other, really?

- What do we hide from each other?

- Is it ok for married people to hide things from each other?

    - What?

(Side issue- What makes a marriage last for many years?- I don't think it ever hurts to talk about this with these kids!)

- Have you ever thought you knew someone well only to find out you didn't?

Pass out copies of the classroom handout and go over any unknown vocabulary. Tell students that they are going to find out which of their classmates have had these exciting experiences. They can ask anyone in the class any question; if the person says "yes," they need to ask at least three follow-up questions to get the story.

Instruct students to get up (they always want to remain seated and quietly talk to their neighbors only) and start asking questions. They do not have to start at number one, nor do they have to get through all of the questions on the list. Instead, they should choose the ideas they find the most intriguing and use these as the starting point for good conversations.

Students should very quickly become engaged in telling their personal stories. During this time, you can circulate and encourage individual students to elaborate on their experiences.

With about ten minutes left in the lesson, call the class back together. Ask individual students to report on the most interesting/surprising/exciting story that they heard. Encourage students to retell the story, asking the original classmate for clarifications if necessary. You could also ask for a report back on one of the topics. For example "Did anyone find a classmate who has a tattoo?" (from this site)

Student handout:

Find out if someone in your class:

1.    has had a problem with the police

2.    has almost died

3.    has met a famous person

4.    has had a frightening experience on an airplane

5.    has had a premonition or experienced ESP

6.    has had a dream that later came true

7.    has fallen in love with a person they could not have

8.    has been on a terrible date

9.    has gotten a tattoo

10.  has performed a daredevil act

11.  has backpacked in a foreign country

12.  has eaten something disgusting 

13.  has won something (for example, the lottery. a contest)

Listening to them relate what they learned is a blast. So far, no one has come up with any huge 'finds'- but they can relate bad dates and food a few even have ESP... ;) Something to watch here- the definition of 'dream' in #6. It is a dream at night (сон) NOT a 'life dream' (мрія). 

Lesson 2, Sept 2014 (Regrets)

Using one of the songs from last week to focus on one topic, in this case REGRETS.
- Pass out lyric sheet for 'Bang the Drum Slowly' (Emmylou Harris)
- Have students follow along with the lyrics while they listen to the song. (Let them sing if they want to- some do.) :)
- Check for unfamiliar words/phrases/idioms (this song is pretty simple but 'Arlington' (National Cemetery) is a good thing to cover- who can be buried there. There are some great idioms to talk about, too:

• Line that you would never cross
• With nothing but your heart up your sleeve
• Hang/hung the moon

- Have them recall what some of the themes in the song are (from first lesson)- making sure to get these three for sure (but there are others). Write them on white board.

• war
• death
• regrets

- Ask other questions- anything to get them to look at and talk about the song.

• Who is the song about?
• What do we know about this person?
• What do we know about the singer/composer (one and the same in this case)?
• What about 'Bang the drum slowly, play the pipe lowly'?
• Is the writer a person of faith? 
• Why does a daughter sing 'I meat to ask you how to fix that car'?

Go back to themes and pull out regrets.

• What are some of regrets mentioned in this song?
• What are some common regrets that people have?
• Tell me something that your parent/grandparent/neighbor/acquaintance regrets.
• Tell me something you don't regret.

- Divide class into 2 groups. Hand out index cards with questions on them. Have them discuss the questions (about 5 min, more if needed) and then prepare their answers to present to the rest of the class. Any particular question that resonates with the students is opened up to the whole class for discussion. The first group was 2nd year students; the second was 3rd years. This was easier with the 2nd years (they're a strong group); both groups simply took the questions one at a time and answered each in turn. One group talked about how the answers to the questions varied among the group members. One group of 3rd years could hardly cope with the questions.  The first class got quite philosophical about how regrets are normal and people who have no regrets are not really alive. Neither class knew what a 'quitter' was or what 'stick with it' meant.

(first card) Discussion questions (with some modifications) from here.

Discuss or debate the questions below. Remember to support your answers!

1.        Do you have any regrets? Please explain. 2.        Do you have any regrets from this year? Please explain. 3.        Do you believe in second chances? Why/why not? 4.        Do you think life gets easier or more difficult as you get older? Why? 5.        If you could erase one major regret from your mind, would you want to? Why/Why not? 6.        Do you regret your choice of study at university? If yes, could you change it? 7.        Have you ever regretted dating someone? 8.        Have you ever regretted buying/not buying something? 9.        What do you think about quitters? Why? 10.     What is something that you should have stuck with and not quit? Why? 11.     It’s never too late to be who you might have been. What does this mean? Do you agree? Why? (second card)

Discuss or debate the questions below. Remember to support your answers!

1.        What is a regret? How are the definitions of your group mates different? 2.        How important are regrets in a person’s life? Would a person be better or worse off without any regrets? 3.        If you died tomorrow, what would be your biggest regret? 4.        What is the worst decision that you have ever made? Why is it so terrible? 5.        What do you wish you had tried or done when you were younger? Why? 6.        What do you hope to do at some point in the future? Why? 7.        If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be? Why? 8.        What would you think about a person who had no regrets? Please explain. 9.        What do you think about quitters? Why? 10.     What is something that you should have stuck with and not quit? Why? 11.     Don’t cry over spilled milk. What does this mean? Please explain.

Overall the lesson was an easy one (with the first class) to keep going and went well. 

Lesson 1, Sept 2014

Table for students:

	Song #1	Song #2	Song #3	Song #4
Song Title
Artist
What words do you hear?
What do you think this song is about?
Is this song happy or sad?
Where could you hear this song?
Rate this song on a scale of 1-10 (1 = L L, 10 = JJ)

Above table comes from here.
Start lesson by asking questions about music-

- What kind of music do you like?

- What kind of music helps you feel better?

- Does music help you feel better?

- When do you listen to music?

- Who is your favorite musician?

- What musicians/singers/guitar player/etc do you like?

- What song says something about you today? (Can be a Ukrainian song but must be said in English.)

and etc (anything- anything that comes to mind, anything they will actually respond to)...

Play the songs one at a time. Have students fill in the chart as they listen to each song. (In fact, they googled the lyrics and got the song titles and singers for each song- unexpected but fine. :) ) Talk about each song before moving on to next song (ie- go over the things they've filled out in the chart and then talk about the themes in each song. Have them tell you what the themes are, get them to tell as much as they can about each song and its meaning(s)). 

(I had 4 songs ready to go for this lesson plus part 2 of the lesson but these 3 songs took us all the way through- approx 70 min. They did well with each song but 'Beer for my Horses'-- which was included because 1- it actually does have a message and is 2- fun and 3- more likely to appeal to the students-- was the biggest hit. I was impressed by how many words and whole lines that they got- without the help of google or YouTube; important to have songs with clear singing and these 3 worked well for that. There were a few funny mondegreens but that keeps things happier, really. One student heard 'I mental ask...' instead of 'I meant to ask you'. :) )

Themes/words/ideas brought up and discussed a bit: death, soldiers, war, military funerals ('Bang the Drum Slowly'); crime, vigilante justice/taking the law into one's own hands, draw a line/draw a hard line (vs Obama's 'red line' which Putin waltzes all over and which Obama allows), long arm of the law, red necks/hillbillies/hicks/country people ('Beer for my Horses'); 'take a/your/someone's life', suicide, depression ('Vincent'). 

Songs used for this lesson: 

Emmylou Harris, "Bang the Drum Slowly", 

Toby Keith/Willie Nelson, "Beer for my Horses"

Don McLean "Vincent (Starry Starry Night)"

Printout with lyrics and short description of songs:

"Bang The Drum Slowly"

I meant to ask you how to fix that car
I always meant to ask you about the war
And what you saw across a bridge too far
Did it leave a scar

Or how you navigated wings of fire and steel
Up where heaven had no more secrets to conceal
And still you found the ground beneath your wheels
How did it feel

Bang the drum slowly play the pipe lowly
To dust be returning from dust we begin
Bang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
Above and below me world without end

I meant to ask you how when everything seemed lost
And your fate was in a game of dice they tossed
There was still that line that you would never cross
At any cost
I meant to ask you how you lived what you believed
With nothing but your heart up your sleeve
And if you ever really were deceived
By the likes of me

Bang the drum slowly play the pipe lowly
To dust be returning from dust we begin
Bang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
Above and below me world without end

Gone now is the day and gone the sun
There is peace tonight all over Arlington
But the songs of my life will still be sung
By the light of the moon you hung

I meant to ask you how to plow that field
I meant to bring you water from the well
And be the one beside you when you fell
Could you tell

Bang the drum slowly play the pipe lowly
To dust be returning from dust we begin
Bang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
Above and below me world without end

http://www.metrolyrics.com/bang-the-drum-slowly-lyrics-emmylou-harris.html

“Bang the Drum Slowly”- Emmylou Harris/Guy Clark This is an elegy for my father, who died in ’93. A couple of years afterward I was talking to (songwriter) Jamie O’Hara and said, “You know, I just feel the need to write about my dad. But I can’t even get started. I have so many regrets because there are so many things that I could have learned from him that I didn’t. Jamie said, “Hust write that.” I took the song to Guy Clark and he really helped me with the lyrics and inspired me to write more. Everything in the song is true. That’s why it was so hard to write—I couldn’t go into the realm of fiction or poetry. It all had to be true.

http://www.emmylou.net/reddirtgirl.html

"Beer For My Horses"

Well a man come on the 6 o’clock news
Said somebody’s been shot, somebody’s been abused
Somebody blew up a building
Somebody stole a car
Somebody got away
Somebody didn’t get too far yeah
They didn’t get too far

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that

[Chorus:]

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we’ll sing a victory tune
We’ll all meet back at the local saloon
We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
We’ve got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets
It’s time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send ’em all to their maker and he’ll settle ’em down
You can bet he’ll set ’em down ’cause

[Chorus (x2)] 

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tobykeith/beerformyhorses.html

"Beer for My Horses" is a song recorded by American country music artists Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. It was composed by Keith and Scotty Emerick for Keith's seventh studio album, Unleashed. The song was released as the album's fourth single on April 7, 2003. The song tells of a group of men who fight injustice and celebrate with a round of drinks at a saloon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_for_My_Horses

 "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)"

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity

And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night

You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could've told you Vincent
This world was never meant for
One as beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frame-less heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget

Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/donmclean/vincentstarrystarrynight.html

"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to Van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist. McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of the artist.  Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" (pic from here) The song clearly demonstrates a deep-seated admiration for not only the work of Van Gogh, but also for the man himself. The song includes references to his landscape works, in lines such as "sketch the trees and the daffodils" and "morning fields of amber grain" which describe the amber wheat that features in several paintings. There are also several lines that may allude to Van Gogh's self-portraits: perhaps in "weathered faces lined in pain / are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand", McLean is suggesting that Van Gogh may have found some sort of consolation in creating portraits of himself. However, this line may also refer to Van Gogh's painting "The Potato Eaters", which depicts a hard-working Dutch farming family sitting in semi-darkness and eating their meagre meal. There is, too, a single line describing Van Gogh's most famous set of works, Sunflowers. "flaming flowers that brightly blaze" not only draws on the luminous orange and yellow colors of the painting, but also creates powerful images of the sun itself, flaming and blazing, being contained within the flowers and the painting. In the first two choruses, McLean pays tribute to Van Gogh by reflecting on his lack of recognition: "They would not listen / they did not know how / perhaps they'll listen now." In the final chorus, McLean says "They would not listen / they're not listening still / perhaps they never will." This is the story of Van Gogh: unrecognized as an artist until after his death. The lyrics suggest that Van Gogh was trying to "set [people] free" with the message in his work. McLean feels that this message was made clear to him: "And now I understand what you tried to say to me," he sings. Perhaps it is this eventual understanding that inspired McLean to write the song. There are also references to Van Gogh's sanity and his suicide. Throughout his life, Van Gogh was plagued with mental disorders, particularly depression. He "suffered for [his] sanity" and eventually "took [his] life as lovers often do." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_(song)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Site I used to get the songs I needed. Will rip the audio but not the actual video but for what I need, this is fine. If there were wifi at the university you could simply play off of YouTube.