Issue 4

Introduction

Dear Colleagues,

I'd like to wish you all a warm and special welcome to Issue 4 of the FACT Journal. It may sound strange offering such a welcome to the fourth issue of our Journal but it is a very special occasion.

It's special because this issue is professionally published and is now registered with an ISSN number with the Bulgarian National Library. We are now officially a publication! One of the benefits, but at the same time something which carries a risk, is that we may be able to attract advertising material from organizations like Bristol International Education, which, of course, brings money to the Journal. I say that this carries a 'risk' because the existence of the FACT Journal may in the future depend on such financial contributions to the printing of this material. We must also say a grateful thank you to British Council Bulgaria for providing 99% of the funds for the 'upgrade' to our Journal. This I know is a long term investment in the networking of the teachers who receive this Journal.

With this in mind I would strongly like to encourage you to contribute to the Journal, and to ask you to encourage your students to contribute with material. It is yours and theirs and will only live on with your help. I sincerely feel that you should be very pleased with this achievement. Think of the Journal as a voice. It is a voice for your ideas, materials, problems and the issues which affect you and your work in education and a voice which with this issue will go out to 500 colleagues around Buglaria, Europe and the World.

Here's to further expansion in 2001-2002.

With very best wishes,

Yours
Keith Kelly
English Language Education Specialist

Уважаеми колеги,

тези, които познават FACT, и тези, които за първи път го държат в ръцете си!

Със съдействието на Британския съвет и ентусиазма на колегите, преподаващите предмети (и не само) на английски език вече имат своето място за изява; място където да споделят опита, идеите и проблемите си; място, където да намерят готови за ползване материали; място, където „да сверят часовника си и да премерят летвата”.

Изданието е вече официално регистрирано и ще достига до повече хора. От всички нас зависи какво ще е неговото бъдеще.

И по български обичай си пожелаваме „На добър час” и дълъг живот!

Стефка Китанова

Председател на Българската секция

на Европейската Асоциация
на учителите (AEDE)

7TH ESP ANTI-CONFERENCE IN LODZ, POLAND

An anti-conference was held from 14th to 17th September 2000 in Lodz (Poland), supported by the British council in Poland. It was an anti-conference because its organization had nothing in common with that of a real conference - there was no chairman and common plenary sessions, the project works were presented in four halls at one and the same time.

There were representatives of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Such anti-conferences had been held previous years in the Czech republic, Rumania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Slovenia. There was a serious intention the next conference to be organized in Saint Petersburg.

The topics of the presentations corresponded to the general topic of the conference - "English for specific purposes". The main question the participants discussed was the teacher training for ESP (English for specific purposes) - the conceptual, linguistic, methodological and organizational problems of ESP teachers.

It was stressed on the big changes in ESP teaching in the past ten years - students, technology, teaching materials. Most of the participants agreed that the main difficulties which the ESP teachers face are the problems of cooperation with subject departments and the aspects of materials which must be provided.

I was the Bulgarian representative in this anti-conference. The case study I presented was connected with the work of the FACT group in Bulgaria - ENGLISH ACROSS THE CURRICULUM - WORKING TOGETHER IN A COMMUNITY. The people who had the main contribution to writing this case study were Veneta Rousseva and Keith Kelly.

The aim of this case study was to present the work of Sofia teachers in subjects united under the name FACT group and the problems which they face.

It was mentioned that the main purpose of the project is to create a network of teachers who use the English Language in their work and to organize seminars and summer schools for acquainting the teachers with the most recent information.

A stress was put on the major method for carrying out the project - the preparation and dissemination for the teachers a magazine named FACT - Forum for Across the Curriculum Teaching.

An important part of the case study was the main problems which appeared before the teachers. It was stressed that their aims are to involve the Ministry of Education much more in the project, to improve the quality of the group communication between the members, to train the teachers in special courses or seminars.

At the end of my presentation the participants were invited by me on a workshop named "Science Across the Balkans", which will focus on the local problems for English Across Curriculum teachers in this region in Plovdiv in May 2001.

September 2000
Krassimira Marholeva
Sofia - Lodz

TO "CHOP UP THE VERSE" INTO …………..What ?

verses and idea by Roumenka Chapkanova

1. Underline the nouns /----------/ and verbs
/======/

2. Are there any modal verbs ; -ing forms?

3. Show the verbs in the Present Continuous Tense?

4. Find the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.

WINTER STORY

1. Use the same steps as the above mentioned.
2. Find verb forms in the Present Perfect Tense?
3. Are there Imperative or Infinitive forms of verbs?
4. One verb is not correct, find it and replace it with another that sounds better.
5. Underline the words that you think could be used in science books.
6. Are there any /non verbal/ models of speech?
7. What is the temperature?
8. Draw a picture, a graph, or write a formula that best matches your feelings? Use the water molecule /structural formulae/ to draw a snowflake.

Three Flowers

1. Use the steps as the above mentioned.
2. Underline the adjectives /……../ and nouns
/_______/
3. Are the seasons described or something else?
4. Choose a flower from a shop or a valley, draw a picture of flowers or find some in albums that best match to your feelings when reading the verse.

INSPIRATION

1. How many question marks, commas and exclamation marks are used in all four verses? Could they be omitted?
2. Use the words to write a new poem.
How steady are the mirracles in marble
Collecting colours under surface line
Since fairy pictures painters' luck, desire
Without the chance to fade or ever die.

3. Take an article from a science book or magazine. Apply the same steps. Use pictures, graphs, equations or formulae and practice the "frames" for description used in English for Specific Purposes practice of language. Compare the different word meanings according to the context they are used.

Romance

You may call it happiness
You may call it sorrow
Love is always tenderness
And hope to live tomorrow.

Once you think its freedom
Then you cry to death
Could you stop the feelings
Trying to forget?

See the stars are twinkling
Movements -up and down
Simply they are dancing
Making loving rounds

Shall we stop these waltzes
Longest lasting dance
Write such small romances
Cast the deepest glance

23.8.1986

_
THREE FLOWERS

Three tiny flowers
I found once at home
Blossoming sparkles
For somebody's fun.

The first one -
The prettiest
Bluish and shy
Flexible tenderness
Of ten years guy.

The second one 
Shining
Of yellowish-red,
Fines fragrances 
Of Eastern sunset.

The third one -
Not shining 
Nor smelling at all,
Transparent vessel
Of somebody's soul.

How can I keep them ?
- Never apart!
Take them and love them!
Isn't it art?

23.08.1986



 

WINTER STORY

A few drops have fallen 
Once in winter.
Cold dry wind 
Was blowing them.
Look!
Shining sparkle
Color lenses
Collect the fire in their beams.

The snow has come 
To change the Nature.
To freeze the breath 
And harden Earth. 
Look!
Tiny crystal, 
Brittle snowflakes
Are flowering slowly /blossoming/
On the glass.

So badly freezing
Water tear-drops,
Sway brilliant branches 
Towards God, 
But slowly melt
Of the caresses..
Oh!
Merciless warming
Sunshine hug!

6.01.1986 

UK-book Project 2000 - Does It Work?

My name is Lyubov Dombeva and I am a biology teacher from Sofia. With my students from 133rd school "A. S. Pushkin" in Sofia we participate in the UK-book Project of the British Council, since the beginning of the school year. The aim of this project is to compare the Bulgarian and English science textbooks and teaching techniques. The participants in this project believe that knowing more about English methodology can help improve their own work. In my lessons I am using the GCSE Biology, Second Edition, by D. G. Mackean, published by John Murray Ltd., London, 2000.
Here is what my students and I think of using UK textbooks in biology lessons.

9 new grade
The GCSE biology provides useful and understandable texts and illustrations, which help students, learn both English and human anatomy. Compared with the existing translations of Bulgarian textbooks (Biology for the 9th grade, by Kurtev A. et al., Anubis Publishing House, Sofia, 2000; Biology 9th class, by Shishiniova M., et al.,Gera Art, Sofia, 1999; Biology 8th class, by Nachev N. et al., Prosveta, Sofia, 1995), the language is much simpler, and easy to understand, and what is more, it is the vocabulary that teenagers age 15-16 must have, not the vocabulary that specialists use.
Complicated terms are explained in the text using simpler, or common English words, e.g. tricuspid (= three flaps) valve, semi-lunar (= half-moon) valve, etc. Unusual plurals or singulars are given in brackets e.g. atria (singular- atrium), nucleus (plural- nuclei), etc. Probably the authors of the Bulgarian translations think that our students are already familiar with those complicated words. If so, this is only because of the teacher, not because of the book. Can you imagine, what would happen if the teacher doesn't know/remember/misspell, or whatever the correct form? I myself can imagine 1: Students learning wrong word, and 2: the teacher being embarrassed if a student corrects him/her in front of the class. The GCSE Biology book solves such problems, by simply not letting them happen.
The GCSE Biology has also a glossary explaining scientific and biological terms, and index.

10 new grade
In the 10 grade the GCSE Biology is essential source of information. Because of the new program, students need two textbooks: one for 10th and one for 9th grade. The existing translation of the ecology topics (Biology 9th class, by Angelov P. et al., published by Prosveta, Sofia, 1993) is old, and is hard to be found (or is too expensive for the students). That is why the GCSE Biology book provides good reading materials. The chapters follow logic, which is clear for the students, although it is not the same as in the Bulgarian textbook. There are few things missing in the GCSE Biology, that are present in our curriculum, e.g. "The Ecological Succession", but my personal experience shows, that these can be easily explained by the teacher. The book is essential in presenting topics, such as "The Human Impact on the Environment" and "Protecting the Environment", which exist in the new program, but not in the old textbooks we are still using. It also gives students real data on pollution topics.

10 old grade
Teaching about storage and transfer of genetic information using English is not a piece of cake. The GCSE Biology book is great in explaining students what the structure of the gene is, or how the DNA replicates. It also focuses on important topics like genetic engineering, genetic counselling about hereditary diseases, etc. The Mendel's classic experiments are not deprived of attention, but it has more practical, than theoretical direction. This book really shows the relationship between genetics and evolution. For most of the students evolution is simply a synonym of dinosaur. Reading the GCSE Biology helps them understand, that it is a process with great significance for the whole planet.

Giving the students a chance to receive information from the book, and exchange it with partners in groups makes them active learners. In such conditions, the teacher is not playing the leading role, but an auxiliary one.
The book contains a lot of questions on the text. These are not just "find the definition in the text", but "solve the problem" tasks, e.g. - "If a rat is starving, is it going to live longer at the temperature of 0oC, then at the temperature of 30oC? Explain why." Such problem solving makes students face their own knowledge and insight abilities, and improve them.
Most of the chapters of the book have an experimental part. Although these are not very complicated experiments they still require lab equipment, and it's hard to be done in every school.

 

In conclusion I should say, that using authentic UK-books, and being part of a project really motivates students, teaching them to be responsible and making them proud.

From page 81 to page 83 up to 'The Crisis in Europe' (Pantev & Gavrilov 1994).

My first reaction to the material was one of interest but confusion. I was interested to read comments about English history from a foreign source, but I was a little confused about the amount of content and its organization. My confusion comes from not knowing exactly what I should know from the material.

This led to my asking myself the question: 'What does a history teacher want a history student to know from the material?' The answer is obviously not the whole of the material by heart. There are clear lines of comment, or areas for discussion in the text which make me think that there are certain specific areas of knowledge a history teacher would hope to stress and so pass on to the learner.

I have no recollection of having studied this period in history at school. Nor have I ever discussed it with a history colleague. Nevertheless, the areas of knowledge I would identify as being noteworthy are:

Relationship b/n Crown and Parliament;
Specific events;
Revolution and its role in Europe;
Divine Right of Kings and Government today.

It seems clear to me that the authors are using the events of the English Revolution to talk about the relationship between the king and the Parliament or government of a country. This is presented with the idea of the Divine Right of Kings and the absolutism of Charles I and the conflict with the English Parliament. James I is mentioned for his 'True Law of Free Monarchies' published in 1603 in which he states that a king is free to legislate without the agreement of Parliament or people.

There is some description of the state of Europe (81), of the country (82 reading, 83), the make-up of the Parliament,

There is also the question as to what the skills are which the history teachers wants to develop in students who are studying this material. The authors' reference to the absurdity of the idea of Divine Right of Kings for many people today (81) is a clear link between this period in history and modern life and modern methods of government. The authors comment that today people believe that they have the right to hold governments responsible for their actions.

Below is a quote from the UK National Curriculum Key Stage 3 (11-14 years) on this period:

Study Unit 2: The making of the United Kingdom: crowns, parliaments and peoples 1500-1750 … pupils should be taught about some of the major political, social and religious changes that shaped the history of Britain during this period:
Political changes
a) the changing power of the monarchy, and the relationships of the Crown, Parliament and people, including the Civil Wars, the Interregnum, the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution;
Social changes
Religious changes
b) religious changes and tensions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, eg Catholics and Protestants, King James Bible, the growth of Non-conformity.

Here is the top Attainment Target:

Exceptional performance Pupils use their extensive and detailed factual knowledge and understanding of the history of Britain and other countries drawn from the Key Stage 3 programme of study, to analyse relationships between a wide range of events, people, ideas and changes and between the features of past societies. Their explanations and analyses of, reasons for, and results of, events and changes, are well substantiated and set in their wider historical context. They analyse links between events and developments that took place in different countries and in different periods. They make balanced judgements about the value of differing interpretations of historical events and developments in relation to their historical context. Drawing on their historical knowledge and understanding, they use sources of information critically, carry out enquiries about historical topics and independently reach and sustain substantiated and balanced conclusions. They select, organise and deploy a wide range of relevant information to produce consistently well structured narratives, descriptions and explanations, making appropriate use of dates and terms.

We may focus on certain aspects of the above for the purpose of our study of this material. For example, study unit 2 offers events which shaped the history of this period. And 'Political changes: a the changing power of the monarchy, and the relationships of the Crown, Parliament and people, including the Civil Wars, the Interregnum, the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution.' We can also identify 'religious changes and tensions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, eg Catholics and Protestants.'

From the attainment targets we can pick out valuable skills.

to analyse the relationships between events, people and changes… analyse and explain different historical interpretations, and are beginning to evaluate them… use sources of information critically, carry out enquiries about historical topics, and independently reach substantiated conclusions… select, organise and deploy a wide range of relevant information

We know that when we read in any language we use prior knowledge of a topic to help our understanding. In teaching it is generally agreed that activities are necessary to activate such prior knowledge and to generate interest in the topic. Specialists also write that activities can offer structure to reading to enable students to most effectively process new material. This would come in the 'while-reading' section of the activity. It goes without saying that effective reading is one where we actually 'do' something with what we have read and this is generally referred to as the 'post-reading' section of the activity. All of the above are aimed at training learners in reading skills. There is no level of age or language for any particular section, we accept that such an approach is practical and useful for all language and age levels. If one of the aims of history teaching is to develop reading competence of historical material, then the following may be of use:

Pre-reading:
What do they know about the topic?
Brainstorming around the topic content.

Setting up a structure for the reading.

While-reading:
While-reading activities are usually divided into two. The first group of while-reading activities are intended to focus students' attention on the text generally without going into much specific detail, to 'warm them up' to a more detailed reading to come. This may involve students searching for a general understanding of the text. Or to look for one piece of clear information in a short space of time. The second group of activities focus student attention on detail in the text, and on a detailed understanding of what is being written about.

Group one.
Find the name of…Charles II?

If given a limited time students will be enthusiastic about finding an answer. Class can be split in two teams. One side can read the text and write questions for the other and answer the other side's questions as comprehension questions.

Choose a piece of the text which you would like to focus students' attention on. Give out copies of the text faced down. Tell students that they are going to have a limited amount of time to read the text, 10 seconds. They should not try to read the whole text as they won't have time to do so and they should scan quickly over the text to pick out pieces of the text. Go. Stop. Then tell students to turn back over the text and shout out what they can remember. They will remember words, some three or four word pieces, write them down on the board in a random order. When it seems as though the words are exhausted, ask questions about the brainstormed words on the board, for example, what does this mean? Beheaded?

Then ask students to write down questions they would like to ask about the text from the words they have on the board. Students then read in detail and answer their own questions.

Group two.

Teacher asks 'In what year did the Parliament charge Charles I with violations against the people of England? The first student to answer gets to ask the next question to the other team and whispers it to the teacher who reads it aloud to the other team who has one minute to find the answer. If they don't they have to answer another question until they do, with the questioning side getting a point every time they don't answer. And so on.

Matching section headings with the correct section. Students are given the headings above and are instructed to read the text and match the headings with the relevant sections.

Jigsaw reading. Students are given the texts chopped up and have to place them back together as they read. In doing this they have to make logical decisions about the events and language in the chopped up text in order to be able to place them in the correct places.

Structures. Teachers could identify structures in the texts and get students to exploit them as they read.

For example, if the main events of the English Revolution are a teaching and learning aim, teachers could offer students the following scheme and key events which they must place in the correct order as they read the text and label with a year (if available). Please note that the aim here is not to test chronology but to structure reading in a way which does not hinder the reading itself:
 

These are my key events, please feel free to alter them.

Charges are brought against Charles I
Charles I is executed
Charles II accepted Parliament's role in government
Charles ruled without a parliament
James I publishes his 'True Law of Free Monarchies'
Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector with absolute power
The Civil War began
The House of Commons announces the end of the King's reign and the role of the Parliament as the highest authority in the country

An alternative to this which asks for more attention is to write incorrect data in the sentences which students have still to order but to correct where necessary. Other sequencing reading activities can be done with other sections of the text. The events of the reading text, on page 82, for example.
Reader's Digest Encyclopedia
page 326, Civil War

Pre-reading discussion on Kings and Governing the People
Guy Fawkes
The British Celebrate 'Bonfire Night' on November 5th. This is to commemorate the failure of an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. The attempt came about in part because of James I inability to negotiate between the Catholic and Protestant Churches. This is very relevant to the topic in question not least as there is a reference to James I in the text itself.

Analyzing the material provided. Criticizing the comments and interpretations of the authors.

Post-reading activities are designed to exploit the reading itself, to put to use the knowledge gained from the reading, to extend the topic further.

The execution of Charles I has at its centre the issue of the power of government. Should the power lie absolutely with the King, or should Parliament be the executive power in the country. God-given power versus power representing the people. There is also the question of religion, Catholicism versus Protestantism. There is also the issue of the characters of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell and the role they had in the outcome of the events of the revolution.
These conflicts could easily be exploited to set up a trial in class. The class could be divided into two and a debate be organized in the form of a trial. 'To behead or not to behead'. This debate would meet the demands of the curriculum for analyzing opinion and interpretation of events, and expressing their own opinions using selected evidence, information, material.
The same discursive composition could be written. It could be written in the form of a news article giving both sides of the argument. It could be written with bias to one side, showing the weak arguments in the conflicting opinion.

This final piece of writing can actually be used to structure the students' exploitation of the text itself. By giving students a structured mechanism for dealing with the text we prepare them for further work.

For example,

Read the text and complete the grid below with arguments for and against each of the characters Charles I and Oliver Cromwell to be leader of the country.
 

The above model of text exploitation is a very simple one. Nevertheless it offers a structure to both teacher and student for dealing with text and when the text is complicated and at times unclear it can be a useful tool for learning. At the same time the activities have been thought out to meet the demands expressed above in the UK National Curriculum.

Библиография:
Пантев, Андр. и Б. Гаврилов (1994) История за 9. клас, „Просвета”, София
Ilson, R. (Ed.) (1984) Reader's Digest Great Illustrated Dictionary Volume One, Reader's Digest, NY

Учениците трябва да прочетат текста и да подредят заглавията в съответствие с текста от учебника.

Този вид прочит дава една сравнително лесна задача на учениците, която обаче структурира четено на сравнително сложен текст.

3. 'Jigsaw Reading' - Разбъркано четене

По-сложна задача за учителя, но интересно за ученици е следното:

Горните части на текста от учебника се разделят на по две, разместват се и се раздават на учениците да ги подредят. В такава задача учениците правят сравнително лесни логични връзки между частите на текста и в процес имат възможност да се запознят по-добре с материала.

4. Структури

Учителите могат да идентифицират структури в текстовете и да ги използват като опора по време на четене на текст. Например, ако познанията на главните събития са една образователна цел в такъв материал, може да е полезно следното:

Аз избрах следните ключови събития в английската революция, но вие може да предложите други. Забележете, че целта е повече да структурираме четенето и да подпомогнем едно трудно четене, отколкото да тестуваме хронологията на английската революция.

Учителят може да даде следното:

English Language Education Specialist

British Council, Bulgaria

Dickens on Nerves

The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
by Charles Dickens

When I add, that he had suffered from a long and complicated illness, and that his whole nervous system was utterly deranged, I have told you all I really know of the physical condition of my dead-alive patient at The Two Robins Inn.

There were spots of ink upon the hand with which she stood before him, nervously plaiting and folding her white skirts.

A free course and an easy one, where Francis can roll smoothly where he will, and can choose between the start, or the coming-in, or the turn behind the brow of the hill, or any out-of- the-way point where he lists to see the throbbing horses straining every nerve, and making the sympathetic earth throb as they come by.

Then, again, what a fool the horse is, what a poor, nervous fool!

It was very strange to walk through the streets on a Sunday morning, and note how few of them the barbarous jangling of bells that was driving the sick and nervous mad, called away from their own quarter, from their own close rooms, from the corners of their own streets, where they lounged listlessly, gazing at all the church and chapel going, as at a thing with which they had no manner of concern.

She was; ' Sissy made the terrible communication nervously; 'she was a dancer.

Pegler's cup, rattling against her saucer as she held it, denoted some nervousness on her part.

Sparsit's nerves have been acted upon by this business, and she'll stay here a day or two.

Bounderby to the fullest extent in the testimony he had borne to her nerves, occasionally sat back in her chair and silently wept; at which periods a tear of large dimensions, like a crystal ear-ring, might be observed (or rather, must be, for it insisted on public notice) sliding down her Roman nose.

SPARSIT, lying by to recover the tone of her nerves in Mr....

SPARSIT'S nerves being slow to recover their tone, the worthy woman made a stay of some weeks in duration at Mr....

So when her nerves were strung up to the pitch of again consuming sweetbreads in solitude, he said to her at the dinner-table, on the day before her departure, 'I tell you what, ma'am; you shall come down here of a Saturday, while the fine weather lasts, and stay till Monday.

Sparsit, 'and I fear I may not trouble her with my society this week; being still a little nervous, and better perhaps by my poor self.

Sparsit, 'my nerves are at present too much shaken, and my health is at present too much impaired, in your service, to admit of my doing more than taking refuge in tears.

''What with my rheumatic affection, and what with its attendant debility or nervous weakness--names are of no matter now--I have lost the use of my limbs.

''Is it possible, mother,' her son leaned forward to be the nearer to her while he whispered it, and laid his hand nervously upon her desk, 'is it possible, mother, that he had unhappily wronged any one, and made no reparation?

He was a shy, retiring man; well-looking, though in an effeminate style; with a mild voice, curling hair, and irresolute hands--rings upon the fingers in those days--which nervously wandered to his trembling lip a hundred times in the first half-hour of his acquaintance with the jail.

'All this time, though he had finished his supper, he was nervously going about his plate with his knife and fork, as if some of it were still before him.

He was as feeble, spare, and slow in his pinches as in everything else, but a certain little trickling of enjoyment of them played in the poor worn nerves about the corners of his eyes and mouth.

After this wise remark he felt that he was scarcely shining with brilliancy, and became aware that he was nervous.

' Relieved of this weight, Little Dorrit was nervously anxious to be gone.

As to nerves, Mr Merdle is of a cool temperament, and not a sensitive man: is about as invulnerable, I should say, as Achilles.

She now underwent a violent twitch, calculated to produce a startling effect on the nerves of the uninitiated, and with the deadliest animosity observed: 'You can't make a head and brains out of a brass knob with nothing in it.

'Henry,' the mother resumed, 'is self-willed and resolute; and as these people naturally strain every nerve to catch him, I can entertain very little hope, Mr Clennam, that the thing will be broken off.

You have supposed Mr Meagles and his family to strain every nerve, I think you said--' 'Every nerve,' repeated Mrs Gowan, looking at him in calm obstinacy, with her green fan between her face and the fire.

Her frequent forgetfulness of this admonition intensified her startled manner, since Mr Flintwinch's habit of avenging himself on her remissness by making springs after her on the staircase, and shaking her, occasioned her to be always nervously uncertain when she might be thus waylaid next.

Her hands were then nervously clasping together, but he took one of them.

His eyes became bright, his grey hair rose on his head, markings of purpose on his brow and face which had faded from them for five-and-twenty years, started out again, and there was an energy in his hand that made its action nervous once more.

The Chorus were excessively nervous, perhaps as labouring under the dreadful apprehension that some good thing was going to be diverted from them!

' 'Mr Rugg,' said Clennam, nerving himself to go through with what he had resolved upon, and surprising that gentleman by appearing, in his despondency, to have a settled determination of purpose; 'you give me the impression that you will not be much disposed to adopt the course I have made up my mind to take.

His anxiety, in reference to that worthy pair, was that they should not come near him; for, in the morbid state of his nerves, he sought to be left alone, and spared the being seen so subdued and weak.

' She nervously moved her hand towards his lips as if to stop him; then it dropped, trembling, into its former place.

The same when he paused, and when he spoke, it as yet showed him always the one attentive frown, and the dark revelation before mentioned of her being nerved for the occasion.

' I was not comfortable with strangers, and I dare say I betrayed that I was a little nervous or unwilling.

The effect UPON THE LOW SIDE, so to speak - looking over from the gallery, and seeing the shaft recede to its base - is very startling; and I saw a nervous traveller hold on to the Tower involuntarily, after glancing down, as if he had some idea of propping it up.

It is taken to all parts of Rome for this purpose, constantly; but, I understand that it is not always as successful as could be wished; for, making its appearance at the bedside of weak and nervous people in extremity, accompanied by a numerous escort, it not unfrequently frightens them to death.

' Bella was nervous now, and would have been glad to recall her question.

Twemlow; blessed release for the dear man if she really was his daughter, nervous even under the pretence that she is, well he may be.

'I haven't nerve to play even if I could.

Her young friend sat nervously twiddling her fingers in a pinioned attitude, as if she were trying to hide her elbows.

'I'm not nervous any more.

This feat he performed, not only without failure, but even with the original embellishment of informing Miss Podsnap that green tea was considered bad for the nerves.

' entreated Pleasant, from the door, with her disengaged hand nervously trembling at her lips; 'don't!

They ain't Pills, or Hair-Washes, or Invigorating Nervous Essences, to be puffed in that way!

' 'So I supposed,' said Bradley, getting his gloves on his nervous hands as he walked.

'The nerves of Mr Dolls,' remarked Eugene to Lightwood, 'are considerably unstrung.

It evidently made him nervous.

'But look here, Venus,' he by- and-by resumed, nervously sitting down again; 'if I have to buy Wegg up, I shan't buy him any cheaper for your being out of it.

' It was not until the cottage loaves and the milk had for some time disappeared, and the foreshadowings of night were creeping over Mincing Lane, that the cherub by degrees became a little nervous, and said to Bella, as he cleared his throat: 'Hem!

'I can, I suppose,' says Twemlow, nervously, 'offer no reasonable objection to hearing anything that you do me the honour to wish to say to me under those heads.

He got fractious and nervous, and I was obliged to let him go into the streets.

' He seemed to be a shy man, struggling against nervousness, and spoke in a very constrained way.

Upon every one of these anniversaries, the venerable Baroness Von Swillenhausen was nervously sensitive for the well-being of her child the Baroness Von Koeldwethout; and although it was not found that the good lady ever did anything material towards contributing to her child's recovery, still she made it a point of duty to be as nervous as possible at the castle of Grogzwig, and to divide her time between moral observations on the baron's housekeeping, and bewailing the hard lot of her unhappy daughter.

' 'Yes, sir,' replied the youth, pressing his hands together, as though to control, by force, the nervous wandering of his fingers.

The swoln veins stood out like sinews on Ralph's wrinkled forehead, and the nerves about his mouth worked as though some unendurable emotion wrung them; but he smiled disdainfully, and again pointed to the door.

But, here was a young girl, who had done no wrong save that of coming into the world alive; who had patiently yielded to all his wishes; who had tried hard to please him--above all, who didn't owe him money--and he felt awkward and nervous.

Is it nerves?

' Thanking Mr Vincent Crummles for his obliging offer, Nicholas jumped out, and, giving Smike his arm, accompanied the manager up High Street on their way to the theatre; feeling nervous and uncomfortable enough at the prospect of an immediate introduction to a scene so new to him.

Mrs Crummles was so nervous that she could hardly remember her part.

'No,' replied Mr Lillyvick, shaking his head nervously: 'no--of course not.

' 'It was mere fancy, mama,--the--the--reflection of the lights perhaps,' replied Kate, glancing nervously round, and finding it impossible to whisper any caution or explanation.

'I am sure I don't wonder at it, for my nerves are quite torn to pieces.

'This violent strain upon the nervous system over, my lord, what ensues?

Mrs Wititterly had never thrown off the mask with regard to Sir Mulberry, but when she was more than usually out of temper, attributed the circumstance, as ladies sometimes do, to nervous indisposition.

' Ralph looked at her for an instant; then turned away his head, and beat his foot nervously upon the ground.

'She is only a little weak and nervous; she has been so ever since the morning.

After a very short consideration, the former inclination prevailed, and making towards the point he had had in his mind, Newman knocked a modest double knock, or rather a nervous single one, at Miss La Creevy's door.

Nicholas tried to remain quietly where he was, but he felt so nervous and excited that he could not sit still.

' cried Mr Mantalini, suddenly skipping out of his chair, and as suddenly skipping into it again, to the great discomposure of his lady's nerves.

He wore his hat, too, in the newest taste, with a pocket-handkerchief in the crown, and a twisted end of it straggling out behind after the fashion of a pigtail, though he could scarcely lay claim to the ingenuity of inventing this latter decoration, inasmuch as he was utterly unconscious of it: being in a nervous and excited condition which rendered him quite insensible to everything but the great object of the expedition.

Nicholas had ample time to make these observations while the little boy, who went on errands for the lodgers, clattered down the kitchen stairs and was heard to scream, as in some remote cellar, for Miss Bray's servant, who, presently appearing and requesting him to follow her, caused him to evince greater symptoms of nervousness and disorder than so natural a consequence of his having inquired for that young lady would seem calculated to occasion.

'Ring the bell, ring the bell,' said the sick man, with the same nervous eagerness, and motioning towards it with such a quivering hand that the bank note rustled in the air.

I can't do that, for I am a poor, timid, nervous creature.

And so natural did this sort of performance come to Mr Snittle Timberry, that on their way out of the theatre and towards the tavern where the supper was to be holden, he testified the severity of his recent indisposition and its wasting effects upon the nervous system, by a series of gymnastic performances which were the admiration of all witnesses.

Arthur Gride, after peering nervously about him, spied it on the ground, picked it up, and sitting down to write, glanced at Newman Noggs, who was staring at the wall with an intensity so remarkable, that Arthur was quite alarmed.

' Newman appeared to derive great entertainment from this repartee, and to the great discomposure of Arthur Gride's nerves, produced a series of sharp cracks from his finger-joints, resembling the noise of a distant discharge of small artillery.

' Arthur Gride, venturing to regard his visitor more attentively, and perceiving that he was a young man of good mien and bearing, returned to his seat, and muttering that there were bad characters about, and that this, with former attempts upon his house, had made him nervous, requested his visitor to sit down.

I mustn't tell him that part of the business, or he'll put me out of sorts, and make me nervous for the day.

' He drew Ralph Nickleby to the further end of the room, and pointed towards Gride, who sat huddled together in a corner, fumbling nervously with the buttons of his coat, and exhibiting a face, of which every skulking and base expression was sharpened and aggravated to the utmost by his anxiety and trepidation.

'My dear,' Mrs Nickleby would say, coming into the room with an elaborate caution, calculated to discompose the nerves of an invalid rather more than the entry of a horse-soldier at full gallop; 'how do you find yourself tonight?

' There was something so unnatural in the calmness with which Ralph Nickleby spoke, when coupled with his face, the expression of the features, to which every nerve and muscle, as it twitched and throbbed with a spasm whose workings no effort could conceal, gave, every instant, some new and frightful aspect--there was something so unnatural and ghastly in the contrast between his harsh, slow, steady voice (only altered by a certain halting of the breath which made him pause between almost every word like a drunken man bent upon speaking plainly), and these evidences of the most intense and violent passion, and the struggle he made to keep them under; that if the dead body which lay above had stood, instead of him, before the cowering Gride, it could scarcely have presented a spectacle which would have terrified him more.

It was evident that he was rendered restless and uncomfortable by the presence of the unseen person; for he repeated this action several times, and at length, as if in a nervous state which rendered him positively unable to turn away from the place, sat so as to have it opposite him, muttering as an excuse that he could not bear the light.

As Oliver accompanied his master in most of his adult expeditions too, in order that he might acquire that equanimity of demeanour and full command of nerve which was essential to a finished undertaker, he had many opportunities of observing the beautiful resignation and fortitude with which some strong-minded people bear their trials and losses.

One wretched breathless child, panting with exhaustion; terror in his looks; agony in his eyes; large drops of perspiration streaming down his face; strains every nerve to make head upon his pursuers; and as they follow on his track, and gain upon him every instant, they hail his decreasing strength with joy.

You're weak and nervous after your illness.

' said the Jew, rubbing the palms of his hands nervously together.

' 'Of course not,' replied the doctor, with a nervous glance at the two ladies.

Like washable beaver hats that improve with rain, his nerves were rendered stouter and more vigorous, by showers of tears, which, being tokens of weakness, and so far tacit admissions of his own power, please and exalted him.

Bumble, holding his lantern a foot above the ground, walked not only with remarkable care, but with a marvellously light step for a gentleman of his figure: looking nervously about him for hidden trap-doors.

That she had all the abstracted and nervous manner of one who is on the eve of some bold and hazardous step, which it has required no common struggle to resolve upon, would have been obvious to the lynx-eyed Fagin, who would most probably have taken the alarm at once; but Mr.

'It make you nervous, Bill,--reminds you of being nabbed, does it?

She looked nervously round, twice or thrice, and once stopped to let two men who were following close behind her, pass on.

All these things made Rose and Oliver, who were not in any new secrets, nervous and uncomfortable.

But he stood, like a marble figure, without the motion of a nerve.

'Everybody is nervously anxious to see what to-morrow will bring forth.'

Searched by K.Kelly

THE REFORMATION
CHRISTIANITY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 16TH CENTURY

For centuries prior to the 16th, the Catholic Church had occupied a position in most European countries which no religious organization holds today. At the head of hierarchy was the bishop of Rome, styled the Pope or Sovereign Pontiff, who for centuries had been regarded as the successor of St. Peter. The bishop of Rome was elected for life by a group of clergymen, called cardinals. They comprised the curia, or papal court, which assisted the pope in the conduct of church business.

The salvation of souls involved a theology and a sacramental system. Theology was the study of God. It sought to explain how and why man was created, what would be the fate of man in a future life. A central part of Catholic theology was the sacramental system. The sacraments were defined as "signs instituted by Christ to give grace". The number generally accepted was seven: baptism, confirmation, holy Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony.

In the 15th century, among many professed Christians there was an equally apparent indifference, ever repugnance, to the spirit of Christianity. The pursuit of the "new learning", the admiration for ancient paganism tended to create dissatisfaction with purely Christian achievement and to foster ideals of pleasure and luxury.

It was not only kings and princes who at the opening of the 16th century were actuated by un-Christian ambition for money and power, ostentation and pleasure, but also numerous bishops and abbots and other clergymen. Many of these seemed to be more bent on patronizing the new learning and erecting magnificent architectural monuments in the renaissance manner than on promoting Christian piety.

Grave scandals were associated with the papal court at Rome toward the close of the 15th century and in the early part of the 16th. Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) was immoral and concerned chiefly with securing estates and social position for his children. Julius II (1503-1513) was primarily a military man, devoted to the task of making the papal state a compact Italian principality. Leo X (1513-1521) was absorbed in the "new art" , in architecture and the theater. To obtain money for the rebuilding of St. Peter`s basilica at Rome he created new church offices and shamelessly sold them.

The immorality prevailing at Rome was reflected throughout Christendom in the lives of many churchmen as well as in the lives of upper-class laymen. Numerous bishops and abbots woefully neglected their ecclesiastical duties and became famous as oppressive money-getters and wasteful spenders, or as sensual epicures. Already in the 15th century a critical cardinal reported to the Pope that the disorders, consequent upon the evil lives of high-placed clergymen, "excite the hatred of the people against all ecclesiastical order; if they are not corrected, it is to be feared that the laity will attack the clergy . . ." At the beginning of the 16th century many Christians became critical of shortcomings of clergymen. Conspicuous humanist scholars of the age wrote eloquently against the evil lives of contemporary clergymen, their ignorance and credulity.

For a long time every clergyman, whether bishop, abbot, or priest, had usually been supported by a "benefice", that is, by the revenue of a parcel of land attached to his post. And it had long been customary for a clergyman, when he took possession of his benefice, to pay a part of its first-year`s proceeds to his ecclesiastical superior, to his bishop or to the Pope as the case might be.

All over central and western Europe sincere and thoughtful Christians were demanding reform of these financial abuses. They were demanding, however, a reformation within the Catholic Church and not a rebellion against it.

It must be emphasized that the Catholic Church during many centuries prior to the 16th had been not only a religious body, like a present-day Church, but also a political power. The Catholic Church had its own organization in every country of central and western Europe. Its officials - Pope, bishops, priests, and monks - claimed to be independent of civil governments. It owned extensive lands, which were exempt from taxation by civil governments.

By the 16th century the situation was altered. Political ambition was increasing among laymen. Local pride was being expanded into national patriotism. Strong national states were emerging in western Europe. National monarchs were anxious to enlist the wealth and influence of the Church in their behalf. They coveted its land, taxes, and courts.

Economic circumstances of the time were similar. The eagerness for money and profits was possessing the minds of innumerable laymen. Manufacturers, merchants, and landlords were arguing that the riches of the Church should be put to profitable uses.

For the variety of reasons which we have just indicated - political, economic, and religious - a separation occurred, between the years 1520 and 1570, of the peoples of northern Germany, Scandinavia, the northern Netherlands, most of Switzerland, Scotland, England, and parts of France and Hungary from the Catholic Church. The name "Protestant" was first applied exclusively to the separatists under the leadership of Martin Luther who in 1529 protested against an attempt of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire to prevent the introduction of "religious novelties", but subsequently the name became in common parlance the designation of all Christians who rejected papal supremacy. Of this Protestant Christianity, several forms appeared in the 16th century. The many ones were Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism.

Lutheranism takes its name from the apostle, Martin Luther(1485-1546). Luther was born at Eisleben in Germany. He early showed himself ambitious, intemperate in the use of language, but possessing much intellectual ability and overwhelming anxiety about the salvation of his own soul. He was educated in theology and in humanism at the university of Erfurt and in 1505 he became a monk. In 1508 he went to Wittenberg to teach in the university which the Elector of Saxony had recently founded in that town, and a few years later he was appointed professor of theology.

While lecturing and preaching at Wittenberg, where he was very popular, Luther grew worried about the problem of eternal salvation, and from his reading of St. Paul and St. Augustine he derived a conviction which differed from the generally accepted teaching of the Catholic Church. The Church taught that it possessed the means of salvation, and that every Christian must perform certain "good works". Luther, on the other hand, entertained the idea that the man was so depraved and corrupt, in the sight of God, as to be incapable of any good works and that he could be saved only by faith in God`s mercy. In other words, he was developing a doctrine of "justification by faith" in opposition to the Catholic doctrine of "justification by sacraments and works".

So far, Luther certainly had no thought of rebellion against the Church of which he was a clergyman and a monk. But a significant event in the year 1517 made clear the discrepancy between what he was teaching and what his Church taught. In that year several agents of Pope Leo X were sent out to sell indulgences with a view of obtaining money for the rebuilding of the basilica of St. Peter` s at Rome. Luther at once protested against what he believed was a corruption of Christian doctrine and a swindling of the poorer and more ignorant people. The form which his protest took was the posting, on the church-door at Wittenberg, of 95 "theses" concerning indulgences, accompanied by a challenge to anyone to debate them with him.

To understand the significance of Luther`s protest, it is important to know what the Church meant by "indulgences". An "indulgence" was not a forgiving of sin, and it was never a permission to sin. It was a promise of remission of the punishment of a person after his death for sins for which he had been sincerely sorry and had done penance. To obtain an indulgence, the penitent had to say certain prayers or visit certain churches or do certain other "good works", and among them in the time of Luther was the payment of money for papal purposes.

Luther`s 95 theses were originally written in Latin, but they were speedily translated into German and circulated widely in the country. They provoked spirited discussion and aroused great excitement.

Separation from the traditional Church was the only course now open to Luther, and this was consummated in the year 1520. In a series of three bold pamphlets, he vigorously attacked the position of the Church. In the first - "An Address to the Nobility of the German nation" - Luther stated that there was nothing peculiarly sacred about the Christian priesthood and that the clergy should be deprived of their special privileges; he urged the German princes to free their country from foreign control and called their attention to the wealth of the Church which they might appropriate to themselves. In the second - "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church of God" - he assailed the papacy and the whole sacramental system. The third - "On the Freedom of a Christian Man" - contained the essence of Luther`s new theology that salvation was not a progress toward a goal by means of sacraments and good works.

In the midst of these attacks upon the Church, the Pope excommunicated Luther, and in the following year(1521) the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, assembled at Worms, pronounced him an outlaw. But he calmly burned the papal bull and was protected by the Elector of Saxony. He at once devoted himself to making a new German translation of the Bible, which became very popular and is still prized as a monument in the history of German literature.

Within the next few years the Lutheran teachings spread throughout central and northern Germany. It is not difficult to understand why Luther could successfully defy both Pope and Emperor and why his new theology was quickly and widely accepted in Germany. His rebellion was essentially popular and national. It appealed to pious persons who were shocked by abuses in the Church. It also appealed to more worldly people who wished to enriched themselves by appropriating ecclesiastical lands and revenues. It appealed to German patriots who perceived in it an opportunity to put an end to the exaction of an Italian and Roman curia. Princes, burghers, peasants joined hands in espousing the new cause.

The peasants rose in rebellion, demanding abolition of serfdom, free right of fishing and hunting, payment in wages for services rendered. So long as their efforts were directed against the Catholic bishops, priests, and monks, Luther expressed sympathy with the peasants, but when the revolt, which broke out in 1524, became general all over central and central Germany and was directed not only against the Catholic clergy but against the lay lords, many of whom were now Lutheran, the religious leader foresaw a grave danger to his new religion in a split between peasants and nobles. He was shocked by the excesses of the insurrection.

The peasants revolt was crushed in 1525 with the slaughter of probably 50 000 people. One result was that the power of the lay lords became greater than ever. Another result was the decline of Luther`s influence among the peasantry in southern Germany.

The Diet of the Holy Roman empire which assembled in 1526 saw the German princes divided into a Lutheran and a Catholic party, but left the legal status of the new faith still in doubt. But at the next Diet, held in 1529, the Emperor Charles V, who stuck to the Catholic Church, directed that the laws against the heretics should be enforced. The Lutheran princes drafted a legal protest. From this protest came the name Protestant.

The Emperor announced his attention of suppressing Luther`s heresy by force of arms. The Lutheran princes formed a league of Schmalkald for mutual protection (1531), and from 1546 to 1555 a desultory civil war was waged. The Protestants received some assistance from the French king, who, for political reasons, was bent on humiliating the Emperor. The end of the religious conflict appeared to have been reached by the peace of Augsburg (1555), which contained the following provisions: 1) each prince was to be free to dictate the religion of his subjects; 2) all Church property appropriated by the Protestants before 1552 was to remain in their hands; 3) no form of Protestantism except Lutheranism was to be tolerated.

CALVINISM

A second type of Protestantism which appeared in the 16th century was the forerunner of modern Presbyterian Church and is usually called Calvinism. Of its rise and spread, some idea may be gained from the life of one of its apostles, Calvin. But first it will be necessary to say a few words concerning an older reformer, Zwingli, who prepared the way for Calvin`s work in the Swiss cantons.

Switzerland comprised in the 16th century some thirteen cantons. All were technically under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire, but they constituted in practice independent republics. Huldreich Zwingli came as a Catholic priest in one of the cantons in 1516. He received an excellent education at Vienna and Basel and had now been in holy orders about 10 years. Zwingli seems to have begun his opposition to th