The mysterious side of England

Муниципальное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение

«Средняя общеобразовательная школа № 1»

пгт. Нижний Одес

Проектно - исследовательская работа

Тема «The mysterious side of England»

Предметная область «Иностранные языки»

Выполнила: Карнович Анна Андреевна,

обучающаяся 9а класса

МБОУ «СОШ №1» пгт. Нижний Одес

Научный руководитель:

Воронина Анастасия Романовна,

преподаватель английского языка

МБОУ «СОШ №1» пгт. Нижний Одес

пгт. Нижний Одес - 2020

Table of contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………3

Chapter 1. Mysterious places and mythical heroes in The UK ………………..4

1.1 Mount St Michael, Cornwall ………………………………………………4

1.2 St. Michael's hill, the grave of King Arthur and his wife ………………….4

1.3 The myth of Beowulf ………………………………………………………4

1.4 The mysterious Сhillingham Palace ……………………………………….5

1.5 Social survey……………………………………………………………….5

Chapter 2. Myths and legends of England ………………………………….…7

2.1 History of myths…………………………………………………………...7

2.2 Riddles from the history of England. Grotto made of shells………………8

2.3 Riddles from the history of England. Stonehenge…………………….…...8

2.4 Riddles from the history of England. Lake Loch Ness…………………….8

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….9

References …………………………………………………………………….10

Appendix A. Social survey ……………………………………………………11

Introduction

England, the birthplace of Shakespeare and the Beatles, is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is located in the British Isles and borders Scotland and Wales. England holds many mysteries that people will probably never be able to solve. But this is only pleasing, because how many unexplained things have to be explored! A city with ghosts, a grotto made of mysterious shells and much more is fraught with many secrets and mysteries.

And that's what I want to tell you. I would like show the beauty of England on the other side, perhaps which you did not even guess. A typical image of England includes tea, the Queen, the mists, London and Sherlock Holmes. But not many people want to dive deeper, get to know the other side of England.

I chose this theme because I want to inspire you with the history and culture of England even more. It is very important to get closer to England when learning English and its culture. I hope that my research work will help you.

Relevance of the topic. The mysteries of England have attracted the attention of thousands of people for many centuries. In our time, when most of the cultural monuments have been destroyed, and those that remain are gradually being destroyed, it became necessary to preserve the buildings as a cultural heritage. Many tourists visit England to better understand it from the inside.

Purpose. The purpose of this work is to discover the unknown side of England.

Tasks of study are to:

1) Explore the diversity of England;

2) Get to know the myths and legends of England;

3) Learn about the mystical places of England;

4) Study how many facts and interesting places in England my classmates know.

I believe it would be interesting for my classmates to learn about amazing history and mysteries of England.

Chapter 1. Mysterious places and mythical heroes in the UK

1.1 Mount St Michael, Cornwall

The amazing mountain is a huge granite rock, and on its top stands a stunning castle, once a Benedictine monastery. The mythical giant cormorant lived here, terrorizing the inhabitants of the coastal village of marazion. He stole cows and sheep from the village, and had a brutal appetite. One night, a boy named Jack came in a boat to the island and dug a deep hole while the giant was sleeping. When the sun rose, Jack blew a loud horn to wake and annoy the giant. Cormoran, as the boy had planned, became enraged and ran from the top down, he did not notice the pit and fell right into it. So little Jack saved his village from the yoke of the giant.

1.2 St. Michael's hill, the grave of King Arthur and his wife

There is one more interesting myth in English history.

It is believed that this hill is the ancient island of Avalon and the Celtic magic island. St Michael's hill is located near Glastonbury. There is the tower of the Church of St. Michael on the hill that was damaged by an earthquake in 1275. They say that the Holy Grail is hidden here.

There is such a charming addition that Glastonbury Thor keeps the secret of the passage to the underworld where King Arthur sleeps. He is asleep, but he will wake up at the hour when it becomes necessary to come to England's aid.

1.3 The myth of Beowulf

The legend of Beowulf the Myth of Beowulf is a story about kings, vigilantes, feasts, duels, and battles. This major Anglo-Saxon has a simple plot. Beowulf was a young warrior of the tribe sought out. Once he learned that the king of Hygiliak was attacked by the monster Grendel. It has been destroying the king's men-at-arms for twelve years. Beowulf decided to protect people from Grendel and went to fight with him. First he killed the monster, and then his terrible mother. Beowulf returned to his homeland, where he was showered with awards and thanks. Then he performed many more feats, after which the gautas elected him their king. Once Beowulf had to engage in battle with the dragon. The hero defeated the monster, but he died. The people burned his body on a funeral pyre. A mound was built on this site, where the treasure won by Beowulf was stored.

1.4 The mysterious Сhillingham Palace

The last but not least legend I want to tell you about is.

Many legends are associated with the mysterious Chillingham Palace. It is one of the ten scariest buildings in the world. It contains an underground dungeon where prisoners were held awaiting sentence. First, it was a fortress of King Edward I in the XII century. Then other kings stayed here. The castle was besieged more than once, but was never given to the enemy. There are legends about Chillingham castle in England: they say that it is haunted. Someone here had seen a Blue boy or the spirit of lady Mary Berkeley. The fact is that when the castle was reconstructed, the skeletons of a boy and a woman were found in one of the walls. There were scratches around this wall. They say that other ghosts were seen in the torture room. Today, Chillingham castle can be visited by tourists.

1.5 Social survey

I conducted a survey among my classmates and friends. The purpose of the survey was to find out whether classmates are interested in England. The results surprised me. My classmates have never been to England, but most would like to visit this beautiful country. Also, many of my friends would like to learn more about the history and culture of England.50 percent are interested in myths and mysterious stories.99 percent of them want to listen to interesting stories. In my survey, I asked what famous places my classmates know in England. First of all, they all answered about Big Ben. I also asked why they want to visit these beautiful places. Someone replied that they are beautiful and they want to enjoy the beautiful views and take amazing photos. The others said they wanted to learn more about the country's culture and history. Get closer to local residents.

My friends also tried very hard and shared interesting facts about England with me. Now I want to share these facts with you.

Here are some of them:

1. The English drink tea at 5 PM, they are also very polite and there is no censorship in England

2. The first hot chocolate store opened in London.

3. London is the first city to have a metro system.

Chapter 2. Myths and legends of England

Why it is necessary to study myths and legends for teenagers? It is very important to know the ancient traditions of the English people when learning English. It is myths and legends that convey the soul of the people, fascinate us and attract us. English stories are very diverse. Many teach us moral qualities: kindness, care, courage, good nature-many introduce us to the magnificent historical buildings. This is very important, because learning a language means becoming one with the people of this language.

I'm a teenager and I'm happy to learn a lot about England. I want to interest my classmates in the history of different countries. Moreover, I will begin my acquaintance with England. Legends and myths will help me get my classmates interested. I was very inspired by the study of myths and I hope that I also greatly interested my friends and you.

2.1 History of myths

English folklore has its roots in the folklore and mythology of the peoples who formed the English nation. Great influence on the formation of English folklore had the legends and beliefs of the Celtic peoples, with whom historically the English were constantly in contact. Scandinavian and French folklore, brought after the Norman conquest of England, also had a certain influence. In English fairy tales and songs you can find traces of pagan beliefs, rituals and conspiracies, although under the influence of Christianization in the middle ages, most of the "old songs of ancient pagan times" were forgotten, and many genres of poetry and songs of the Anglo-Saxons are known only by brief mentions. English folklore is characterized by a large number of various bizarre and mysterious mythical creatures, spirits and demons. The richness of English folklore served as the basis for the popularity of the genre of literary fairy tales in England of the XIX-XX centuries. Along with writers who created their own world, starting from the folklore tradition, it was not uncommon for authors to directly use characters from English folklore, for example, Robin hood in Walter Scott.

2.2 Riddles from the history of England. Grotto made of shells

In Kent, there is another mysterious place-a grotto of shells, was discovered quite randomly. In 1835, in the town of Margate, a boy fell into a hole that was formed after his father dug a pond for ducks. The child told about the tunnels that were decorated with shells which he had seen once. After studying the underground passages, it turned out that they are covered with a mosaic of 4.5 million shells. Notably, many of them are from the Caribbean. The shells are connected with Roman cement. It is unknown who and why built this strange tunnel.

2.3 Riddles from the history of England. Stonehenge

It is difficult to find a person who has not heard about one of the greatest mysteries of history — the construction of Stonehenge in Wiltshire. A complex of stone structures has become a popular attraction in England. The main mystery is who and why built these blocks of stone and why they were placed in this way. The structure was called the tomb of the pagan Queen, the Stone Age Observatory, and the site of ancient burials. However, while scientists are puzzling over the mystery of Stonehenge, tourists come here to see the mysterious place firsthand.

Stonehenge is especially interesting for people in Komi Republic. Also there is a very interesting and mysterious place that tourists like to visit in the Komi Republic. This Is The Manpupuner. These are pillars that have fanciful outlines and, depending on the place of inspection, resemble the figure of a huge man, then the head of a horse.

2.4 Riddles from the history of England. Lake Loch Ness

No matter how many arguments are made that the Loch ness monster is just a fiction, there is just as much evidence to the contrary. In contrast to the opinion of scientists, many casual witnesses and amateur researchers do not get tired of presenting their arguments about the fact that a certain creature lives at the bottom of a Scottish lake. Anyway, Loch ness has been one of the most mysterious places in the UK for many years.

Conclusion I consider that England is a beautiful country with a very amazing and complex history. I have done a lot of work and learned many new and interesting things. Also, I hope I was able to attract you to this unique country and draw your attention to every detail. In England, there are many mysterious and interesting places that tourists and locals have been interested in for many centuries. All these wonderful places hold many secrets. It is in such places that you can get to know the country better and look into its past. Many of the mysteries of these places have not been solved yet. In addition England is full of myths and legends that also attract our attention with their bright and sometimes scary history. In advance, I set myself goals that I successfully managed to achieve. And achieved our aim, I believe we discovered the unknown side of England. Moreover, I consider it would be interesting for my classmates to learn about these wonderful attractions. So later we may create a brochure about them. 

References

1)Киплинг Р. Сказки старой Англии. - С-Пб.: Иностранка,2015.-28 c.

2) Королев К.М. Мифология Британских островов. - М.: Эксмо, 2007. - 670 с.

3)Хартленд Э. Легенды старой Англии. – М.: Центрполиграф,2007.-222 с.

4) English Folklore.-URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki /Английский_фольклор (дата обращения: 10.02.2020)

5)Famous mysterious places in England.-URL: https://fb.ru/article/463151/samyie-znamenityie-legendyi-anglii (дата обращения: 09.04.2020)

6)History of England.-URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki /Англия (дата обращения: 14.04.2020)

7)Legends Of England.- URL:https://fb.ru/article/463151/samyie-znamenityie-legendyi-anglii (дата обращения:12.04.2020)

8)Mysterious Great Britain.-URL: https://science.ru-land.com/stati/tainstvennaya-velikobritaniya-mify-i-legendy (дата обращения: 12.04.2020)

9)Myths and legends of England.-URL: https://pikabu.ru/story/mifyi_i_legendyi_ob_anglii_6080759 (дата обращения: 13.04.2020)

Appendix A. Social survey

Questions from the survey:

1) Have you been to the UK?

2) Would you like to visit England?

3) Are you interested in the history of England?

4) Are you interested in myths and legends?

5) What popular tourist destinations in the UK do you know?

6) Would you like to visit historical places in England? Why?

7) Would you like to learn the secrets and legends of the United Kingdom?

8) What interesting fact about England do you know?