Gli uccelli sono animali bipedi, alati, omeotermi ed ovipari, specializzati nel volo. Essi sono diffusi ovunque, anche in luoghi irraggiungibili per molti altri animali come l’Antartide e le isole più remote. Le dimensioni  variano dai 5 cm del piccolo e leggero colibrì di Elena, diffuso a Cuba, ai 2,7 m dello struzzo, un uccello africano inadatto al volo. Evoluzione Gli uccelli discendono dai rettili e, molto probabilmente, i loro progenitori erano dinosauri arboricoli che si nutrivano di insetti. L’abitudine a cacciare sugli alberi avrebbe favorito in questi animali lo sviluppo di occhi grandi, piedi prensili e muso allungato, che gradualmente si trasformò in becco. Le piume e le penne quasi autonomamente si sono sviluppate a partire dalle squame dei rettili per migliorar l’isolamento termico, per adattarsi alle necessità del volo. Caratteristiche Le caratteristiche comuni a tutti gli uccelli sono: il becco corneo privo di denti: esistono differen...

In questo post è riportata la traduzione integrale di uno dei discorsi che hanno fatto la storia dell'umanità: I have a dream . Il discorso è stato tenuto dal pastore e leader Martin Luther King Jr. il 28 agosto 1963 davanti al Lincoln Memorial di Washington al termine di una marcia di protesta per i diritti civili (la marcia su Washington per il lavoro e la libertà).  discorso tenuto da Martin Luther King Jr. il 28 agosto 1963 davanti al Lincoln Memorial di Washington al termine di una marcia di protesta per i diritti civili nota come la marcia su Washington per il lavoro e la libertà. Io ho un sogno “Oggi sono felice di essere con voi in quella che nella storia sarà ricordata come la più grande manifestazione per la libertà nella storia del nostro paese. Un secolo fa, un grande americano, che oggi getta su di noi la sua ombra simbolica, firmò il Proclama dell’emancipazione. Si trattava di una legge epocale, che accese un grande faro di speranza per milioni di schiavi neri, mar...

Text "O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son? And where ha you been, my handsome young man?” I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon, “For I’m wearied wi hunting and fain wad lie down.” “An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son? An wha met you there, my handsome young man?” “O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon, “For I’m wearied wi hunting and fain wad lie down.” “And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son? And what did she give you, my handsome young man?” “Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon, “For I’m wearied wi hunting and fain wad lie down.” “An wha gat your leavins, Lord Randal my son? And wha gat your leavins, my handsome young man?” “ My hawks and my hounds; mother, mak my bed soon, “For I’m wearied wi hunting and fain wad lie down.” “And what becam of them, Lord Randal my son? And what becam of them, my handsome young man?” “ They stretched their legs out and died; mother, mak my bed soon, “For I’m wearied wi hunting and fain wad lie ...

Giovanni Boccaccio nasce in Toscana (non si sa con certezza se a Certaldo o a Firenze)  nel 1313 da una relazione illegittima tra il padre mercante Boccaccino di Chelino ed una donna di estrazione sociale inferiore. Egli viene riconosciuto e cresciuto dal padre a Firenze. Giovanissimo parte per Napoli, a seguito del padre, per imparare il mestiere mercantile e bancario, ritenuto una professione stabile e remunerativa. L’esperienza napoletana si trasforma però in anni di svaghi e spensieratezze presso la corte angioina. Grazie agli stimoli della vivace vita culturale che anima la nobiltà napoletana, Boccaccio inizia ad interessarsi ai capolavori in volgare, in modo particolare alle opere di Dante Alighieri. Dopo un periodo di formazione da autodidatta,  compone La caccia di Diana ,  un poemetto in terzine in lode di alcune nobildonne napoletane. Successivamente, nel 1335 scrive Filòstrato , un poema in ottave che parla delle vicende amorose di Troilo, figlio di Priamo....

Ciao a tutti! In allegato a questo post troverete il link della presentazione in Google Presentazioni sulla pallacanestro o basket, uno sport di squadra in cui due formazioni di cinque giocatori ciascuna si affrontano per segnare con un pallone nel canestro avversario. Clicca qui 👇:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a3DLNzb2KPLxh69av-WRi1xwsa77IhfApXj1v9htv_c/edit?usp=sharing

The best and the most influential form of literary prose in the Middle Ages is the romance. The romance has as subject the deeds of knights: it involves a lot of fighting, romantic love and extraordinary supernatural events. The word romance means written in a language derived from the language of ancient Romans (Latin) , in this case French was used in romances. Medieval romance is a representation of feudal knighthood in its exterior and ethical aspects: exterior aspects like clothing, feasting and tournaments; ethical aspects like the knight's absolute duty to his God, his king and his lady. The stories that make up the corpus of medieval romance, matters , are divided into three groups: the matter of France with the stories of Charlemagne; the matter of Britain with the stories of the Arthurian tales; the matter of Rome with the story of Troy and the stories of Alexander the Great.

The Canterbury Tales , written by Geoffrey Chaucer ,   is a collection of tales, short stories and sketches of life told in verse instead of prose. The framework, into which Chaucer inserted his tales, is that of a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.  All over European pilgrimages were important for two features: religiousness and entertainment event by people belonging to various levels of society. Chaucer 's original intention was to have each of his 30 pilgrims, including himself, tell two tales on the road from London to Canterbury and two on the way back. The teller of the best tale would be awarded a free supper by Harry Bailly, the host of the Tabard Inn,where they meet to begin their journey.  This would have given a total of 120 tales with a General prologue.  But in the work there were only 23 pilgrims tell a story and Chaucer himself, as a pilgrim narrating what he sees and hears on the journey. Chaucer is inspired by Decameron by...

Geoffrey Chaucer Life Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London into a middle-class family in 1343. His father sent him to be a pageboy in the household of Prince Lionel. In 1359 during one of Edward III 's frequent expeditions in France, Geoffrey Chaucer was captured and was ransomed for a large sum. In addition to diplomatic trips to France, Chaucer also went to Flanders and to Italy. He became Justice of the Peace and Knight of the Shire for Kent and its Member of Parliament in 1386. At the end of his life, he rentered a house in the garden of Westminster Abbey. He died in 1400. Geoffrey Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey, in a wing that would later take the name of Poets' Corner. Chaucer's literary production is divided into three phases: French , Italian and English . During his French  phase his poetic models were the long allegorical poems on courtly love such as Le roman de la rose . In his Italian  phase the best work is Troilus and Criseyde . The poem shows great ...

Henry VII In 1485 the Wars of the Roses came to an end with the victory of Henry Tudor, who  was crowned king Henry VII of England. Under his rule England enjoyed a long peaceful and rich period: the army, the navy and the whole machine of the State administration were reorganized and put under the direct control of the king. He also laid the foundation of English Humanism . In his search for powerful political alliances, Henry VII gave his eldest son Arthur in marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the aunt of the future Emperor Charles V of Spain. Next, Henry VII's son, king Henry VIII, continued what his father had begun. His accession was welcomed by humanist scholars; in fact, he had all the gifts of body and mind that had a prince: he was poet, soldier and musician. Henry VIII Henry VIII 's allegiance to the Catholic cause against Martin Luther was so strong that he was proclaimed defensor fidei by the Pope. However, King Henry VIII broke with Catholic Church when pope Clement...

When Elizabeth I came to the throne , the country needed a period of internal peace and to put up with its Catholic enemies as Spain. Queen Elizabeth I managed to steer the Church of England between the two poles of Catholicism and of Protestantism, in the form of Puritanism , in order to purify England Church from all statements which weren't foreseen by the Holy Scriptures. In this way England was united and there was a period of peace. The most powerful factor of unity was patriotism, which was particurarly strong during the years of the conflict with Spain. It was also evident in  Renaissance  art: Englishmen, following the continental explame, wanted to create a literary counterpart to England's victories on sea and land. Some examples were  Chronicle  by Edward Hall and  Chronicles  by Raphael Holinshed, which formed the historical background to some of  William Shakespeare 's historical  plays .  In this period, the  Elizabethan t...

Renaissance is a French term which means rebirth. It signified the rebirth of Classical literature, Greek and Latin, after the centuries in which it had been neglected (from 476 A.D. to 1492). According to men of the Renaissance, during the Middle Ages the loss of classical learning and art (painting, sculpture and architecture) had meant the death of civilization. Renaissance contemplated the development of man's capacities not just for artistic but also for social purposes. The English Renaissance was late in comparison with other European movements which supported Classical tradition. The new learning (as Humanism) was established in the network of Grammar schools as the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Humanists played a major role in shaping the new Church of England, particularly with regard to the translation of the Bible and the  Psalms . Humanism had made the study of Greek in order to translate the Old and New Testaments  into English. This cultural movement cul...

The history of the language spoken and written in England is divided into three phases: Old English from the time of the first invasion of the northern tribes in the 5th century up to the Norman conquest in 1066;   Middle English , which roughly extends from 1066 to the end of the 15th century; Modern English from the end of the 15th century onwards. Old English Old English was a thoroughly Germanic language and so contained few Latin words. It was also heavily inflected, which means it had cases, different word endings, as in Modern German or in the classical languages. The northern tribes like Anglo-Saxons used special letters called runes  in poetry. They stand for Anglo-Saxons sounds but they continued to be used well into the early 16th century. The Latin alphabet was first introduced into England by Irish missionaries. From Old English to Middle English The passage from Old English to Middle English was characterized by some difficulties like its spelling, which was usu...

The plot The play is set in Verona. Juliet is the daughter of the head of the House of Capulet and Romeo is the son of Lord Montague. Montagues and Capulets are bitter enemies. Juliet's father plans to give her hand in marriage to Count Paris. One day, Romeo secretly takes part in the party given by Lord Capulet, disguised in a mask. So, Romeo meets Juliet and they fall in love. Next day, Romeo and Juliet are secretly married by Friar Lawrence, a friendly priest. In the same day, Romeo gets involved in a quarrel in which his friend Mercutio is killed bu Tybalt, Juliet's cousin. In revenge, Romeo kills Tybalt and, for this reason, is exiled to Mantua. Meanwhile, Juliet's father orders Juliet to prepare for her marriage to Count Paris. In order to escape, she takes a drug given her by Friar Lawrence. She fall in a death-like trance and the priest will warn Romeo, who will come from Mantua and rescue her. Rushing back to Verona, he meets Paris outside Juliet's tomb; they f...

Testo Nel campo mezzo grigio e mezzo nero resta un aratro senza buoi che pare dimenticato, tra il vapor leggero. E cadenzato dalla gora viene lo sciabordare delle lavandare con tonfi spessi e lunghe cantilene: Il vento soffia e nevica la frasca, e tu non torni ancora al tuo paese, quando partisti, come son rimasta, come l’aratro in mezzo alla maggese. Analisi e commento Lavandare è un madrigale, ossia un componimento metrico breve a sfondo pastorale, scritto da Giovanni Pascoli ed appartenente alla raccolta Myricae . In questa raccolta l'autore parla della natura che ci circonda, la campagna e gli oggetti quotidiani, osservandoli con lo stupore e la meraviglia di un bambino. Essa incorpora componimenti brevi e lineari che illustrano quadretti di vita campestre che, circondandosi di un alone di mistero, evocano l'idea della morte. Questa caratteristica è presente in Lavandare , nella quale emergono i temi ricorrenti nelle poesie di Pascoli: l'abbandono e la solitudine. Il...

The Elizabethan playhouse was the most important cultural phenomenon in Renaissance England: it celebrated England and her kings and queens, providing a common mythology to nation. Each social class and individual spectator enjoyed the play at the theatre. The companies of players performed in the courtyards of the London inns, but in 1574 public performances were banned by City government because plays were considered a disturbance, according to citizens of the City, and highly immoral from the Puritans. So, new public outdoor playhouses were, initially, built in the north of the City and then in the south of the River Thames. London's first professional playhouse was built in the suburb of Shoreditch in 1576 by James Burbage, father of one of Shakespeare's fellow actors.  When difficulties arose over the lease of the property, the two Burbage's sons pulled down the building and transported all materials to the south side of the River Thames in Bankside's Cultural Quar...