On May 24, 2023, Mgr. Alena Cilíková from Gymnázium Myjava led a Student Parliament Elections workshop that refers to the subject of Civic education.

This workshop was planned as a follow-up activity after covering the topic of the Political System. (Civic Education). It required a basic knowledge about the principles of elections and the voting system of a particular country. The aim of this workshop was to teach students civic responsibility through a sequence of activities connected with Student Parliament elections.

The students first discussed the role of the Student Parliament, before proceeding to activities connected with the election itself.

Questions to answer:

What problems do you face at school? Is there anything you miss? Is there anything you would like to improve? Is it possible to change anything by only one student? What is the importance of a student parliament?What opportunities does a student parliament provide students with?

Students agreed that a school parliament provides many opportunities, such as involving students in democratic processes and decisions making within the school, demonstrating the importance of representation and active involvement in the school community, democratically electing of student representatives, improve the school community by addressing student issues and concerns …

Pre-election phase

The students were separated into a few A groups – their task was to form their own political parties to pick their leader and to prepare a poster introducing their political programmes. Group B formed the Election Committee and prepared the ballot box and all the papers.

Teacher´s recommendation: I recommend A groups to be formed of maximum three students. We can let the students to choose their partners. If they have problems with that, they can be grouped randomly according to choosing the same number (we prepare three pieces of paper with number 1, three with number 2......, students with the same number form one group) The group B can consist of more students as they have more paperwork.

 B group -  preparations

They prepared the ballot box. They used a cardboard box with the opening on the top. This should be a large box clearly labelled and obviously placed. (It can be decorated with the national symbols). Students prepared the electoral register with the names of all the students in the class (including their owns), ballot papers where they wrote the names of the parties and their leaders, sufficient number of envelopes, a privacy booth from another cardboard box and they prepared instructions for voters at the polling station and instructions for polling workers.

Teacher´s recommendation: if students have not experienced the act of voting so far, preparing the instructions can be rather challenging. That ´s why the teacher´s help will be required. I suggest the following:

1.When you enter the polling station, tell them your name so they can check that you are on the electoral register.

2.Show your ID card. (if not ID card, any other document can be accepted, e.g. a student´s card)

3.Take your ballot paper with an envelope and go to a privacy booth to vote.

4.Vote for one candidate by circling the number before his name. In case of circling more or no candidates the ballot paper is invalid.

5.Put the ballot paper into the envelope and then insert it into the ballet box. Your vote will be kept safe and will always stay secret.

6.The elections have just finished for you.

Students should be given also instructions referring to the labour division at the pollling station such as checking the identity of voters, supplying them with the ballot papers, giving instructions how to vote, checking the validity of the ballot papers, counting only the valid votes, announcing the name of the winner .

A groups – preparing posters and voting speeches

Teacher´s recommendations: when preparing the speech and the programme, students can think of the current conditions at their school and consider possible changes referring to school rules, school canteen, furniture, equipment, after-school activities, eco-friendly attitude... All the promises should be achieveable. All students should be involved, either in creating the poster, preparing the programme or making the speech.

Students created attractive posters and while making a speech the other two students held the poster, so they presented it as a group. This activity was quite amusing and students really enjoyed it.

After preparing their campaigns and giving their voting speeches, the students experienced elections.

After counting the votes, the official winner was announced. The students developed communication skills, teamwork, creativity and public speaking. Through self and peer-assessment, students learnt to accept criticism and respect their opponents.

Some answers from the Workshop Evaluation Questionnaires:

-          I learned to improve creativity and to cooperate with my classmates (repeated answer)

-          I learned how the school parliament should work

-          I learned election rules

-          I learned how to start a political campaign

-          I learned that confidence and spokesmanship will get you far

Throughout the years 2023-2024 some students of Gymnázium Myjava participated in a number of COIL online lessons of the Erasmus+ international project.

It is not easy to motivate students to be part of any extracurricular activities. The first question they asked, when the possibility of the participation was offered, was: Why me? Therefore, it was a relief when a group of enthusiastic students was formed and their response was: That sounds interesting. What is the topic?

Quite recently some of the students involved in the project asked when there will be another possibility to join more COIL lessons; and they were disappointed to hear that this part of the project was over. This moment was the inspiration to ask students to write about their participation at the COIL online lessons from their perspective.

Not all of the students were willing to write about their experience, but some did. So here are some of them:

Anna Mária Redajová (a bilingual study student, III.B class):

“The COIL hosted by Myjava was my first one. I was very interested in the topic because I love art and especially hidden details in it and their historical background. On this COIL I got to learn exactly that. We were even asked to do our own analysis of a painting which I enjoyed immensely. Another positive thing was hearing the opinions of other students and seeing that art can be interpreted in many ways and no one is wrong.”

(COIL: Great Paintings in Detail; March to April 2024; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; Facilitator: Ľubica Durcová)

“The other COIL I was a part of was hosted by Hungary about Volunteerism. I did not expect much but this course blew me away.  It was incredibly well done, connecting multiple learning techniques such as discussions or our own research. Due to the course being international, I learned about how different cultures view volunteering and I found each very interesting. It definitely inspired me to take a different approach to volunteering and made me want to apply random acts of kindness in my day-to-day life.”

(COIL: Volunteerism; October to November 2024; Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary; Facilitator: Rita DiFiore)

Lucia Sadloňová (a bilingual study student, IV.B class):

“During this COIL workshop we got to explore what sustainable development goals are and what each entitles. I believe this experience came to be crucial especially in terms of understanding where our priorities should lie during these turbulent times, not only due to the changes in our environment but also in terms of social challenges we have come to face. The leader of this program has shown us the importance that sustaining our environment plays in our day-to-day life. We learned what steps we can take and through discussions we searched for what steps can be taken to further repay nature for everything we have done as a humanity.”

(COIL: Sustainable Development Goals; October to November 2023; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

“The lessons were focused on art analysis and forming better understanding of each painting featured as well as its cultural background. During our group discussions I got to see how much each story and feelings evoked by a painting can vary based on the viewer and how by getting deeper context these emotions connected to a painting can become that much more intense. In the last phases of these lessons, we got to practice the formation of better understanding with our own favourite paintings. It changed my view on art and now upon looking at a painting I can not only appreciate its focus and use of colour but also consider the era, hidden details and reason for why it was painted.”

(COIL: Great Paintings in Detail; March to April 2024; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; Facilitator: Ľubica Durcová)

“This being my second COIL led by Fella Benabed, I had high expectations, and it certainly did not disappoint. The message in which this workshop was carried was that of hopefulness and understanding for each of us and those we are surrounded by. The topics discussed brought forth the importance that listening and staying mindful towards one another has. We shed light on how arts, culture and communication can have a great impact on our mental health and further promote our self-expression.  We held many discussions which I believe are necessary to be held, especially when it comes to the stigma that often surrounds overcoming personal difficulties.”

(COIL: Health and Wellbeing; April to May 2024; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

“What I think describes this COIL the best is that “there is often the greatest value in small acts of kindness”. The topics we explored ranged from analysis of how people convince others to act towards their cause to what the right cause should be. It had a very positive impact including the leaders’ approach as I believe we all got to feel very heard and we got to express ourselves in a very sweet, pure, human way. Seeing that no matter how small an act may be, it can be truly impactful for those around us and that the small acts of kindness might just be the beginning of a greater habit of performing something good.

(COIL: Volunteerism; October to November 2024; Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary; Facilitator: Rita DiFiore)

Silvia Mihalovičová (a bilingual study student, III.B class):

“The COIL Great paintings, which I attended in the year 2024 during March and April, had very good execution and presentations. I liked everyone´s involvement and enthusiasm. I liked the group setting and the unique paintings that were chosen.”

(COIL: Great Paintings in Detail; March to April 2024; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; Facilitator: Ľubica Durcová)

“In the COIL Volunteerism I liked that we were put in random groups every time as it promoted talking to people you don't now and cooperate with them. It helped me with going out of my comfort zone and share my opinions and thoughts with the people in my group. The topic was also very nice and important. Everyone was very involved, engaged and talkative which was appreciated.”

(COIL: Volunteerism; October to November 2024; Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary; Facilitator: Rita DiFiore)

Jakub Hercegh (a bilingual study student, III.B class):

“I participated in two COIL programs, on great historical paintings and volunteerism respectively. The lessons were fun and engaging and they informed me and helped me understand their topics. The facilitators were clear and informative and it was very fun interacting and leading discussions with the other participants, both from our country's schools and foreign ones. Overall, I enjoyed both experiences and hope to participate in more in the near future.”

(COIL: Great Paintings in Detail; March to April 2024; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; Facilitator: Ľubica Durcová / COIL: Volunteerism; October to November 2024; Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary; Facilitator: Rita DiFiore)

Katarína Malatinová (a bilingual study student, IV.B class):

„Our first COIL lesson was led by professor Fella Benabed from an Algerian university. In this one we talked about SDGS. They are the pillars that countries should follow for a better future for our planet. On each lesson we discussed bunch of the pillars in groups and presented our thoughts and ideas how we should uphold them to the rest of the participants. The students from Algeria were incredible to talk to and full of bright ideas. I certainly learnt a lot about how to be sustainable in my own life and the professor gave me a lot of hope for future of our planet.”

(COIL: Sustainable Development Goals; October to November 2023; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

“The second COIL was with our teacher Ľubica Durcová. We discussed art and how to analyse it. Knowing our teacher, it was bound to be amazing. We deep dived into details of each prepared painting and learnt many new facts. In groups we also analysed them and made our own assumptions and ideas as to what the details symbolise. I had many good group mates, especially from our school. For the last work we had to pick our own painting to describe, I did Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Art is fascinating and it was amazing to learn more about it.”

(COIL: Great Paintings in Detail; March to April 2024; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; Facilitator: Ľubica Durcová)

“Then we had another COIL with professor Fella. It focused especially on mental health. It gave us interesting life lessons. Many of us opened up to the professor about personal experiences because she created a safe space for us all. For a voluntary work we could write our own mental diary and it was also one of her suggestions for us to do. We discussed how companionship helps us to feel better.”

(COIL: Health and Wellbeing; April to May 2024; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

“On our last COIL lesson, we were with a professor from Hungarian school. She was incredibly kind and did her lessons a bit differently. We spoke about volunteering and most of the time we were working in groups. We were supposed to present our own idea of volunteering, how we would manage it, how long it would last, who it would target. It was an interesting lesson to participated on and again I personally left pumped to actually partake in such actions.”

(COIL: Volunteerism; October to November 2024; Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary; Facilitator: Rita DiFiore)

Kristína Vindušková (a bilingual study student, IV.B class):

“During this workshop, I realized that while we might often mention climate change in our everyday conversations, there's a significant difference between simply complaining about its effects and actively discussing solutions. Although I learned a lot about sustainable development, what struck me the most was the importance of being proactive rather than remaining a passive bystander. It often helps to break a plan into smaller parts, as this makes the steps clearer and less overwhelming. Climate change no longer feels like an unavoidably overwhelming force.”

(COIL: Sustainable Development Goals; October to November 2023; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

“This workshop fuelled my passion for exploring the deeper meanings behind things, paintings, in this case. Especially today, with the rise of AI-generated images and artworks, I believe it's important to reflect on why humans are drawn to art. It's not just about what's on the canvas, but how we relate our own feelings and experiences to it, often without even realizing it. Art reminds us that we're not alone in our own emotions, there's beauty to be found in every feeling, even the ugly, terrifying, or the depressing ones, since there are artworks about them too.”

(COIL: Great Paintings in Detail; March to April 2024; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; Facilitator: Ľubica Durcová)

“Talking about emotions and mental health was therapeutic. Sitting down with people, some from other countries, other cultures, to discuss our wellbeing and how we cope when the world becomes overwhelming felt really meaningful. I believe this kind of open conversation should be normalized, it shouldn’t be frowned upon to express one’s feelings.”

(COIL: Health and Wellbeing; April to May 2024; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

“This workshop felt like the peak of authenticity. We discussed acts of kindness done without expecting anything in return. In a society where almost everything is driven by profit and transactional value, this was a refreshing change. It was like taking a breath of fresh air.”

(COIL: Volunteerism; October to November 2024; Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary; Facilitator: Rita DiFiore)

Kristína Krčíková (a bilingual study student, IV.B class):

“Participating in the COIL has taught me much about the environment, protecting the environment as well as issues which I knew little about. It broadened my knowledge especially about sustainability and preservation of the environment and the effect we have on the planet as a whole. Learning about feminism was also interesting, and the way that women in our society aren't treated as equals to this day is something I myself know well. However, the women working on this project and the ones who keep pushing forward motivated me to realise my own self-worth as a person. Although I don't identify with traditional feminism, as I'm sure many women don't, I still understand the values of feminism and realise its importance, and respect those who uphold the ideals instead of twisting and bending them into something worse. Equality for people should be established without question, but we live in a world where we have to fight for those rights, whether that be for women, people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, and many more ostracised groups. Discussing with people outside of my country was pleasant and I loved getting to know their own culture through their opinion. All in all, the experience I had with COIL was amazing and I recommend it to anyone who is thinking of joining it as well.”

(COIL: Sustainable Development Goals; October to November 2023; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed / COIL: Health and Wellbeing; April to May 2024; University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria; Facilitator: Fella Benabed)

Watching personally enthusiasm and involvement of all participating students during the mentioned COIL lessons; and listening to their ideas expressed with amazing maturity and insight, surely can make any teacher to feel proud of these students.

Also, based on the above-mentioned students´ expressed views, it is satisfying to conclude that the COIL lessons enriched and influenced the participating students. In addition, all teachers can be proud of their involvement in the project, and can use this experience as inspiration for their future lessons.

 Ľubica Durcová, Gymnázium Myjava

I am posting below my colleague's post session  reflection article entitled  Teaching Fantasy: Reflections on an Inspiring Lesson Plan in Practice. *

" Teaching Fantasy: Reflections on an Inspiring Lesson Plan in Practice" 

 by Bokos Borbala

"As a literature instructor, one of the greatest joys in teaching comes from witnessing a lesson plan come to life — especially when it exceeds your expectations. This semester, I had the opportunity to test my own lesson plan centered on Fantasy literature, and the results were both inspiring and intellectually rewarding. I’m excited to share how this lesson unfolded with my students and what we learned together along the way.

The lesson plan aimed to explore various aspects of the fantasy genre through discussion, visual analysis, and creative project work. From the very first session, it was clear that this topic resonated deeply with my students. The atmosphere in the classroom quickly became lively and engaging, with conversations flowing naturally around the films we watched, the stories we read, and the imaginary worlds we began to build together.

We kicked things off with film clips from iconic fantasy adaptations. Watching these scenes allowed students to make insightful observations about world-building, character archetypes, and the underlying themes of the stories. It sparked several fascinating conversations — for instance, what exactly is the value of reading fantasy literature today? Students pointed out that beyond the obvious thrill of escaping into imaginary realms, fantasy helps us develop creativity, foster imagination, and even enhance critical thinking. One particularly enriching moment was when we discussed how fantasy stories can offer social commentary in symbolic form — dragons as metaphors for political fears, enchanted forests representing psychological journeys, or monstrous villains as embodiments of cultural anxieties.

We also looked at the current trends in the genre: Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade fantasy emerged as particularly popular among students. These subgenres provided a relatable point of entry and led to further discussion about why these narratives are so compelling — is it the coming-of-age themes? The moral clarity? The possibility of transformation and heroism?

The lesson placed strong emphasis on mythical creatures and monsters, not just as decorative elements but as symbols that often reflect deeper cultural meanings. Students explored the origins and interpretations of beings like shapeshifters, phoenixes, and trickster figures across various cultures. It was enlightening to see how these creatures appeared in different national mythologies and how filmmakers reimagined them on screen. This comparative approach enriched our understanding of how fantasy crosses cultural boundaries while also rooting itself in very specific traditions.

One of the most exciting aspects of this class was the creative project work. Students were invited to create their own mood boards based on specific readings or fantasy tropes. We also engaged in world-building exercises, where students constructed their own fantasy realms, complete with invented geographies, species, rules of magic, and political systems. The results were incredible — some groups drew maps, others designed posters, and a few even wrote the opening pages of their imagined novels.

What impressed me most was the level of student engagement. They weren’t just completing tasks — they were curious, enthusiastic, and eager to share their ideas. Even quieter students found their voice through their creative work. Fantasy, it seems, opened a door that allowed them to express their thoughts and identities in ways traditional literary analysis often does not.

All in all, testing this Fantasy-themed lesson plan was an incredibly rewarding experience. Not only did it validate the academic value of studying fantasy literature, but it also highlighted how powerful stories — especially those set in other worlds — can be in helping students better understand this world and themselves."

*Due to some technical problems, my colleague could not post the article herself.

This is a research paper I published in 2023 in the volume Crossroads in Diversity(ed. Gaal-Szabo et al.) at  Debrecen Reformed Theological University Press and it one of the sources I relied on in designing some of my LPs  for the FOSTIN project.

Musical Features in the Early English Poetry

                                                                      Pop Titus

In Western poetics, there have been different views on the status of sound in poetry. The traditional literary view is that poetry is sound, and the written or printed text is a representation of sound. Another point of view is that language does not have a voice in itself and that important aspects of poetry follow from the visual features of textuality. The third point of view is the one upheld by structuralists and claims that language of poetry is ambivalent. Thus, language is, as structuralists have shown, a set of signs or sounds present in either or both media: the sonic and the graphic, therefore poetry is a structure or system of sounds. While nowadays readers are accustomed first to visualizing a poem in its written form, before the invention of writing and the spread of literacy, the main condition of poetry was orality.  Croce’s theory that "real artworks exist only in their creator's mind even if the author is anonymous” may be applied in this context. (Croce, 1966:23) In this paper, I will look at the sound features (namely, the musical features) in some of the earliest anonymous poems written in English which, before being printed, have been “recorded” by the word of mouth.

 Throughout history, many scholars attempted either to separate poetry from music (from the Hellenistic period to the New Formalist theory) in terms of prosodics, its scope, message etc., or to connect the two art forms. Thus, the prosodic analysts debated the musicality of poetry, the neo-classical scholars analyzed the alliterative meter and other musical elements employed by poets such as Thomas Wyatt or G. Chaucer, Bertrand Bronson analyzed the ballad's musical features and Gates Henry Louis Jr., and K. A. Appiah looked into modern poetry and musical patterns. One may argue, however that most cultures and  languages offer many examples  that poetry that continues to be read and remembered today always has some connection with music. Thus, most accounts of ancient Greek culture insist on the centrality of music-the rhapsodes singing the epic poems written in heroic couplets, the odes played on the lyre or kithera and an acquaintance with different musical modes as an essential skill of a civilized person. From the earliest Anglo-Saxon poetry through the Middle Ages and later on, we have anonymous epic poems, lyrics and ballads which survived and permeate contemporary folk or popular music.

Of these, it is the Anglo-Saxon anonymous poetry which contains most obvious traces of musicality. We know very little about the people who composed Anglo-Saxon poetry because their work belonged to an oral tradition. They were travelling minstrels called scops[1] who performed for noblemen in the halls of kings. Their social function they exercised was very important because they knew the old stories the first settlers had brought with them in the 5th century from their European homelands.

Anglo-Saxon Poetry is highly musical as the scop often accompanied himself on a harp or a lyre. Musical elements of the language such as alliteration, assonance, rhyme and rhythm helped the scop to memorize the often very long works, and so they facilitated the passing of poems orally, from generation to generation. The poems composed by the scops were divided later by critics into two groups: Pagan and Christian. What remains of early Anglo-Saxon poetry today was written down by monks in monasteries from the end of seventh century onward.

One of the earliest poems from this period is the well- known anonymous epic saga, Beowulf, a poem which resembles in many aspects, including in its musical features, the Germanic epic poem The Nibelungenlied (Song of the Nibelungs). Thus, beside its main stylistic feature, the kenning (metaphorical phrases used instead of nouns), the two frequent musical features present in Beowulf are alliteration and caesura. It is known alliteration means the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a sequence of nearby words. In Anglo-Saxon times, before the introduction of rhyme, alliteration gave the language of poetry its musical quality and made the poems easier to remember. Here are some examples from Beowulf:: “Now many an earl/of Beowulf brandished blade ancestral”  (Heaney, 2000,  15); “So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall”(16); “Then, when darkness had dropped, Grendel Went up to Herot,/ wondering what the warriors.”(30-32); “He will carry me away as he goes to ground, gorged and bloodied” (446-447).

The other musical element one may frequently find in Beowulf is caesura, a feature which regulates the rhythm of poetry. A caesura (Lat- cut) is a break or pause that occurs in the middle of a line. Here are two examples: “then came from the moor// under the mist-hills/Grendel stalking// he bore God's anger” (710-712); “There was Shield Sheafson, || scourge of many tribes, |A wrecker of mead-benches, || rampaging among foes. (9, 10).

Later on, during the Middle Ages, there was another type of musical poetry that circulated in England- the lyric. According to Drabble and Stringer:

The lyrics were short songs that did not tell a story but expressed the thoughts or feelings of a speaker and they flourished in the Middle English period…this lyric was enriched by the direct imitation of ancient models and reached perfection in the song books and plays of the Elizabethan age. (Drabble and Stringer 1987, 340),

 The most frequent subject matter in the Middle English secular lyrics are romantic love (courtly love lyrics) and springtime. Many of them rework such themes tediously, but some, such as “Foweles in the Frith” (13th century) and “Ich am of Irlaunde” (14th century), convey strong emotions in a few lines. Two lyrics of the early 13th century, “Mirie it is while sumer ilast” and “The cuckoo song(Sumer is icumen in)” are preserved with musical settings, and were meant to be sung. Here are some lines from “Foweles in the Frith” with explanations and translation into modern English provided by a medieval poetry scholar, Aniina Jokinen:

 Mirie it is while sumer y-last

 With fugheles son

 Oc nu neheth windes blast/

And weder strong.

(Mirie – merry y-last - lasts

fugheles – birds son - sound, song

Oc – but nu – now) ( Jokinen, 2006)

Religious lyrics were also frequent at this time. The poets generally expressed their sorrow for the crucifixion of Christ and for Mary therefore the dominant mood of the religious lyrics is passion: the poets sorrow for Christ on the cross and for the Virgin Mary, celebrate the “five joys” of Mary, and to express religious devotion they borrow  register from love poetry. Early examples are “Nou goth sonne under wod” and “Stond wel, moder, ounder rode.” The musical feature which made them easy to perform is the simple aabb rhyme. One of these is the poem “Nou Goth Sonne under Wode”with its modern English translation by Thomas Duncan:

Nou goth sonne under wode.                        Now the sun sets behind the forest

Me reweth, Marie,                                          Mary, I pity your lovely face

thi faire rode      .(Duncan, 1995, 6)

There are hundreds of such lyrics collected by scholars such as John Hirsch (Medieval Lyric: Middle English Lyrics, Ballads and Carols-2004), R.T. Davies (Medieval English Lyrics: a Critical Anthology-1991) or T. Duncan (Medieval Lyrics and Carols-1995) and most of them focus on religion and romantic love.

Throughout the Middle Ages, there circulated another poetic genre which was closely connected to music- the ballad. Ballads were anonymous short folk songs that told a story and were originally composed to be sung and danced upon. In Delaney et al. (2002) one may overview the main features of the ballad genre as follows:

·         They rarely tell a story from beginning to end.

·         description is brief and conventional and very little information is given about the characters;

·         words, expressions and phrases and entire verses are repeated;

·         contain a line or group of lines which is repeated throughout the ballad - a refrain;

·         many ballads contain stock descriptive phrases such as 'milk-white steed', 'blood-red wine‘;

·         Composed in simple two or four line stanzas. The stanza usually consists of alternate four and three stress lines rhyming on the second and fourth line. (Delaney et al, 2002, 19)

Since ballads thrived among illiterate people and were freshly created from memory at each separate performance, they were often subject to constant variation in both text and tune. These variations maintained the ballad alive by gradually adapting it to the style of life, beliefs, and emotional needs of the folk audience. The way ballads are composed and maintained in tradition has been the subject of many debates among scholars. The so- called communal school, led by two American scholars F.B. Gummere (1855–1919) and G.L. Kittredge (1860–1941), argued at first that “ballads were composed collectively during  performances and the excitement of dance and song festivals.”(Gummere cited in Friedman, 1956:22) The opposing view group were the individualists led by W.J. Courthope (1842–1917) , Andrew Lang (1844–1912) and  Louise Pound (1872–1958).  These claimed that “each ballad was the work of an individual composer”, who was not necessarily a folk singer.(Pound cited in Friedman, 1956, 23) For them,  tradition served simply as the means to carry on  the creation by means of word of mouth.. However, in my view, the singer is not always expressing himself individually, but many times they are serving as a deputy of the public voice. A ballad only becomes a ballad once it has been accepted by the community and been adapted and readapted by countless variations of tradition into a local product.

But although songs and texts are many times interdependent, it is common to find the same version of a ballad being sung to a variety of tunes of suitable rhythm and metre or to find the same song being used for several different ballads .According to Albert Friedman, ballads are based on modes rather than on diatonic and chromatic scales. He notes:

Most tunes consist of 16 bars with double rhythm, or two beats per measure, prevailing slightly over triple rhythm. The tune, commensurate with the ballad stanza, is repeated as many times as there are stanzas. Unlike the “through-composed” art song, where the music is given nuances to correspond to the varying emotional colour of the content, the folk song affords little opportunity to inflect the contours of the melody. (Friedman, 1956, 13))

One of the best known traditional ballads is the anonymous The Unquiet Grave, a song which has been sung in different versions until now. It is an unusually compact and harmonious narrative, built around a dialogue between a young man and the ghost of his lover, and with very little detail or expository material. In fact, the intensity is almost that of a lyric poem rather than a story-telling ballad. The Harvard scholar, Francis James Child collected a number of different variants of this ballad. The oldest one dates from the Middle Ages, the 14th century. The first two stanzas render the words uttered by the young man.  At first, it seems he directly addresses the dead woman, although it is possible his addressee is a new, living lover: "The wind doth blow today, my love, / And a few small drops of rain." (Child, 1965, 235). However, according to Child, the reference to the "small drops of rain" faintly “ reminds of  a quatrain from the early 15th century- "Westron wynde, when wilt thou blow/ The small raine down can raine?/ Cryst, if my louve were in my armes/ And I in my bedde again!“ “ (237).The repetitions from verse to verse, a common musical pattern, has the effect of bringing the lovers touchingly close, as if one echoed the other. "I crave one kiss of your clay-cold lips" is reinforced almost tenderly by the response, "You crave one kiss of my clay-cold lips", while the alliteration conveys a contrasting impression of mortality. (236) Its harmonies leave the reader/listener in no doubt of the depth of the lovers' empathy. The images are simple, almost archetypal and from a sonic point of view, there are many liquid sounds which give the song a sort of free flowing harmony. The flowing, predominantly iambic rhythm suggests at times a lullaby, the epitome of   emotional singing:

The stalk is withered dry, my love,

 So will our hearts decay;

So make yourself content, my love,

  Till God calls you away.(235)

The ballad analyzed above is one of many (which will be the object of my further research) which prove the interconnectedness between text and music in the early and medieval anonymous poetry.

In conclusion, the early English poetry contains obvious sound features or traces of musicality. Orality played an important part in the transmission of anonymous poetry from generation to generation. The musical elements of the language such as alliteration, assonance and rhythm, were highly important because they helped the minstrels to handle down poems orally and thus keep tradition alive. The early (especially anonymous) English poetry such as the  epic poems(Beowulf), and the Medieval forms such as the lyric and the ballad were genres of poetry whose musical features were central as regards their social and communal function.

                                                                 Works Cited

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia.”scop” Encyclopedia Britannica, September 17, 1999. https://www.britannica.com/art/scop.   Accessed  August 1 2021

Croce. B.1966. Philosophy, Poetry, History: An Anthology of Essays, translated by Cecil Sprigge, London: Oxford University Press.

Delaney,D., Ward, C., Fiorina, C.R. 2002. Fields of Vision. Harlow:Longman.

Duncan, G.T. 1995(ed)., Medieval English Lyrics and Carols 1200-1400, Penguin. http://www.maldura.unipd.it/dllags/brunetti/Medievale/lyrics_09.pdf Accessed August 23 2001.

Friedman, A.1956. The Viking Book of Folk Ballads in the English-Speaking World. New York: Viking Press.

Heaney, Seamus. 2000. Beowulf. A New Verse Translation .London, England: Faber & Faber. https://www.dvusd.org/cms/lib/AZ01901092/Centricity/Domain/2897/beowulf_heaney.pdf. Accessed July 20 2021.

Jokinen,A.2006.  “Middle English Lyrics:Merry It Is While Summer Lasts” Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/medlyric/merryitis.php Accessed on August 20 2021.

Child,F.G. 1865. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2.. New York : Dover Publications .

On March 21, 2024, the students of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Gymnázium Myjava and Universitatea Crestina Partium could experience connection of art and philosophy during the third of the four COIL online lessons of the Erasmus+ international project, entitled Great Paintings in Detail: The School of Athens, organised by Gymnázium Myjava, and led by Mgr. Ľubica Durcová,

During this session, to the knowledge of Art, Culture, History and Aesthetics, also Philosophy was added as a part of Civic Education.

As the first, students worked in groups and debated and shared their ideas and opinions about one of the most famous artistic works of the High Italian Renaissance period, the School of Athens by Raphael, and then present the discussed to the whole class.

How do we know who is who in an imaginary gathering of classical philosophers and scholars of the School of Athens? Is a portrait of the painter himself included in the painting? How one gesture can summarise the main ideas of Plato and Aristotle´s philosophies? What can be used as evidence to identify Heraclitus, Diogenes, Euclid, Pythagoras, Zoroaster, Ptolemy and Socrates? Why Plato looks like Leonardo da Vinci and Heraclitus looks like Michelangelo? How architecture of the great architect Donato Bramante influenced Raphael´s composition of the painting? What is technique behind fresco painting? These questions and many more were answered in the analyses of Raphael´s masterpiece the School of Athens.

After the analyses, the students got opportunity to talk, discuss and express their opinion about the painting and its connection to the history of philosophical thought.

The students were very active in working groups and showed a great insight in depth of the ideas they presented.

While the university students were partially familiar with the philosophy of discussed philosophers, the most of the secondary students, apart from recognising the names, didn´t know much about mentioned philosophical theories.

On March 14, 2024, Gymnázium Myjava, organised the second of the four COIL online lessons of the Erasmus+ international project, entitled Great Paintings in Detail: The Ambassadors, led by Mgr. Ľubica Durcová.

The participants were students of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; and Universitatea Crestina Partium, Romania.

 Once again, the aim of the COIL lessons was to raise awareness of students of how additional knowledge about a painting can enrich personal experience and see a painting from a different perspective.

The COIL lesson was merging knowledge of Art, Culture, History, Aesthetics and even History of Science.

Students could practice debating skills in groups by sharing their ideas and opinions about the painting, and then presenting them to the whole class.

In the analyses of the painting the Ambassadors by Hans Holben the Younger, students discussed the terms and their meaning such as: a Northern Renaissance, anamorphosis, and numerous symbols and reference points used in the painting.

They found connection between historical figures and events such as: Henry VIII, the religious conflict of the 16^th century, a humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, scientific discoveries, and also about the ambassadors Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve who are depicted at the painting with the powerful realism.

After the analyses students got opportunity to talk, discuss and express their opinion - weather any information was new, surprising, familiar or expected for them.

The students were very active in the groups and very keen to present their ideas and some admitted not being familiar with the painting before.

On March 7, 2024, Gymnázium Myjava organised the first of the four COIL online lessons of the Erasmus+ international project, entitled Great Paintings in Detail, led by Mgr. Ľubica Durcová.

The aim of the COIL lessons was to make students aware of how they can benefit and enrich personal experience through additional knowledge about the great paintings which represent a huge wealth of human history.

The COIL lessons were interdisciplinary by merging Art, Culture, History, Aesthetics and some even Philosophy.

The participants were students of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia; Gymnázium Myjava, Slovakia; and Universitatea Crestina Partium, Romania.

The introduction of the first session focused on how the knowledge of historical context, cultural period, art techniques, a personality of an artist; his/ her inspiration - feelings and ideas; also symbols and colours used can help to see any painting from a different perspective.

After the introduction, the session focused on the painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by C. D. Friedrich.

As the first, students had opportunity to cooperate and discuss the painting and their ideas about it in groups. After the activity, a spokesperson of each group presented ideas and findings in front of everyone.

In the analyses of the painting, students could learn about the painter, ideas of Romanticism, composition and colours used in the painting and inspiration behind the mysterious figure depicted. Eventually, the connection between the painting and the Pop Culture was introduced.

After the analyses students had opportunity to talk, discuss and express their opinion - weather any information was new, surprising, familiar or expected for them.

The most students were active in the groups and very keen to present their ideas.

Some students admitted that they were not familiar with the painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog before the session and were surprised that this painting is a huge part of the pop culture today. However, some of them knew about the existence of the painting, but did not know any additional information related to it.

In the process of creating one of my lesson plans for the resource centre, I tried one of its activities on an English lesson. The lesson plan is called Art Movements and their Representatives, focusing on Renaissance, Romanticism and Realism. The activity is to create a profile for selected historical figures of each art movement. The students were very creative and prepared brief modern online profiles on Padlet. In a funny but still informative way by comparing different aspects from life and work those historical figures shared, they could learn basic characteristics of each movement. I provide a few examples of their work.

Between 4^th and 8^th of March 2025, I went on a mobility trip to the Reformed Theological University of Debrecen, Hungary where I taught lessons designed within the FOSTIN project. My objective was to try, test and revalidate some of the LPs I designed in a face to face environment and adapt the online versions to an in-person version. I taught lessons based on my LPs such as The Ballad, Poetry and Music, The Musical etc. The students’ feedback was excellent therefore I concluded that the action-oriented activities I included in the lessons were appealing and efficient.