ТОЛСТОВСКИЙ СБОРНИК 2012

384 Дон Стюарт Вайнрауб Олбани, США ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ РОМАНА «АННА КАРЕНИНА» В КУРСЕ РУССКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ XIX ВЕКА В АМЕРИКАНСКОЙ СРЕДНЕЙ ШКОЛЕ How to excite and engage a class of young girls, 15 to 17 years old, in an introductory course on Russian literature of the 19th century in translation? Why, begin with one of the pinnacles of the 19th century novel, Anna Karenina . In the early weeks of the course we read Parts One and Two, examining some of Tolstoy’s themes and techniques for creating characters and a world that seems compelling, vivid, and real. I used some pre-reading and creative writing strategies to help the students appreciate certain literary techniques experientially. After those opening weeks, when we had to set this novel aside for a time in order to move chronologically through the other works on the syllabus, I knew many students would continue on their own to follow Anna Karenina . When we returned to this novel near the end of the semester, all were eager to take up the discussion where we had left off. The students seemed to be responding to Tolstoy's use of the novel a "an instrument for discovering the meaning of life.” The psychological depth of the characters and the seriousness of the search for meaning in the human condition did not fail to capture my students' interest. Tolstoy raised the experience of these people set in 19th century Russia to the level of the universal, relevant to the students' own process of seeking self-knowledge. Мэри Эмерсон Олбани, США КОНКУРС СОЧИНЕНИЙ ПО ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЯМ РУССКИХ ПИСАТЕЛЕЙ: ИСТОРИЯ И СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ The Albany Tula Alliance was organized in 1991 to establish a sister-city relationship between Albany, New York and Tula, Russia and to promote cultural understanding between the two communities. Since then, a variety of professionals from Albany and Tula have shared educational, governmental, business, environmental and health-related partnerships through the committed work of the people of the Albany Tula Alliance and our many community partners. In January of 2010 the Albany Tula Alliance launched its first annual student essay contest. High school students in the Capital Region of New York State were invited to submit essays on a topic depicting cooperation between the US and Russia. In this our third year, high school students were asked to compose an essay about the influence that the short stories of Russia’s most famous author, Leo Tolstoy, have had on political and social movements throughout the world. Our winning essayists are Haewon Hwang and Rose Schneider and they have won a one-week, all-expenses paid trip to Moscow and Tula to meet with Russian students and families, and to experience Russian culture and hospitality. Both winning essays will be shared at the conference.