^{This unit was developed by Mindaugas Šapoka   Bibliography   Didactic Comments}

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1. Do you think the bears dance willingly?

2. What type of entertainment do you know in the fairs of early modern times city?

3. Did you have an opportunity to take part in such events? If so, share your impressions.

4. Did you notice any differences between the “Kaziukas”, citizens of Vilnius and its environment during the 70 years?

5. What do those films have in common?

6. Is there any similarities between the musicians with dancing bears in the 16th – 17th centuries and modern street-musicians?

7. What were the major problems in the city in this period?

8. Read the qoute „Such people, who are fully fit and do not have any job, come to the city with the aim of commiting crimes – they must be expelled from the city“. Can you compare this group of people who didn‘t want to work in the 17th century to various ethnical-religous groups in the modern cities all across the Europe?

 9.  Tell your opinion about this comment:

 – A huge number of immigrants is a big problem for modern Europe. Street fights between immigrants and police in France, riots in Sweden show that immigrants from so-called “third World countries” are a potential threat to society. They are a huge problem and load of care for ordinary working people, as immigrants have huge families, some of them don’t want to work and start to live on welfare. Immigrants in Western Europe from new members of EU (Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.) also cause problems. A large part of former criminals from those countries emigrated to the West and continue to commit crimes there. They also (like immigrants from the “third World”) should be expelled.

10. What is the first impression reading the story of ordinary man in Vilnius in 17th century?

11. Who could buy books in the period of crisis?