Václav Havel

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/v-clav-havel

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Václav Havel born?October 5, 1936
2. When did Václav Havel die?December 18, 2011 (age 75)
3. Where was Václav Havel born?Prague, Czechoslovakia
4. What is the career?Playwright, essayist, dissident, human rights activist, and statesman
5. Who was Václav Havel?Václav Havel was a Czech writer who later became the first president of the Czech Republic. He was famous for writing plays that challenged the government and for leading his country toward democracy.
6. Why were his plays banned?His plays exposed the unfair and cruel ways the communist government ran the country. Because they criticized the system, the authorities decided to stop them from being shown.

Avant-garde: New and experimental ideas and methods in art, music, or literature.
Dissident: A person who openly opposes a government or political system, often at personal risk.
Totalitarianism: A system of government characterized by absolute control over all aspects of public and private life.
Civic Forum: A broad political movement in Czechoslovakia that played a key role in the Velvet Revolution.