Pretty Hurts Analysis

The document under study is a video clip for the song entitled “Pretty Hurts” by the famous African-American singer Beyoncé.

In the video, we can see several women taking part in a beauty pageant.

In the backstage, every woman seems to be rival for example, we can see some fighting to have a blow-dryer. Besides, they are not supportive to one another at all. They seem to eat as little as possible to stay fit. We can even see one of them eating cotton balls to trick her stomach into being full. Some even go through surgery. Moreover, they are constantly measured and weighed. The goal of all that is to stay fit and look beautiful.

On stage, they look happy and beautiful, smiling fully. Nevertheless, in reality they are miserable, they had to suffer to be where they are.

Beyoncé’s message through her song is that she is denouncing the impact of the beauty industry that is conveying stereotypes and beauty standards that are painful to young girls and women in general. People should change their mentalities and accept and love their differences.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Moonlight and Magnolias

The two documents under study are extracts of articles, the first one comes from The Conversation website, published in 2025. The second one was published on Equal Justice Initiative website, in 2024. They both deal with plantation museums controversy.

In the first article, we learn about the fire that burnt down Nottoway plantation, Louisiana in May 2025. This tragic event triggered two types of reaction: historians and activists in favor for the preservation of the real history of slavery grieved the loss of this milestone monument. On the other hand, the people who prefer a whitewashed version of history celebrated the destruction of this building.

In the second document, we learn about how plantation tourism started: the former enslavers/slave masters were bankrupt right after Civil War (1861-1865) since they lost their free workforce with the end slavery. As a result, they decided to open the doors of their mansions to visitors and make money out of these visits. They would promote a gentle way of life in the South and would embellish the truth without mentioning the atrocities of slavery.

They would hide the lifestyles of slaves and how they were treated. In fact, the enslaved were dehumanized, treated as mere objects and properties and were deprived from their human rights. Slavery was a crime against humanity.

To conclude, plantation tourism is a burning issue/ heated controversy because there are two popular opinions: the first one is about people who prefer to sugarcoat history presenting and idealized version of the antebellum era; the second one is about people who want to tell the history as it really happened.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Moonlight and Magnolias

The documents under study are two articles, the first one is taken from The Conversation website, published in 2025. The second one was published on Equal Justice Initiative website in 2024. They both deal with plantation museum controversy.

In the first article, we learn about the fire that destroyed Nottoway Plantation, Louisiana in May 2025. There were different types of reaction: historians and activists for the preservation of the real history grieved the loss of this milestone monument, while others were thrilled to witness the destruction of this building. These were the people who prefer a whitewashed version of history. It reveals tensions between two groups of people: the ones who would prefer an idealized version of history, and another who are fighting to tell the truth as it really happened.

The second document, we learn that plantation tourism started right after the Civil War (1861-1865) when the former enslavers/slave masters who were bankrupt because of the end of slavery decided to open their doors to paying visitors to showcase their houses and make money out of it. They tried to promote gentle life in the South, presenting the lives of the owners and their family without ever mentioning the atrocities that were happening in these same houses through chattel slavery.

Indeed, what was missing and hidden was all the terrible things that happened during slavery and all the lives that were destroyed. In fact, the slave masters were extremely violent to the enslaved and they would consider the enslaved as mere objects and property deprived from human rights.

To conclude, plantation tourism is still a burning issue/ a heated controversy as plantation museums should be used as memorial rather than vacation sites.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Moonlight and Magnolias

The documents under study are two articles, the first is from The Conversation website, published in 2025. The second one is from Equal Justice Initiative website. They both deal with plantation museum controversy.

In the first document, we have learned about the fire that destroyed Nottoway plantation, Louisiana in May 2025. There were two types of reaction: on the one hand, when the mansion got destructed, some people mourned/grieved the loss of a touristic sites, whereas some others celebrated this event. This shows that even nowadays people do not have the same ideas about the past of slavery and its impact on today’s society.

In the second document, we have learned that plantation tourism began, after the Civil War (1861-1865) when the former slave masters/enslavers were out of money/bankrupt because they lost their free workforce with the end of slavery. When they opened their mansions, they would promote a false narrative in which white enslavers were always caring to their slaves. Due to this type of stories, the lives on plantations were called Moonlight and Magnolias fantasies.

What was hidden and missing was all the harsh conditions of life of the enslaved. In fact, the slaves were dehumanized, deprived from their human rights, treated as mere objects and properties.

To conclude, plantation tourism is still a burning issue today because they should be monuments honoring the enslaved and denouncing the horrors of slavery. Nevertheless, some are still used as a way to make profit for the descendants of the former landowners.

Homework: Learn the lesson. 

Moonlight and Magnolias

The documents under study are two articles: one is from The Conversation, published in 2025, and the second is from Equal Justice Initiative, published in 2024. They both deal with how in some plantation museums, the story of slavery is whitewashed and sugarcoated, replaced by moonlight and magnolias stories.

For example, we learn about Nottoway Plantation, Louisiana, which burnt down in May 2025. The reactions to this terrible event were split: indeed, on one hand, activists and historians for the preservation of the story of slavery were devastated by the loss of this milestone monument (a real piece of history). On the other hand, people who prefer a sugarcoated version of history were happy and even celebrated the loss of this monument.

In the second document, we learn that plantation tourism started after the Civil War (1860-1865). In fact, former enslavers started to open their mansions to visitors in order to make money. During their tours, they were promoting a gentle way of life in the South, hiding the truth about slavery. They were describing an idealized version of the Old South.

Hence, what is hidden or missing these tours, the lives of the free labor/workforce who enriched the landowners. Moreover, the slave masters were unkind to the slaves. The latter were treated as mere objects and property as they were dehumanized and had no human rights.

To conclude, plantation tourism is currently a burning issue/ heated controversy because there are groups of people who would prefer forget about this part of history while other people would like to shed light on this part of American history that still impacts race relations in the US today.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

A Young Man’s Portrait

The document under study is an extract of a novel entitled “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, published in 1891, written by Oscar Wilde.

It is about Dorian Gray, a narcissistic handsome young man who lives in London.

In this scene, there are three characters: Dorian Gray, the eponymous protagonist who is discovering his portrait. He is accompanied by Lord Henry who is a friend. There is also Basil Hallward, the artist who painted Dorian’s portrait. They are all at Hallward’s studio to discover the painting. Upon seeing the portrait, everyone seems amazed by Hallward’s artwork. Dorian seems to be shocked/amazed/ astonished by his own beauty. Nevertheless, at the same time, the painting makes him aware that his beauty will fade away with time, as he grows older. Besides, he becomes aware of his own mortality as a human being.

 A Young Man’s Portrait

The document under study is an extract of a novel entitled “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, written by Oscar Wilde in 1891. It is about Dorian Gray, a narcissistic young man who lives in London.

In this extract, there are three characters: Lord Henry who is a friend of Dorian, Dorian himself, eponymous protagonist who is discovering his portrait painted by Basil Hallward. They are in Hallward studio to discover his artwork.

Upon seeing/once he sees his portrait, Dorian seems to love it. Lord Henry is also impressed by this piece of art. It is as if he is discovering his beauty and he seems to fall in love with himself. Nevertheless, he understands he is not going to be young and handsome for his whole life, he is going to get old and get wrinkled. Indeed, this painting makes him aware of his own mortality as a human being.

Homework: Learn the lesson.