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, published in 1891.

In this extract, there are three characters, the eponymous protagonist Dorian Gray, one of his friends Lord Henry and the painter Basil Hallward. They are all in Hallward’s studio as he invited them to discover the portrait he painted of Dorian.

Upon seeing his portrait, Dorian is really impressed/ taken aback by his own beauty. Moreover, he becomes narcissistic as he seems to fall in love with his own portrait.

With this portrait, he becomes aware of his beauty and his youth. He is scared of becoming old and hideous. On top of that, he is scared of his own mortality. He is having a revelation/ an epiphany of his own beauty and youth and becomes obsessed with these notions. He seems to be ready to do everything to stay young and handsome.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Enjoy Your Vacation 😉

 A Young Man’s Portrait

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

In this extract, there are three characters: Lord Henry who is a friend of the eponymous protagonist Doran Gray and Basil Hallward, who is a painter. They are all gathered in Hallward’s studio to discover the portrait that he painted of Dorian.

Dorian is satisfied with his portrait because he thinks it perfectly reflects his beauty and his emotions. He is taken aback by the beauty of the painting. He is mesmerized by his portrait. He seems to fall in love with himself. Before seeing his portrait, he did not have self-confidence but now he seems to be more sure of himself. On top of that, we can say that this is the beginning of Dorian’s narcissism. In fact, as he is analyzing all his facial traits, he becomes aware that someday he will grow old and that he will not look as young and handsome as in this portrait. He is terrified with the idea of getting old and he becomes obsessed with the notions of youth and beauty. He is having a revelation/an epiphany about life and death. He seems to be ready to do everything in order to stay young and handsome.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Enjoy Your Vacation! 😉

Aspirational

The document under study is a short film entitled “Aspirational”. Kirsten Dunst plays in it. She is a famous American actress who played in many well-known movies such as Spiderman, Marie-Antoinette, Jumanji…

We can see Kirsten in front her house waiting for an Uber to come and pick her up. She is on the phone, she might be talking to a friend that she will meet soon.

Then, a car with two girls suddenly stops in front of her. The two girls recognize that it is Kirsten Dunst, they get out of their car and start to take pictures and selfies with Dunsts without even asking her permission.

After taking their selfies, the girls are completely overjoyed and start to post their pictures on their social media platforms. They just want to boast/ brag about the fact that they met Kirsten Dunst. Moreover, they are taking advantage of her notoriety by asking her to tag them so that they can gain more followers.

The girls are proud of themselves, however Kirsten is very disappointed, shocked and embarrassed by their behavior. In fact, the girls only care about what the people will say about themselves, but they do not care at all about Kirsten’s feelings.

Nowadays, being famous means that some people will take advantage of your fame whether you like it or not. People are becoming more and more selfish, superficial and narcissistic.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

The News We Read

The documents under study are two cartoons. The first one was published in 2018 and the second one in 2016. They both deal with the rapid spread of fake news.

The first one shows how people are too lazy to double-check the information they find online. As a result, that’s how fake news is spread.

The second cartoon shows a man stepping into a hole. That man represents the average American people. He looks hypnotized/absorbed by his phone. He may be on a social media platform. The hole represents the dangers of misinformation. In fact, people tend to believe everything they read on social media. On top of that, they are not even aware of the fact that they are falling into this hole. Unfortunately, stepping into this hole is like being gullible and will get you stuck into a vicious circle.

The goal of these cartoons are to raise awareness on the problem of fake news. In fact, the cartoonists want to make us aware of its dangerous impact on our daily lives.

These cartoons are thought-provoking and are scary. Moreover, the second cartoon also addresses the rest of the world, not only American people, since we all have a phone and have access to social media.  

To conclude, it is also denouncing the fact that only one source of information is not enough (smartphone). Through the size of the phone, the cartoonist wanted to show the importance of smartphones nowadays and how addicted we can be.

Behind Fake News

Theme 2: Representations – Topic 2: Breaking the News and Getting Informed

Unit 2: The Rapid Spread of Fake News

To what extent can we believe the news we get?

What is Fake News and how to Spot it?

The document under study is a video teaching us how to spot fake news. We have learned that in order to identify suspicious news, we need to pay attention to the amount of likes, shares and “wows”. Moreover, we should also pay attention to the pictures for example if it’s Photoshopped and looks dodgy. On top of that, you will need to check the sources and look out for the web address such as “.com”, “.uk”, “.fr” etc… It should not sound fishy. In this video, they took as an example the quote that Donald Trump might have said in 1998 on People Magazine which went viral. However, it was fake news, as he never said that. To conclude, there are many strategies to spot fake news. For instance, you can check the sources and double check the news on other various sources. Finally, you can also use your own judgement and try not to be gullible/naive.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 Unit 1: Look at Me Now

How do your appearance and self-image mirror your personality?

Axe 4: Representation of Self-image and Relationships with Others.

Aspirational

The document under study is a short film entitled “Aspirational”. Kirsten Dunst plays in it. She is a famous American actress who played in many well-known movies such as Spiderman, Marie-Antoinette, Jumanji…

Homework: Watch the video again and fill in the document you receieved in class.

 Tim’s Timetable

The document under study is an e-mail from Tim, a student from an English-speaking country. He is writing to a French pen pal. He is sharing about his daily routine. We have learnt that he lives not too far away from his school as he walks only 15 minutes from his home to go to school. He does not eat at the school cafeteria, in fact he brings his own lunch at school. Moreover, Tim loves art as he loves listening to music, dancing and signing. On top of that, he participates to the drama club of his school. He also would like to become a professional dancer in the future.

In the morning, he usually starts at 8.45 am and ends at 3.25pm. His compulsory subjects are English, Math, science and P.E. The optional ones are French, Geography and dance. Afterschool, he goes back home and takes time to chill. Then, he does his homework. And, on every Tuesday, he goes to his drama club.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 Tim’s Timetable

The document under study is an e-mail from Tim, a student from an English-speaking country. He is writing to a French pen pal. He talks about his routine. He seems very enthusiastic. We have learned that he lives near his school as he has only 15 minutes to walk from his home to school. He does not eat at the school cafeteria. As a matter of fact /Indeed, he makes his lunch at home and brings it to school. On top of that, he loves art: he likes dancing, singing and acting.

His timetable changes every day. However, he always finishes at 3.25pm. As for the compulsory subjects, he has English, Math, science and P.E. The optional ones are French, geography and dancing.

To finish with, every Tuesday he goes to his drama club.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 My Sister’s Keeper (The Movie)

The document under study is a trailer for the movie “My Sister’s Keeper”, directed by Nick Cassavetes, released in 2009.

In this trailer, we have learned that Anna has undergone several medical procedures to support her older sister, and this time she is asked to give one of her kidneys to her sick sister. However, Anna refused to cope with the decision of her parents. In fact, she even decides to sue her parents for medical emancipation and she hires a lawyer. Indeed, as she feels forced by her parents to donate her kidney her life may be at risk by living with only one kidney the rest of her existence.

On one hand, her father understands his daughter and supports her. In fact, it is as if he regrets the way Anna was born. On the other hand, her mother is very angry against Anna and does not understand why she would refuse to help her sister. It is like a betrayal. This disagreement between the father and the mother will create a big fight that may even lead to a divorce.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

My Sister’s Keeper

The document under study is an extract from a novel entitled “My sister’s keeper”, written by Jodi Picoult, published in 2004.

It is about the story of the Fitzgerald family in which one of the daughters has leukemia and requires special needs. Her name is Kate, she was diagnosed when she was 2, now in this extract she is 16. She has a big brother named Jesse who is 18 years old and a little sister whose name is Anna. We have learned that Anna is a medicine baby/savior baby/designed baby because she was born to save her sister. In fact, her genes were specifically chosen to be compatible with her sister’s needs. Indeed, her parents chose to have Anna in order to save Kate. However, the situation is affecting everyone. In fact, the parents do not feel at ease to talk about it. Moreover, Anna may feel that she is only here/alive to be a medicine for her sister. On top of that, Jesse may feel neglected by his parents as well. In this excerpt, we can feel the pain of Anna. In fact, she feels as if she never had a childhood. She feels like a slave for her sister. In addition, she may not be sick, but she has lived her life as if she were. In fact, she feels stuck and limited in this situation. She does not feel free to do whatever she wants. Whenever her sister is hospitalized, Anna has to go with her.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Watch the trailer of "My sister's Keeper" once more and answer the following questions: 1.What do we learn about Anna's action regarding the situation?

2. Why does she act this way? 

3. How does her family react?

 Arguments Pros and Cons Surrogacy

Pros:

It is positive for the surrogate as she can help several family struggling with infertility. For example, one surrogate could help three couples to have children. Every couple had twins.

If people had tried everything to have a child and it did not work, they have the right to hire a surrogate mother to accomplish their dreams and they deserve this right.

Being against surrogacy nowadays, is being narrow-minded because we live in modern times with a lot of technology that can be helpful to achieve your goals.

Cons:

It you are not ready to sacrifice your well-being for a baby, meaning the appearance of pregnancy or that your life is too busy to get pregnant, you are not ready to be a mother.

Adoption is the best way to have a baby, it will also offer a second chance for the life of the child who was not desired and abandoned.

The relationship with the biological mother can be complicated. In fact, when the baby grows up, they can think that the surrogate mother is their real mother. It can be confusing.

The baby may not correspond to the expectations of the parents, and we cannot give it back since there is no after sales department.

The use of poor women in India by Western couples to have their babies through surrogacy is an awful consequence of globalization.  

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Motown: The Music that Changed America

The document under study is an extract from the BBC about the famous American music label Motown. It was published in 2019. We have learned that Motown was created by Berry Gordy on January 12^th 1959. At first, it was called Tamala Records. Then, he borrowed money from his family to create Motown Record Corporation. He used to work with famous African-American artists such as The Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gay…

Motown was very influential back then because it created its own design for modern soul and pop successes, therefore/so/as a consequence/ as a result it inspired other great artists to do the same. Even today, it remains very influential since people are still listening to the classic catalogue of this music label.

(We will continue the study of the rest of the text next time. BE ready!)

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Read the text and answer the rest of the questions.

Be ready for the Oral Comprehension Evaluation on Tuesday, October 10th.

Be ready for the Final Task on Thursday Octobre 12th.

Be ready for the Reading Comprehenion Evaluation on Tuesday, October 17th.

 Qualities to work in a team

Eyal: I am very serious, therefore/so/as a consequence/as a result when I work in a team it will be certain that the result will be positive.

Pierre: I am a good listener, therefore my teammates can share their own opinion so that I can give them some advice.

Marianne: I am a productive person, I like when everything is organized it helps when you have to assimilate tasks in a group.

Victoire: I am always willing to learn new things therefore in a team, I like listening to others’ ideas.

Adrien: I have leadership skills that will be useful to organize a group to work together.

Gabriel: I am structured, it is a good quality to organize the different tasks in a group.

Clara: I am organized, it is helpful to get to the goal.

Luca: I am calm; therefore I do not let my emotions ruin a project if I am angry for example.

Eva A.: To work in a team, I am creative in order to have the right inspiration in order to be successful.

Romy: I am an enthusiastic person therefore it is a good quality to listen to everybody’s opinion.

Sean: I am a good leader because I encourage people to work harder.

Lucie: I am punctual, I do my work always on time.

David-Alexandre: I am a social butterfly, therefore I like to help my other teammates.

Homework: Lean the lesson.

Be ready for your oral production on Friday!

Qualities to Work in a Team

Eva R.: I am very involved when I have to do something I do the best I can.

Louis: I am hardworking and productive as everything I do is effective.

Ruben T. : I am a good listener, indeed I listen to others when they are sharing their ideas.

Maya: I am an extrovert, it can be useful when I talk in a group because I can talk with everyone without being shy.

Anthony: I am energetic and friendly, which is helpful to keep a good atmosphere in teamwork.

Charles: I am independent, because I can work alone without any teammate’s help. On top of that, I have some communication skills, because when I finish my work I can share what I would have done with my teammates.

Raphael: I am really creative, because when I was younger I used to play Legos. As a consequence, nowadays I like to create more projects for everything.

Léon: I am very organized. I like when things are done well and when tasks are spread equally to every group member.

Gihara: I am open-minded, it can be useful because I can find some great ideas for the group and then talk about it with the rest of the group.

Harry: I think I am creative because I think I can find a topic to deal with easily.

Arthur: I am flexible, therefore people can give me different tasks to do.

Ruben I. : I am encouraging as I know how to use kind words to encourage my teammates.

Noémie : I am very concentrated in order to finish a work as fast as possible.  

Homework: Lean the lesson.

Be ready for your oral production on Friday!