Sugar Tax

The document under study is a news report from CGTN Africa, published in  2017. It deals with a South African eco-artist whose name is Mbongeni Buthelezi who created pieces of art from plastic cuts that he took from junk food (plastic packaging from sugary drinks or snacks). The name of his exhibition is called Sugar Tax. His message is to denounce the sugar tax in South Africa and to share his history. Moreover, he also wants to make a balance between the environment and what we consume as a society. Indeed, everything can be problematic if it is not well managed.

In his artworks, he represents people surrounding him in the everyday life such as his relatives mainly and some friends. He shares his story.

Finally, he exhibits his work in African Art Museum in New York City, in the Van Gogh Museum in Germany and in Prague. The aim is to reach the whole world and show waste in a different way as it can be a symbol of hope.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Melting Away, Camille Seaman a photographer eco-artist.

The document under study is an interview of Camille Seaman an eco-artist and a photographer. The scene takes place in Alaska, North America. It is considered as being America’s ground zero for climate change, meaning it is the place where we will see the real impact of global warming.

We have learned that Camille Seaman is from California, she is a city girl. When her parents divorced, she went to live in New York State near her grandparents. Her grandmother liked to garden and fish, and her grandfather taught her that everything was connected to nature. She learned that nature is to be respected. Indeed, her grandparents were Native Americans.

C. Seaman came to Alaska to create art. Her point of view evolved on climate change because of what she heard from the scientists and what she saw through her photographer journey. Moreover, as she has a daughter, she is concerned about the future of our planet. Indeed, she wants her grandchildren to see the beautiful landscapes that should be preserved the best we can otherwise they will become myths and legends as everything might disappear because of global warming.

On top of that, the scientists confirm that the situation is critical and it is our job to change it and protect the climate.

To conclude, the message through her pictures is that she wants to show that the world is decaying/degrading. She wants to raise awareness on this issue and bring out attention to the whole world to show nice places of the world that are changing because of us.

Dear Students, 

It is indeed almost the end of the year, but we are not there yet! 

I wish you to spend a nice break! Take some time to rest and take care of yourselves. Meanwhile, organize yourselves to make the best of this break to do the work you need to do before going back to school!

I count on you guys!

All the best,

Mrs. Wagnac

An Unfulfilled Dream

Group 1

The document under study is a song extract entitled “Like a King”, sung by Ben Harper, released in 1992. In this song, the singer is denouncing police brutality on the African-American community, especially on Rodney King, a black man who was a victim of police brutality in 1991 in Los Angeles.

Group 2

The document under study is a song extract entitled “Sister Rosa”, sung by The Neville Brothers, released in 1989. The person mentioned in this extract is the famous activist Rosa Parks. This song is paying a tribute to her actions and legacy in the Civil Rights Movement.

Group 3

The documents under study are two quotes from famous African-American female writers Toni Morrison (a novelist) and Maya Angelou (a poet). Morrison is saying that black people always have to prove that they deserve their human rights even if segregation is over. It is an ongoing battle.

(We will continue the study of these extracts next time. Be ready!)

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Be ready for a Reading Comprehension Evaluation on the Theme of the Chapter on Tuesday April 29th.

Be ready fot the Final Task: Talk Show Time Celebrating African-American History in Films.

On Friday, May 2nd.

Enjoy Your Vacation! 😉

We’ll make it work!

The document under study is an extract of an article from the British newspaper the Guardian, published in 2018. It deals with Jacinda Arden, New Zealand Prime Minister at the time who had a child six weeks before going back to work.

Her life partner/husband is Clark Gayford, they had a daughter named Neve. We have learned that her husband does not have a job. She considers him as being a full parent as her, therefore he should care of the baby as much as she does. Hence, she feels lucky to have him as a life partner because he takes his responsibilities as a parent seriously.

The impact of her actions on other mother could on one hand inspiring because she just gave birth and she is already working full time, meaning she is not putting her career a side. She is showing that she can be a mother and at the same time handling her professional career successfully. Moreover, the fact that the PM she took a break of 6 weeks while having a stressful and important job aims at signaling to all of the women in the world that whatever your job is, you have the right and the need to take a break to recover after giving birth.

On the other hand, the fact that she goes back to work that quickly may make some women feel guilty about taking a longer break. They may feel the urge to go back to work earlier as this woman of power is showing another example. Some women would need more time to rest and to take care of their child for example.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Enjoy your vacation! 😉

An Unfulfilled Dream

Group 1

The document under study is an extract from a song entitled “Like a King” by Ben Harper, released in 1992.

The people mentioned in this extract are the famous African-American pastor, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rodney King, an African-American man who was a victim of police brutality in Los Angeles in 1991.

Group 2

The document under study is an extract from a song entitled “Sister Rosa”, by the Neville Brothers, released in 1989. It is about the story of Rosa Parks, her actions and the consequences of her actions.

Group 3

The documents under study are two quotes from two famous African-American female writers: Toni Morrison, a novelist and Maya Angelou, a poet. Morrison is saying that even today, despite the fact that segregation is over, she feels that as a black person she still has to claim for a freedom.

(We will continue the study of these extracts next time. Be ready!)

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Be ready for a Reading Comprehension Evaluation on the Theme of the Chapter on Tuesday April 29th.

Be ready fot the Final Task: Talk Show Time Celebrating African-American History in Films.

On Friday, May 2nd.

Enjoy Your Vacation! 😉

 A Silence That Speaks Volumes (Part 2)

The document under study is a news report from Al Jazeera English published in 2017. It is about the famous African-American NFL player Colin Kaepernick who protested during the national anthem by putting a knee down to denounce police brutality against African-Americans. To do so, he had to be very courageous. At the time of the action, he was 29 years old. His action was significant as it went viral in the media, even Trump mentioned it in one of his rallies. In the mid-time, the Black lives Matter movement was also growing due to the mistreatment black people were going through in that period.

As a consequence, Kaepernick lost his contract with his NFL team. No other team wanted to hire him. On top of that, his detractors were saying that the reason why no team wanted to have him was not because of his protest action but because of his athletic performance that was degrading. Eventually, Kaepernick suffered from a form of injustice because the NFL used him as an example to intimidate the other players.

Nevertheless, there are still some protest gestures done by other athletes even nowadays as Keapernick started a sort of movement.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Be ready for a Reading Comprehension on the Theme of the Chapter on Tuesday April 29th

Artists’ thoughts

The document under study is a collection of different quotes from eco-artists. They explain their vision of art and its impact on the society. All these artists are working towards a greener future by collecting waste to use in their art in order to raise awareness on global warming and other environmental issues.

These quotes illustrate the idea that eco-art is changing the world by changing our view on consuming. Moreover, through their pieces of art, they are warning us. Besides, artists and scientists complement one another by helping people understand the current issues.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Art + Sustainability 

The document under study is an article from a website entitled “Incandescent Cloud”, published in 2014. It deals with an artwork entitled “Cloud art” created by Caitlind Brown and Wayne Garrett. They are Canadian from Calgary. They exhibited their piece of art in Singapore.

To create their artwork, they used sustainable, recycled materials such as burnt out light bulbs and scrapyard steel. 

Through their artwork, the artists want to denounce the negative impacts of humans on the climate and how it affects climate change. 

They feel legitimate as artists to spread their message because they have a different perspective on the world from ordinary people. Hence/therefore, their goal is to wake people up by making them aware of the circumstances and encourage them to change their mindsets and habits.

This artwork illustrates climate change because it is a mix of nature and human inventions. We can see how nature is impacted by pollution created through humans’ actions as the light bulbs become a cloud. Besides, the fact that people can interact with it by switching the light bulbs on and off can help them to understand their impact on the climate individually and collectively.

To conclude, this artwork promotes sustainability and inspire positive action because it was created with recycled light bulbs and it inspires positive action because people can understand the message and react to it as they can manipulate the sculpture. 

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 #HeForShe

The document under study is a video for the campaign #HeForShe, published in 2014. In this video, men are interviewed to talk about the way they perceive gender inequalities and the way women are treated.

The advice that is given is that, one should be able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and imagine if they would like how their sisters, mothers or daughters would be treated. Indeed, these men became aware that people close to them could be the victims of gender inequalities.

Moreover, they said that men should change their chauvinistic attitude (to think that they are superior to women) towards women, because if they don’t, nothing will change. Men are the ones who put women in their unfair situations, therefore, they are the only one and have the responsibility to change their conditions. To finish with, one activist even said that women are by right the pillars of our societies. It means that without them societies cannot exist or function properly.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 #HeForShe

The document under study is a video for the campaign called #HeForShe, published in 2014 by heforshe.org. It is an organization mainly composed of men who defend women’s rights

In the video, we can hear the opinions of several men who explain why it is important to defend women’s rights. Moreover, they are denouncing the existing inequalities that women have to face in the society.

They advise the viewers to put themselves in women’s shoes to sympathize with them and find solutions to improve their situation. On top of that, as men they need to change their attitude/behavior towards women. They know that their behavior is responsible for the daily mistreatment that women suffer from unlike men.

Besides, they all mentioned that they all have wives, sisters, mothers… They become aware that people close to them are impacted by these social inequalities that are completely unfair. Eventually, one said that women are the pillars of our societies the latter cannot exist without women.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 A Silence that Speaks Volumes (Part 1)

The document under study is a news report from CBS News, published in 2016. There is an interview of the famous African-American track and field athlete Tommie Smith. In fact, him along with his colleague, John Carlos, had been invited to the White House to be honored by Barack Obama nearly 50 years after their protest gesture on the victory stand.

At the time, they felt the need to protest on the victory stand because there were still inequalities in the USA regarding the Black community despite the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Their action was controversial, they were hated and vilified because of it. This showed that things needed to change. As a consequence, they lost their medals back then. On top of that, they were banned from the Olympic community for decades. Nevertheless, in 2016, thanks to Obama who decided to honor them for their protest gesture and their victory because they paved the way for the future generations to speak out against inequalities. Indeed, nowadays a new generation of athletes continue to protest in their fields.

Homework: Learn the lesson.