Articles

To Build A Fire 1

(Bonjour tout le monde ! Voici la nouvelle activité / séquence. Lisez les consignes bien attentivement, laissez-vous guider, tout est expliqué clairement. Faites d'abord le travail préliminaire que je vous donne en lien, et ensuite, lisez le document pdf joint au message. Bon courage !) Hello there ! I've got something new for you guys. We are going to read all together, because READING IS AWESOME. This time around, we won't be reading an adapted, easy thing. No : we'll read the real thing, an actual piece of American literature.  I present you the great, the splendid, the munificent... Jack London. Together, we'll read one of my favourite short stories ever,  To Build A Fire . I'll try and guide you to it. It's not long, but it could be considered difficult. So why bother reading it ? Well, because... 1. it's a great story, full of suspense and cruelty. 2. it might help you if you in your studies - it's very popular in univer...

Seats & Forms of Power 6 (work from home)

Hey there! Here's the test I told about last week. Be sure to train before taking it! Direct link :  bit.ly /2WVsQXl bit.l You have limited time, and you can only pass it once, so be sure to have everything you need for the test. Pour ce test, veillez à ne pouvoir ne pas être (trop) dérangés pendant une bonne trentaine de minutes. Vous pouvez prendre quelques notes éventuellement, et même si le module est tout à fait compatible avec les portables ou les tablettes, c'est quand même plus confortable sur un ordinateur.  Vous aurez jusqu'à vendredi pour me rendre le test, du coup si ce n'est pas déjà fait entraîner vous avant en cliquant sur le lien que je vous fournis en début d'article. N'hésitez pas à me contacter si vous avez d'autres questions ! See you later guys! Keep up the good work. f.simon PS= vous pourrez consulter vos résultats et la correction sitôt que le test sera clôturé, à cette adresse : https://forms.gle/yuVBiAxMCSa6...

Seats & Forms of Power 5 (work from home)

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Hey there ! I created a training module for you guys, click on the image to access it :  It's probably not perfect, but that's about the best I can do right now. Do your best. There will be a TEST by next week, it will take the form of a module too. Don't forget, if you've got any questions, just ask me! Cheers & take care.

Seats & Forms of Power 4 (work from home)

Hey there. I'll give you work from here regularly, with documents and texts and papers and tests. We still should be on schedule, because we are going to finish this last notion, no matter what! Here's your first activity. We talked a bit about fools and jesters . Just to give you the best of the best, we are going to read a little bit of Shakespearean tragedy : King Lear . We'll read a few passages, but you can read the whole thing if you may. We'll start with Act I, scene 1 . But because it is so difficult to understand, here's a theatrical performance for you, with French subtitles. After you've read / watched the scene, please try and answer the following questions in your notebook: 1. What's going on in this scene? 2. What is the King doing exactly? 3. Can you describe Cordelia? Her two sisters? 4. Can anyone tell the King he is doing a mistake? We'll carry on on part 2! Take care and stay safe. PS= pour celles et ceux qui aurai...

Seats & Forms of Power 3

<-ed> ne se prononce [id] que lorsqu'il est précédé d'un <t> ou d'un <d> exemple: detested / tilted / nodded etc. defined  outstretched walked  social [ch] Fe minism acknowledgement standing on the shoulders of giants / predecessors ! A travailler ! préparer la phase de questions. Comment procéder? - envisager tous les points qui peuvent mériter des éclaircissements (je n'ai pas parlé de telle personne par manque de temps, je n'ai pas pu décrire tel document suffisamment, j'ai choisi de ne pas raconter l'histoire de tel livre, je n'ai pas fait la biographie de telle personne célèbre, etc.) - penser aux lieux communs, aux stéréotypes liés à la notion étudiée (quel est votre héros à vous,c'est quoi un mythe, est-ce que vous connaissez un autre type de lieu de pouvoir, est-ce que vous connaissez un synonyme d'échange, est-ce que le progrès c'est toujours positif, etc.) - ne pas oublier de préparer des justifica...

Seats and Forms of Power 2

Today we started studying a new text entitled Playing The Fool . Here are a few points we made: - the notion of fools became famous with Shakespeare. - the author of this text is Anna Wedlock. It was written in 2008. - a fool could attack the hypocrisy of the court with his honesty. - the text uses historical references. - This is about the Middle Ages. - the text only mentions Henri VIII. - in the Renaissance, the fool was not important. - the fool had influence over the king. - Jane the fool appeared in the family of Henry VIII's portraits. We also evoke the court of the Tudors. The creator of Game of Thrones  was heavily influenced by this period (a terrifying king who killed on a whim, a virgin Queen obeyed by men, etc). It truly was a dangerous moment in time : whoever challenged the king's power could be imprisoned or killed (like Henry VIII's closest advisers T. More and J. Cromwell, who were both killed for advising the King). We can also find these elem...

Seats & Forms of Power

Fools Have The Privilege Of Speaking The Truth Today we started studying the last notion. The engraving ( gravure ) depicted a serious-looking man, with clothes from many centuries ago (not the Middles Ages, but from the Renaissance, early 16th century). He looked important, maybe a monarch or a priest or a noble. At first we thought he was holding a scepter, or maybe he was having a conversation with someone. We also imagined he could be contemplating himself. But he is really considering (looking at) a representation of a fool. The work is entitled FHTPOSTT . Indeed, the figure on the right can't be the representation of the people: no one can openly laugh at (mock) the king without being imprisoned or killed. No one but one person: the court jester. The title reflects that idea.