Anglais - myths and heroes

Myths and heroes

Introduction:

        I am going to talk about the idea of myths and heroes. Throw-out this oral I am going to answer the following question: “How do Scottish myths and heroes participate in the national spirit of defiance?” First of all, I would like to give a definition of this notion: a myth is a story that can be a popular belief, a tradition or a false fiction. As for heroes, the term can apply for diverse types of people such as marvels characters with super powers, real persons involved in our everyday lives or even people who left a mark in history. This year in class we studied several documents about Scottish myths and heroes, so to answer this question I will present three documents the first one is an audio record about the history of the famous tartan, the second is an extract of the movie “Braveheart” and the last one is a text about the tennis player Andy Murray.  

1. Mythic emblems

        Scotland has many emblems and heroes. For example, the hymn “Scot Wha Hae”, the thistle, the pipes and of course the tartan. We studied the tartan by listening to an audio record who explained the history of this traditional cloth. This piece of clothing recalls many different stories, to begin with it sends us back to the middle of the 18th century when after beginning defeated by the English the Scottish decided to wear it in an act of defiance because it had been banned by the British. It also played a role when Allan Mcbean planted the tartan flag on the surface of the moon. And finally, nowadays new patterns of tartan are designed to evoke a specific community’s history. The tartan represents the idea of respecting one’s past, family and belonging to a land therefore to a nation or a community.

1. The historical spirit of defiance

        The Scots have been defying the English for centuries and they are still defying them today. We studied an extract of a film called "Braveheart" where the hero William Wallace gives a speech to his army to encourage them to follow him in his fight against the United Kingdom during the first war of Scottish independence, who opposed Scottish people to the British occupation of the King Edouard First of England. This film is both a historical drama and a war epic movie which tells the story of the Scottish historical leader William Wallace, who fought William Wallace is a legendary figure not only because he is a historic, patriotic hero but also because his story has been adapted to the big screen. The real historic figure has been modified for the film and the romantic side embellished so as to turn him into a mythical warrior. I think we need heroes like William Wallace because there are inspirational men. They don't hesitate to endanger their life in name of values like liberty and equality, notions which are not necessarily spread all over the world even today.

1. Today’s spirit of defiance

         The spirit of defiance is still present today in politics and sports. We studied a text about a Scottish tennis player, Andy Murray who is one of the best of his time, he opposed a match of real resistance. He is celebrated in Scotland because although he was defeated in the end by Djokovic in the Australian open final he stood up for himself and challenged his opponent throughout the match. Andy Murray is a significant cultural icon and he evokes the traditional of defiance.Today Scottish heroes are no longer warriors who show their valor in times of war, they are ordinary people who have a special talent such as sportsmen or politicians. However, their role has not changed because they still represent and fight for their nation.

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