DM ANGLAIS ENTRAINEMENT BAC

COMPREHENSION

1. The narrator is an outside narrator. The only present characters are Hannah and her brother Joseph, and none of them is the narrator :« he said » (l.5) « she said » (l.3).

2. There are twelve characters mentioned in the text : Mr. Arnold, Plugger, Mrs. Gee and her sons Charlie and Barshey, Joseph and Hannah's mother, and Hannah's friends : Maggie Fuller, Polly Andrews, Tilda, Molly Gee and Lilian Ward.

3. Hannah and Joseph are talking about the war, but more precisely, about the place of war in the society : the back line (opposed to the front line). It includes the sadness and nervousness of people in the back line, worrying about the people in the front line, but also their work.

4. The questions of Joseph about how are doing people prove that he stood a long time in the front. But Hannah also says at the lines 36-37 : « Actually she married a fellow in the Royal Flying Corps last year ». It shows that it's been at least one year that Joseph left for the front.

5. We can see that Joseph is badly injured because Hannah checks that her brother can manage his cup of cocoa : « having assured herself that he could manage his [cup] » (l. 7). Joseph also decides to go and see his neighbours and friends when he is « well enough » (ll. 11-13). It means he isn't doing well enough to see his friends.

6. Mr. Arnold needs to keep busy to not think about Plugger's death.

7. Joseph needs decided to visit his neighbours and friends as soon as he's well enough to give them some news. Thet prefer to hear them from Joseph directly.

8. A casualty list is a list of victims from the front.

9. Mrs. Gee already lost one of her child, it's difficult to her to go and check the casualty list because she is afraid to lose one of her childs a second time. She is always nervous.

10. Checking the list of victims is hard for Hannah, because she is always afraid to lose a family's member or a friend, but also because she feels guilty and powerless in front of the people who lost someone, even if she's relieved to know that none of her close relations is dead.

11. Joseph seems to know his sister very well because he knows most of her friends and her habits : « What about your friends ? Maggie Fuller ? Or Polly Andrews ? Or the girl with the curly hair you used to go riding with ? » (ll. 34-35).

12. Hannah and Joseph's mother is dead : « Mother would have known something to say. » (l.32).

13. Hannah idealizes her mother. She seems to have a positive picture of her, that she misses.

14. /

15. Joseph suddenly changes the subject because it's an embarassing topic. He prefers to make her sister smile rather than speaking about a sad subject.

16. The last paragraph focuses on the women's role in the war. In fact, women seem more independent, they work, drive, write letters to men ; they have a real role in the war.

EXPRESSION

Would

...