Doc anglais the prediction

THE PREDICTION  P 147

[pic 1]

“The teacher says that everyone can git to be president. Then how come the whole class falls out laughin’ when I tell ‘em that’s my dream?”

Doc. A                Oliver W. Harrington, Dark laughter, 1960

1 describe it reformulate the caption using formal English

A drawing from 1960  by Oliver W. Harrington. Two young African American boys  are sitting in the shade of a tree by a river. They are wearing hats and dungarees and chatting together quite seriously. Both are barefoot and one of them is holding a fish rod .

2 Interpret and discuss the underlying message.

The teacher says that everyone can become president. Then how come the whole class falls out laughing when I tell that’s my dream? 

Their teacher gave them a message of hope, somehow it echoed the famous phrase from the declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal”, which suggests that everyone can succeed and run for presidency.

The other students burst out laughing because they thought this dream was ridiculous and hopeless.  No hope of reaching the higher rungs of society. 

Beside the cartoon is entitled Dark Laughter, a play on the word/pun  “dark” which refers to both African Americans and to the satirical humor employed here.

Using the innocence of the child’s question the artist underlined the contradiction between the promise of equality and the grim reality.

The artist denounced that this great ideals could not apply to African Americans as they were not treated on an equal footing and had no hope of becoming president.  He wanted Americans to face their own contradictions and solve the problem of racial prejudice.

3 Listen to the recording of James Baldwin, [pic 2] an African American writer in 1965.

...