Fiche oral myths and heroes

Notion 1:  Myths and heroes

        I am going to talk about the notion of myths and heroes. A hero can be either a fictional or a real person that we consider brave and strong physically and mentally. He is admired for his achievements and who inspires a lot of people thanks to her noble qualities. A hero embodies ethics like honor, generosity… He is an example for everyone.

        A myth is a traditional story related to a country’s culture and history. The whole world knows it since it travels through time, space and borders thanks to people who are constantly telling the stories to their children.

        So, my issue would be: In what extent, do myths and heroes have an impact on our society nowadays?

        First, we’ll see how some people became heroes. Then, we’ll focus on the fact that the American dream is more likely to be a myth.

• Since the beginning of mankind, some people have distinguished themselves by their actions, their words or their qualities and are now considered as heroes in our society.

 Sometimes, the hard life that they had to deal with make people see them as heroes. For instance, we can talk about Steve Jobs. He was an orphan and was adopted by a lower middle class family. He dropped out from school and didn’t graduate. He had nothing to succeed. He started from scratch and yet did revolutionized the world of technology with “Apple”, which was born out of his own garage. In a speech, he said that even when he was fired from the company that he started, he never gave up because he still loved what he did. Thanks to his determination and his smart, he reached the top. Nowadays he is considered as an example of success. They even realized a movie in which they talk about every step he had to undergo in his life. He is the proof that the American Dream exist.

        We can also mention Anita Roddick. In an interview, they said that she is one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs of our time. She created the Body Shop which is a cosmetic company based on the use of natural ingredients. She wanted to change the society, saying that:” we are never remembered for what we do in business, but we are remembered for what we do in society.” Furthermore, she has always supported fair trade but was against animal testing and fought against the current ideal of beauty. And she never gave up this fight. That’s why she is now seen as a hero.

•  Still today some myths exist and people believe in them.

 Indeed, the American dream is the main motivation for the immigrants. They think that in America they will become richer and will be successful. But to reach that, they must have all the papers needed. That’s why, we can say that the American dream is more likely to be a myth than a reality. Indeed, if some immigrants succeed, others don’t have this chance. In a listening untitled “The wall” we learn that there is a border fence between the United States and Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants from Mexico from entering the United States. Parts of the border are protected by a network of electronic sensors such as cameras and high-flying drones that can see for more than 300 miles.  The fence is also surrounded by border patrols and FBI agents. This fence is used to avoid drug dealing and to limit violence related to drugs. So, we can say that this document is denouncing the American policy of immigration.

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