Myths and Heroes.

_Notion

I’m going to talk about the notion myths and heroes.

This notion deals with the fact that really important people were born from big events doing amazing gestures for our today society.

_Theme

I would like to illustrate this notion through the theme go rocking the boat.

To rock the boat means to disturb the routine go something usual. It means that you change something radically that is used to be the same.

This theme of rocking the boat has been illustrated by a grand number of great people that broke the rules, that stand out from the crowd for a cause they strongly believe in.

_Question

We may wonder how and what in what circumstances have people been forced to revolt and go against the flow ?

_Layout

In order to illustrate the notion and answer this question, I have chosen three documents. In my opinion, the ones which best illustrate the notions are Douglas’s Kennedy text from his book State of the Union, the hippie cartoon and the Andy A Rooney text, « how to be a good politician »

_Documents

Our first document is an extract of a book written by Andy A. Rooney called Word for Word and published in 1986. The author wants to point out what it needs to be a good politician. He underlines the fact that to be a potential candidate you have to be honest, spontaneous and give quick answers. Although, we can notice that there is a shift going from questions linked with strong social issues to private uninteresting questions but seem to play a big role in getting to know the candidate better, to see who he truly is. The controversial side is that we know that all these personnel questions are never being answered honestly by the candidates, otherwise they would never be elected. The author uses irony and humour to portray politicians. In other words, if they want to have a successful political career, they have to tell lies. Saying such a thing may first appear paradoxical, but it seems to sum up very well what most people think of politicians. —> The author rocks the boat because he is saying out loud what everyone thinks.

Our second document is a cartoon. It shows a CEO of a Major Company. He is the CEO is dressed rather surprisingly. He has got a flower in his very long hair. No shirt, no tie, no suit for him but a flashy tunic and red bell-bottomed trousers. He has brought his guitar and put it on his armchair. The other people around the table look surprised/astonished because this is really a unconventional situation. They can hardly believe their eyes. And I think that is what the author wanted to denounce : this judgmental side of the society. However he remains the CEO and there is why he becomes a hero : he appears as a role model for his employees, therefore he is very influential. He is showing that the myth of the 60’s is still alive. The CEO wants to change these conventional rules and he has the courage to express freely who he really is which makes him a hero.

Our third and last document is an extract of a novel called « State of Union »

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