Myths and Heroes

MYTHS AND HEROES

Myths :

→ legends, stories about gods, half-gods ;

        Magic and heroes ;

        Fantastic/supernatural stories ;

→ A popular belief, tradition of a society.

American myths : 

The American Dreams :

→ belief of a better life ;

→ belief they'll / learn money / become rich ;

→ belief of freedom ;

→ realize your dream(s).

Heroes :

Everyday heroes :

→ saving people ;

→ helping people ;

A heroe is a : 

→ rôle model ;

→ an example ;

→ someone you admire

        > brave/courageous ;

        > generous/not selfish ;

        > fearless/daring ;

• A heroe risk his life for other.

Superheroes :

• Have superpower (fly)

→ protects cities ;

→ not real people ;

→ defend what is bad against good (Captain America against the Nazis).

Mythological heroes :

• Great strenght and ability ;

• Notion of quest.

The Pilgrim Fathers (1)

1/ Who were the Pilgrim Fathers ? 

→ The Pilgrim Fathers were religious people who decided to emigrate.

2/ Where did they come from ?

→ They came from England.

3/ Why did they emigrate to America ?

→ Because in England, they were persecuted and were not allowed to practise their religion freely.

4/ When did they emigrate ? 

→ They left England and founded the colony in 1620.

5/ How did they come to America ? 

→ They boarded on the MayFlower, a big sailing boat and travel across the ocean.

6/ Where did they settle ?

→ They first arrived in Cape Cod then they settled in Plymouth.

7/ What was the name of the first colony ?

→ It was called Plymouth Colony.

8/ What were their living conditions ? 

→ They were poor and very difficult as they arrived in an unknown country in winter. The weather was very cold and they needed food to survive. As a result half of the Pilgrims died during the first winter.

Thanksgiving (2)

It is celebrated on the third Thursday of november every year.

Americans invite their family or friends to eat the traditional thanksgiving meal (roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, cramberry sauce, peas, corn, pie).

The pardon of the turkey = each year the president of the USA saves a turkey, he delivers a speech at the Whith House and the turkey is sent to a farm to have a peaceful life.

The Americans give thanks to their families, friends or express they happy feelings.

The day after Thanksgiving  is called Black Friday, it's a day of big sales eductions when the Americans do their christmas shopping.

Some people say that today Thanksgiving is more commercial than traditionnal.

En référence avec le texte et la carte. 

Thanksgiving painting

This document is a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris which represents the First Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans.

In this scene, they are having a good time, the Pilgrims are serving, giving food to the Natives to thank them for their help.

However, we can see the differences between the two, the Pilgrims are wearing clothes whereas the Indians are just wearing their traditional costume. They are sitting down on the ground which is an inferior position.

One man is wearing a helmet and a sword as if he were going to war. Here the Natives are the guests in their own land.

Finally, we understand what was going to come after, the massacre of Natives by the whites to get power to get the land.

Can we consider the Pilgrim Fathers as heroes ?

The answer to the question is twofold.

On the one hand, the Pilgrims are heroes because they risked their life to get a better life and to practise their religion freely. Moreover, they fought for freedom and decided to leave their home for an unknown country.

On the other hand, we can't say that they are real heroes as we know that they killed/massacred many native americans as they wanted the land and the control of this land.

At first, they were friendly with the natives as they needed them to survive but their attitude changed and they acted as white colonizers who imposed their opinions, laws, rules, religion.

In fact, they did exactly what was done to them in England, they were persecuted and then they persecuted the natives.

The myth of Thanksgiving ? 

First, we don't know for sure if the First Thanksgiving really existed.

However, we can say that it is not a myth as the Pilgrims really thanked the Indians for their help ans were sincere at the time. Moreover, in the past it was something usual to go on a new land and colonize it. But we can believe that this ccelebration was invented by the Pilgrims as they wanted to give a good image of them selves and maybe apologize for their crimes.

In conclusion, myth or not Thanksgiving is celebrated every year in the USA, it is a very important event for Americans who are celebrating a massacre, a lie, ….

Compréhension Orale : American Indians.(3)

Natives/fishing/hunting/thanksgiving/murdered by the pilgrims/traditional clothes/faithful to their traditions.

They live in reservations where they can keep thir traditions and way of life (live in tents, cook on fire, …).

Document : interview

Quand : today

Où : in the USA, in a room (we can hear chairs moving)

Qui : one man, a native american ''we''

Type : he is talking about the situation of american.

Information on the man speaking : 

An American Indian, he is speaking about his job.

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