Notion d’anglais : « Myths and Heroes »

Notion d’anglais : « Myths and Heroes »

First of all, I’m going to talk about the notion « Myths and Heroes ». I will define the term myth and the term hero. A myth it is a traditional story concerning the early history of a people or a nation or a story explaining some natural or sociological phenonmenon. A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for his exceptional qualities : strenght, courage… They are people who fight for a cause. Heroes are sometimes regarded as a model or an ideal. For example, Superman is a science-fiction hero who saves lives. Nevertheless, in the real life there are also heroes. Nelson Mandela is a hero for fighting racial segregation in South Africa. The notion « Myths and Heroes » and what we saw in the classroom are linked. For example, we saw that Gandhi fought for Indian independance and for Indian’s civil rights. So we can say that Gandhi is a hero in that he achieved greatness and contributed to making India the country we know today.

The myth refers to fabulous and symbolic stories of the oral heritage of the communities. They are usually characterised by the image of the hero. The study of myths makes it possible to understand how myths are constructed and interpreted in terms of time and space. Heroes can be linked to myths or be real people, but whoever they are, they stand out by their actions and words.

So, what is the importance of myths and heroes in our society ?

Myths allows us to see or explain the world around us. For example, the American dream gives us an insight into individual determination everyone can achieve their goals and succeed. We can see this throught the numerous rag-to-riches stories. Myths are stories which are transmitted. Moreover, heroes act as role models and they influence the way we see thinks and influence our behaviour in order for us to be like them. Heroes give us ideals and motivate us to act in certain ways and in the case of Martin Luther King may encourage us to take action against inequalities. Martin Luther King was inspired by Gandhi. But, there is also the myth of the cowboy. The cowboy embody American values because the cowboy has powers over the rest of the population as the America has powers over the others countries. The cowboys are icons of liberty, courage and resilience. They are also the symbol of the conquest of the wild west or the frontier.

To conclude, what is the importance of myths and heroes in our society ?

In my opinion, the myths and the heroes are very important in the history of the world because thanks to the myths and the heroes the world has a history. They are also very important for children, they need to hear stories that make them dream and that they are interested in different myths and heroes.

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