Squence 1: HEROES

NOTIONS: Myths and heroes/ places and forms

of power ----- The means and media used to
portray heroes
Au del de la dfinition mme du hros, la problmatique
de cette unit traite des diffrentes reprsentations des
hros travers diffrents mdias.
Les sous-problmatiques sont :
la dfinition de la notion de hros ; les diffrents
moyens et mdias utiliss pour reprsenter des hros ; la
vracit, lobjectivit des reprsentations ; lambivalence
de lhrosme ; les conditions de lhrosme, en termes de
lieu et de moment ; limpact de laction des hros.
Chaque support permet dexplorer plusieurs sousproblmatiques ; en fonction des supports travaills,

sance1: introduction/definition
DOC: A1

Firefighters honour first responders1 of 9/11 Twin

Towers Attacks, 11th September 2011.
1. First responders = personnes ayant apport les
premiers secours.
1. Look and react
a. Who is honoured here and why?
b. What do you think the crowd is looking at? Why?
c. Identify the focal point of the photograph. Comment on the
photographer's intention.
d. Discuss the heroic dimension of firefighters and first responders. Is
there any difference in the degree of heroism?
2. Read and react
DOC:A2 "Maybe there is no such thing as heroes, maybe
they are just people like my dad. Heroes are something we

create, something we need."

From Clint Eastwood's film, Flags of our fathers.
a. Relate this quotation to the picture above.
3. Now interact
a. Use the ideas evoked in documents A and B to discuss what makes a
hero.

Correction
a. Who is honoured here and why?
The first responders and the fire-fighters who died on 9/11 are honoured
because they paid with their lives to save people from the Twin Towers
after the terrorist attack.
b. What do you think the crowd is looking at? Why?
A flag hoisted on a pole / a band playing the national anthem / someone
delivering a tribute speech / a stele engraved with names of the dead firefighters. They focus on the same point to show their unity, their sympathy
for the deceased but also their respect and emotion.
c. Identify the focal point of the photograph. Comment on the
photographer's intention.
Focal point: red helmet on a young mans heart. Photographers intention:
underline the emotion of the moment / red colour: blood, sacrifice / heart:
pain, sorrow, emotion. Si lent crowd: human communion in memory of the
victims and against the atrocities of terrorism.
d. Discuss the heroic dimension of firefighters and first responders. Is
there any difference in the degree of heroism?
Hero = great feat + bravery. Fire-fighters and first responders correspond
to the definition: didnt refuse to go, didnt have a selfish attitude. Firefighters are professionals: it is their duty to save lives. First responders
are innocent passers by whose impulsive reaction is motivated by their
sense of humanity and the urgency of the situation: they are even more
heroic

Homework mardi 19-9-16: crire un paragraphe

dau moins 40 mots en rponse Doc A 2. Read and
react
I finally came to the conclusion that maybe he was right. Maybe theres
no such thing as heroes. Maybe there are just people like my dad. I finally
came to understand why they were so uncomfortable being called
heroes. Heroes are something we create, something we need. Its a way
for us to understand whats almost incomprehensible, how people could
sacrifice so much for us, but for my dad and these men, the risks they
took, the wounds they suffered, they did that for their buddies. They may
have fought for their country but they died for their friends. For the man in
front, for the man beside him, and if we wish to truly honor these men we
should remember them the way they really were, the way my dad
remembered them.

Photo + quote: ordinary / everyday people not necessarily one great

feat, but many minor ones.
Quote: gap between what people are (ordinary people) and what we
make of them (heroes) the very reality of heroes is challenged yet,
necessity to identify to heroes, so we create some.
Photo + quote: fire-fighters are saving lives every day oxymoron:
ordinary heroes need to find heroes + gratitude because it is something
we need.
CO: Hers's to the crazy ones.
You will watch a video about "The Crazy Ones":
A-imagine who the "crazy ones" may be refering to?
B- Who are the people appeared in the video?
according to you , what do they all have in common?
C- Now listen and fill in the script.

https://youtu.be/xNwrINTACak

Heres to the crazy ones

THINK DIFFERENT ! "HERE'S TO THE CRAZY ONES "

Heres to the...................... ........................

The.. .............., the ..............., the .................,
the ........ ........ in the ........ ... the ...........who
........things ............Theyre not........ of ............, and they
have no .............. for the status quo. You can.........

them, .......... with them, .......or ........... them, but the only
thing you ......... do is......... them because
they .......... .............They......... the human .......... ............
and while some....... see them as the....... ..........., ......
see .........., because the .............who are ............ enough
to .......... that they can....... the.........., are
the .......... ........ .....

CLOZE TEST
To what extent , could Steve Jobs be regarded as a "Crazy One"
and consequently be featured in the commercial as one of "The Crazy Ones" !

sance2:From RP to Obama---freedom heroes--

This simple slogan which movingly connects

the PAST to the PRESENT is highly symbolical
as it refers to 3 iconic Black figures (=
activists / leaders/ Freedom fighters) of the
Civil Right Movement.
These 3 people are of course symbols for the
millions of dedicated Americans who work
tirelessly for Justice and Peace. Rosa Parks
(1913-2005) was an African American Civil
Rights activist whom the US Congress later
called their Mother of the Modern- Day Civil
Rights Movement . The quote refers to that
December Day (1st) of 1955 when Parks ,
aged 42 , refused to obey as she was ordered
by bus driver James Blake to give up her seat
to make room for a white passenger. Parks act
of defiance became an important symbol of the
modern Civil Rights Movement and thus
became an international icon of resistance to
racial segregation. She organized and
collaborated with Civil Rights leaders ,
including Boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr.,
helping to launch him to national prominence
in the Civil Rights Movement. Both Freedom
fighters whose non-violent fight triggered
change and stirred people to action have
become historical figures , not only in the US
but also worldwide. As for Barack Obama the

quote reminds us that 4 years ago, he was the

Black man who managed to inspire not only a
new generation of African Americans to set
higher goals and look beyond themselves, but
also the whole nation who was hungry for
CHANGE ! The 4 verbs, sit, walk, run and fly
are increasingly strong and underline the
progression of the Freedom Movement. This
quote which was originally a text message from
a 19-year old single mother addressed to the
Democratic party Chairman, Khari Mosley
during the 2008 election quickly became an
election campaign quote which seemed like a
tribute to the new President Elect, Barack
Obama who had made promises of Hope and
Change in his 2008 presidential campaign.

Phonic Flash /hr/ /nr/ /hrr/ /has/ /ar/

/nst/ /hat/ /er/ /hju:mn/ /hgr/
1. Look and react
Background information
Mr. Brainwash is a Los Angeles based street artist of French origin whose
real name is Thierry Guetta. He designed this mural dedicated to Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and President Barack Obama on the
wall of his studio in Los Angeles. For further information about the artist,
you can visit his website: http://www.mrbrainwash.com/about/about.html
a. Name the 3 people portrayed here and use the data bank to comment
on their roles in the history of American Civil Rights.
b. Analyse the use of colours and explain what it symbolises.
c. Comment on the street artist's intention and the impact of this mural on
passersby.
d. Discuss which of the 3 figures are heroes.

voc
have the right to. = avoir le droit de
be segregated/ be separated = tre spar (racisme)
desgregation = tre uni / unifi
belief = une croyance
dream / fulfil one's dream = un rve / raliser un
rve
struggle/ fight = une lutte / un combat
be commited to sth = tre engag /pour qlq chose
be a role model = tre un exemple/ un modle
stick together= rester solidaires
make a difference= changer les choses
defend a cause = dfendre une cause
set sb free= librer quelqu'un
adress an issue=s'attaquer un problme
sacrifice oneself = se sacrifier

vcorrection:
a. Name the 3 people portrayed here and use the data bank to
comment on their roles in the history of American Civil Rights.
Rosa Parks: at the origin of the event that will boost the civil rights
movement in the USA dared to oppose segregation laws showed
strength and bravery. Martin Luther King Junior: led the bus boycott in
Montgomery emerged as a powerful and charismatic leader managed
to make the black condition change passionate advocate of nonviolence and reconciliation. Barack Obama: first black man elected

President of the USA symbol of the fight for equality and of the
evolution of the American society.
b. Analyse the use of colours and explain what it symbolises.
Black and white figures on a bright red background black and white for
the fight for equality between the two communities red for the violence
of that fight, for the blood shed by so many during the segregation years.
c. Comment on the street artist's intention and the impact of this mural
on passersby.Massive portraits of three very famous figures of the
Usa show the continuity of their fight, the link between the three
othem, each one inherited from the previous one fight for the people:
end of the text on the side so WE could fly, as if they had paved the
runway for everyone to take off towards liberty.
Impresses the passersby by its scale, dominating everyone who walks by.
Eye catching because of the red background, imposes itself to the
passerby.
d. Discuss which of the 3 figures are heroes.
Rosa Parks: heroine because of her bravery to oppose segregation laws.
Daring and brave, she challenged the authorities at the risk of her life to
denounce the unjust laws of the time.
Martin Luther King Junior: world known hero for his pacific and tireless
fight for equal rights. He is at the origin of many changes and managed to
gather people around his ideal of a reconciled American society.
Delivered one the most famous speech ever on human equality and
eventually paid with his life the price of his fight.
Barack Obama: heir of the civil rights movement. His performance was to
be elected but contrary to his predecessors he didnt take any risks. May
not be a hero as such, although he will stay as a landmark in US history.
2. Read and react
Background information
Calvin Coolidge uttered these words in 1928 in the address dedicating a
memorial to Col. William Colvill, a Union Colonel in the American civil war.
The whole paragraph is: Heroism is not only in the man but in the
occasion. While there is a certain glamor which attaches itself to the peril
which the highwayman and the bandit incur in their criminal activities, it is
not genuinely heroic. It will not survive analysis. It leads nowhere. Having

no moral quality, it provides no inspiration. It is only a counterfeit of the

reality. If it is remembered at all, it is not as a blessing but as a curse.
"Heroism is not only in the man but in the occasion."
Calvin Coolidge (US President 19231929).
a. Relate this quotation to the picture above.
Quote: heroism is for a cause, no one is a hero just by being himself.
Photo: RP and MLK embraced a noble cause, put
themselves at the service of a fight that went beyond their own self.
B.O(bama) didnt take risks but managed to shake up habits, to impose
himself despite his origins. Quote + photo: both bravery and
circumstances are needed to appear as a hero. This brave behaviour in
specific circumstances must also be at the service of a noble cause to be
considered heroic.
3. Now interact
a. Use the ideas evoked in documents A and B to discuss what makes
a hero.

Homework
HMK( doc sur pronote)

read carefully the quotes from heroic figures and

Human Rights activists and answer these questions:
-What do these quotes tell you about the making of a
hero, the human values heroic figures fight for, their
qualities, their commitment.
-What do these quotes all have in common ?
https://youtu.be/Mx5Mor4DTAA
SELMA interview

Correction think different:

Heres to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the
troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes the
ones who see things differently theyre not fond of rules,
and they have no respect for the status quo. You can
quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the
only thing you cant do is ignore them because they change
things. They push the human race forward, and while
some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius,

because the people who are crazy enough to think that they
can change the world, are the ones who do.
tous les fous, les marginaux, les rebelles, les fauteurs de
troubles tous ceux qui voient les choses diffremment
pas friands des rgles, et aucun respect pour le status
quo Vous pouvez les citer, ne pas tre daccord avec eux,
les glorifier ou les blmer, mais la seule chose que vous ne
pouvez pas faire, cest de les ignorer simplement parce
quils essaient de faire bouger les choses Ils poussent la
race humaine vers lavant, et sils peuvent tre vus comme
des fous parce quil faut tre fou pour penser quon peut
changer le monde ce sont bien eux qui changent le
monde.
Think Different, 1997