Définitions des quatre notions du BAC anglais

La définition des 4 notions

1. Myths and heroes:

A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief or a tradition or a false notion. A hero can be a mythological figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, a superhero or maybe a role model or an icon.

 Examples can be:

– a patriotic or national hero (sportsman, politician, human rights defender…..)

– a fictitious hero (superhero or film star)

– an icon or role model (fashion, tv, music)

– a defender of common values

– a politician/king/queen who has achieved international recognition

2.  Locations and forms of power: (also called Places and forms of power or Seats and forms of power)

In politics and social science, power is the ability to influence the behavior of people. In order to live together members of a community accept rules, regulations, laws. This helps to create social cohesion but can also lead to conflicts and tensions. Even when authority seems absolute, there are always counter-powers which question it, aim at limiting its excesses and resist it.

 Examples can be:

– the power of the media (reality tv, internet v written press)

– Financial power (the power of money)

– Inequalities between blacks and whites – the fight against oppression and segregation (South Africa, USA)

– The American Dream

– The Civil Rights movement and political recognition : Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X (can also be linked to the notion of Myths and Heroes)

3. The idea of Progress

The idea of progress can be defined as an improvement, a development or a change – a technical, scientific or social advance which contributes to making the world a better place.

 Examples can be:

– Scientific Progress – Medical advances, cures for illnesses, cloning, performance enhancing drugs,   genetically modified organisms.

– Technological Progress-  technologies to slow down climate change such as hybrid cars, wind turbines, solar panels, biofuel…..

advances in communication:  the internet, social media, mobile phones, video games – how      they have changed our lives and the dangers of these modern ways of communication

Robots, automated production

Nuclear Power – for and against

–  Social Progress: changes in the quality of life – how does progress affect our society?

Education, employment, equality, family life

Women’s rights, human rights, minority rights ……

The idea of liberty, freedom, democracy

 4. Spaces and Exchanges

This notion deals with the geographical and symbolic areas that all societies occupy and the interactions between men and different societies. Our world is built on the exploration and conquest of new spaces. The different cultural, economic, sociological and language interactions have shaped and characterised our modern-day world.

 Examples can be:

– Trade (the basis of all societies)

– Working conditions (telecommuting, internet)

– Globalization (the world has become a small village)

– School and education (social diversity / knowledge)  comparison of the different educational systems

– The Internet / social networks…

– the movement of people: Immigration

– movement across borders (Gap Year)

 Myths and Heroes 

I am going to deal with the notion of Myths and Heroes. A myth is usually a popular belief or story that explains natural or social phenomenon and which often involves fabulous being or events. Every culture has its own myths. For instance, the Greeks thought that when there was a storm it means that Zeus was angry. A hero is a person who is admired for his achievements and his example qualities. We will analyze different kinds of heroes and myths in order to define the notion.

I Heroes

Heroes are people who accomplished great actions and represent our fundamental values meaning courage, kindness, generosity and so on.

Those men dedicated themselves to others, and brought peace and justice to their land, so they were heroes. Gandhi is an example of heroes. Gandhi was born in Gujarat, Western India in 1869. After studying law in London, he fought for setting free India from British Empire. Gandhi was a non-violent activist and he decided to organize the civil disobedience movement. This movement wants to fight for the independence, organizing boycotts of British goods and by protest marches against British measures such as the salt tax. Gandhi was imprisoned by the British but he does not give up. He went on a hunger strike to support this cause. Unfortunately, he was assassinated by a fanatic because of his tolerance. Shortly after, Indian became Independent in 1948.

Gandhi is a hero because he is brave and he sacrificed his life from the Independence of India. We considered him as hero also because of his peaceful resistance that he preached during his fight. Moreover, he inspired later other heroes such as Martin Luther King who fought the rights of blacks in the USA.

We admire heroes because it gives us hope and courage. Beside, that aspect of the hero is sometimes used for propaganda. During the cold war, the two superpowers use heroes to show their strength. Stakhanov was a hero throughout the country because of his records in extraction of coal.

SPACES AND EXCHANGES

The notion I am going to deal with is Spaces and Exchanges. Nowadays, the different spaces of the worlds are connected with each other and they exchange. The first thing that comes to my mind is globalization. Today, there are migrations, communications, and trade between all countries in the world. Actually, the progress of transportation and telecommunications has accelerated the rhythm of exchanges.

As Paul Auster wrote, we are the product of prehistoric migrations. Therefore, Ill talk about colonization, immigration and globalization.

I COLONIZATION

First of all, I am going to talk about migrations of people. Globalization has increased migrations but they have always existed.

Actually, the humans being always want to discover new territories. It is in his nature. Thus, the humans sought to conquer new territories. For instance, Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. Shortly after, a lot of people decided to settle there. The country of the United States of America is thus, the product of movement of people. That country was actually founded by migrants from France, Spain, Netherland and the UK. Then, Triangular trade has formed the important African community in the USA. Besides, during the 20th century, the Europeans colonized Africa.

These different colorizations of territories changed culture and language of the colonized territory. The Native and migrants encounter and that is why Paul wrote that we are the product of migrations. All these migrations explained the multicultural world of today.

This will to conquer the world continue until Space with the first step on the Moon in 1969.

Today, students also are in search of new territories, new cultures and languages. After finishing secondary school, an increasing number of students choose to take a gap year in order to travel and discover another country.

II IMMIGRATIONS

Now, I am going to talk about immigration. A long time ago in particular during the Industrial Revolution and The glorious thirty, immigration was necessary for countries. They needed labor force. Thus, the industrial countries such as the USA or European countries, have welcomed a lot of migrants.

However, nowadays, immigration poses a problem in developed countries. Because of the crisis, they cant welcome all the migrants. The USA is for instance is a country which refused a very important number of migrants. Migrants think that in the USA all is possible. Everybody has in his mind the Myth of the American Dream: everyone can become rich with hard work and determination. That is why, some migrants who want to settle in the USA at all costs and decide to cross the border illegally. They risk their life to cross the border. The number of illegal immigrants entering the US from Mexico is falling. The border between Mexico and the USA is the most crossed over in the world.

Thus, the USA refuses a lot of migrants even if it is a chance for country. In fact, we studied a text that explains the migrants boost the economy. Four out of ten of our largest companies, for example, were founded by immigrants or their children, including Yahoo, Intel, Google or Ebay. Sergey Brin the co-founder of Google is from Russia. The co-founder of Yahoo is from Taiwan.

III GLOBALIZATION

Finally, we can explain this notion without talking about globalization. Nowadays, we are in a global world. This means most of things we consume are made overseas thanks to the progress of transportation and telecommunications. Globalization does not concern only economic exchanges but also culture. We all have access to foreign cultures through books, movies, music or food. Foreign food is trendy. The American Way of life in particular was spread to the whole world. Coca cola and Macdonald are emblematic of this culture. Today, colonization is over but through migrations people exchange their customs, ways of life. For instance, Asians try to adopt Western style fashion. We have access to foreign cultures thanks to the Internet. Moreover, low cost travelling has enabled millions people to fly all over the world. We can see for instance an increasing number of Asians tourists in Europe.