COURS TER 6

LESSON
THURSDAY 6TH OF NOVEMBER
TER 6


We are not individuals living next to one another but we are a unity, an American.
Barrack H.Obama.
This is a melting pot not a salad bowl
-melting pot means different nationalities melted in a common pot which is the American landto create one individual , one nationality = An American
-salad bowl means several individuals coming from different countries which live side by side but do not melt and retain the main features of their culture of origins.


The story of love

1/Her father was clever enough to foresee (foresee= prévoir) the nazi invasion and ensuing (ensuing =qui s'ensuit) massacre of the Jews.Therefore by sending her to America he simply saved her life.
2/ she was desperate/ she was heartbroken/ she was grieving (grieve= avoir de la peine)/distressed/in despair at the loss of the love of her life
3/ he was eager to pay his trip/ his fare (a fare =prix du ticket) to America.To do so a job was needed
4/ he wished to become a writer.His ultimate ambition was to become a novelist.
5/ the narrator is the main character as we may surlize from the fact that the boy voices / expresses his desire to become a writer .
6/ He sent some extracts/excerpts from his book.He was mst anxious to discover what might be her opinion of it.
7/ He was Jewish
8/ In order to save his life and escape from the nazi mayhem (destruction) He became invisible by going into hiding/by vanishing from the surface of the earth/by disappearing .
9/ same answer to 8/
10/ He managed/ he succeeded in going/ reaching America/ in ensuring his passage right after the end of the second world war.
11/ His sole purpose to get there was to find the love of his life.Thefore the American dream for him meant only to be able to love and share the life of the woman he worshipped.
12/ He went to New york city to find his true love. He stayed at his cousin's home.
13/ she was living in Brooklyn.
14/ We might gather from the text that she fell pregnant while being still in Poland but she only found out once in America.She was quite anxious to let the boy know about her condition and thus sent him a letter.Due to the war he was unable to receive her letter and thus could not send her any response.She concluded from his silence that he might have died, never to come back to her again.
15/ She was ashamed since she had conceived out of wedlock which was most frown upon(be frown upon = être mal vu) at the time.
16/ she married her boss' son.Indeed he had been most affectionate towards her and had gone out of his way (go out of someone's way= faire de son mieux) to help her and the baby after the delivery (the delivery= l'accouchement)
17/ She refused to leave her husband which would have implied getting a divorce.
18/We might infer that she refused to follow her heart's desire because she had lied to her son by telling him that her husband was his father.This treachery might be justified by her conviction that the real father had died in Poland under the Nazis'dictatorship.Moreover we might view her as a victim of social conventions as she could not contemplate (contemplate= envisager) to get a divorce which was still a rare sight at the time and quite a shameful act.
19)this sentence is most surprising in view of the fact that here wa a man who had survived under the Nazi regime, who could find a means (a means = un moyen) to get to America but still compares the picking up of his hat to the most dreadful act he had to perform.Such a trivial act is thus given a tremendous importance.
20/ He compares it with a hat. It is an understatement=an inuendo.The true nature and the depth ( the depth= la profondeur) of his feelings for the girl were not clearly stated but only hinted at to preserve the shyness and reserve of the two main characters.
21/ he never found another girlfriend because he had promised to love her up to the end.he had sworn everlasting love for her.
she's a victim of social convention.
22/ he never let his son know of his existence owing to the respect and love he bore (bear/bore/born) for the girl.
23/ It's WRONG
la forme USED TO (le verbe USE au préterit +TO ) indique une rupture avec le PASSE (bravo à Harry )donc ici elle indiquerait que l'homme n'est PLUS invisible alors qu'il l'était dans le passé.Cette phrase est donc fausse puisque le texte précise (bravo frédérique) qu'il décide de redevenir invisible pour fuir non plus les nazis mais sa peine et respecter la femme et son mensonge.


HOMEWORK :
interro orale (ou écrite) sur ces questions Jeudi prochain.