Notion Myths and Heroes - Anglais

Sujet du devoir

Pour mon oral d'anglais, j'ai rédigé ce que j'allais dire, je pense que c'est assez long et je ne sais pas trop si mon plan et ce que j'y mets paraissent plausibles. Je m'inquiète un peu moins de la longueur puisque je parle assez vite en anglais et j'arrive plus ou moins à me faire comprendre. Néanmoins, est-ce compréhensible ? Y a t-il des choses à supprimer ou des répétitions inutiles ? Merci de la réponse. Je suis en Nouvelle-Calédonie, mon bac oral est en octobre.

Notion: myths and heroes

Introduction:

I’d like to define first the notion that is here: Myths and heroes. A myth is generally known as a popular or a literature story which sets super-heroes, superhuman beings or imaginary people in which are transposed historical events, real or wished, or it can be sometimes those stories in which certain individual complexes or certain underlying structures of family and social issues are projected. It can also be that symbolic representation which influences social life or that spiritual construction that does not rest on a fund of reality. The hero is basically known as the main character of a story. A hero can either be a legendary character, who has done extraordinary exploits, or it can be the one who distinguish himself from others with his qualities or with exceptional actions and his incredible courage to face danger. So with these definitions, we can relate both notions to what we have learnt during this year. Indeed, the concept of myth and heroes serves quite a big purpose in our culture and our society especially when it comes to the professional or personal success so we focus on success careers especially in America and the question that we asked ourselves is: To what extend do Myth and heroes has an influence on people’s careers?

We’ll first see that most of these successful people with brand personalities have created mythical heroes by fighting to achieve a dream and finally we’ll see how some heroes have influence people’s careers.

I- Indeed, in America, we have to know couple of successful persons who became mythical heroes because they have changed the world vision through their experiences.

First, we have ancient figures of mythical heroes who died after living a life full of hopefulness and courage and in which they have struggled for values especially in a time when there were segregations all around the world. They became mythical for having done special things that have changed the vision of the world; they gave their hand to help improve the conditions of the people, they fought for a better life. We have seen them as national heroes that we have to remember. For instance, we got the mythical Rosa Parks considered as a national heroin because she was a prominent figure of the civil rights movement while she stood up by sitting down on the seat of a bus where there were places for White people and place for Black people, she was the one woman who broke the rules and did mean it for what takes like a couple of second. We have heard an audio file called “Remembering Rosa Parks” where she is named “the Mother of the civil Rights Movement”. Furthermore, we have read a press article where we learnt that there has been a statue at the Capitol which was a way to knowledge her role in America History also as we have seen a painting portraying her with two other symbolic figures, two African American icons among which is painted Martin Luther King whose dream was to fight against racial discrimination. We know of him his national and famous speech “I have a dream” that underlines truly the fact that he has paved the way to freedom by first having a dream, so it means hoping, it means working hard to achieve his purpose. Besides, I found relevant to mark the Obama Speech delivered during the Memorial Day, where he paid a tribute to the soldiers who died for the country, for something bigger than themselves”.

Now I’d like to bring your attention to those recent heroes who still stand for those values of equality, of sharing and those figures of moral soldiers. There is of course, Barack Obama who became a hero for being the first Black President of the USA, he follows that endless fight against racism but he is also an inspirational figure for African American. Oprah Winfrey is also as inspiring as Obama, her life story was made of obstacles, though she had reach to the top, now she is famous, she climbed the social ladder she uses her money to defend good causes. Most of all, she is a living example of the Myth of the American dream.

II – Now, what appears particularly striking is how those heroes like others can become inspirational, enough to make a difference through the life of people. That’s the way they have an impact, a real influence through their lives and especially their careers that makes them more heroic than any other person.

Some of them have made a difference through their inventions. That is the reason why we have learnt about Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison, who both were great inventors of the last centuries. In a way, they have changed people’s life in terms of technology. Their lives can be qualified of “from rags to riches stories”. This qualification shows the myth of American dream. They both achieve their dream and face the obstacles like Jobs with his first attempt of Apple which was a fail. We’ve seen that on a New York time article called “What a great job”. Jobs was seen as a fellow mortal because he was closer to his fans, so people could identify with him through his story, adoptee, college dropouts. Edison was more seen as a Wizard. Sherlock Holmes was a fictional hero made by Arthur Conan Doyle but he was still a hero to lots of people. In a video “Sherlock Holmes changed the world”, we have noticed how much he was inspiring as he had changed the world in the field of police investigation with his own methods, his invention by which every little details could be a clue to the investigation. In addition to that, we have read an excerpt from the Book “The science of detection” by Anthony Horowitz and we learn about his best qualities, intelligence, observant, rational in complete ad equation with his friend Mr Watson.

Other heroes have made a difference by only being an example to one another. So Vince Papale can be considered as a hero because of his qualities, determined, because of his victory over cancer, he had a dream and he worked hard to achieve his goal he had set for himself. He fought for his dream to come true and he finally made it happen. His story inspired a movie made about him called “Invincible” and his life is an example for people to encourage them to believe in themselves to follow their dream and not to give up, they can succeed if they put their heart into it. An other story seems amazing to hear, it’s Robin Olds story with his father Robert Olds a pioneer, a fighter pilot, a leader, a gentleman, a real role model to his son, who was passionate of flying, he risked his life which is rather heroic. His son became a pilot as he was led by the presence of such a shining figure of father.

Conclusion:

So as a matter of fact, once we grow up, we need to make important decision that most of the time, changes the course of our lives. It is more important when it comes to find a job because it is the main concerns of people. But this choice depends on your background, your education, and your values, personality and your ambitions. Though it is more often linked to more general considerations such as what society values most at a particular time or which role model dominates your time. Indeed, a society is based on finding myths; a collective identity forged around landmarks and shared values. But it also depends on heroic men or women and the society also creates new role model people from them whom they get their inspiration from. However, at the end, we need to face reality and get inspired from those stories and those people to do our best to make our dream come true.

Où j'en suis dans mon devoir

Je ne me suis aidé que de ce que nous avons vu en cours (un peu normal je suppose), d'un dictionnaire Larousse (immense) pour les définitions, les exemples sur Internet ne sont pas très intéressants à mon goût... Cependant j'ai juste un doute sur le plan ou l'agencement de mes propos et l'utilité de certaines informations. Si j'arrive à peaufiner un peu ça, ce serait génial !