Version élève → Anglais · Lycée général · Tle · Terminale

Séquence 11 · A room, a window: private lives, public roles

Can the private self resist the roles imposed by society?

Bonjour !

Dans cette séquence de anglais, tu vas chercher à répondre à la grande question écrite en haut de la page. Elle se fait en 3 séances. Pour chaque séance : lis la consigne, étudie les documents, réponds aux questions sur ta feuille ou sur l'ENT, puis recopie l'essentiel dans ton cahier. Tu peux imprimer cette page avec le bouton « Imprimer ».

À la fin, je serai capable de :

Les mots importants

separate spheresfree indirect speechwould for future in the pastessay structure

Ressources de la séquence

Les notions, les repères et les pistes pour aller plus loin, utiles pour toutes les séances.

Les notions à maîtriser

Separate spheres
A 19th-century ideology: the public sphere (work, politics) for men, the private sphere (home) for women.
Free indirect speech
A character's thoughts told in the third person without « she thought »: Free! She would live for herself.
Would (future in the past)
She thought she would be free.

Repères

DateÉvénement
1882Married Women's Property Act in the UK.
1894Kate Chopin publishes « The Dream of an Hour » in Vogue (19 April), later known as « The Story of an Hour ».
1899Chopin publishes The Awakening.
192019th Amendment: women's right to vote in the United States.

Pour aller plus loin

Sources et bibliographie

Mon parcours : je choisis mon rythme

Séance 1 · Separate spheres

75 min

Séance approfondie : cours développé, documents sourcés, activités exigeantes avec coups de pouce.

La question du jour

Who had access to public life in the 19th century?

Mon plan de travail

Le cours à lire · Talking about the past: would, used to, be supposed to

Be supposed to = what society expects: A wife was supposed to stay at home. Would for past habits or the future in the past: She thought she would never be free. Vocabulary: public sphere, private sphere, domestic, to be expected to, role.

Document 1 · The angel in the house

Text written by the teacher from historical sources.

In the 19th century, many writers in Britain and the United States described two « separate spheres ». Men were supposed to work, vote and speak in public; women were expected to stay at home and care for the family. A popular poem by Coventry Patmore even called the ideal wife « the angel in the house ». Yet things were changing: in 1882, the Married Women's Property Act allowed British wives to own property, and women writers such as Kate Chopin began to describe women's inner lives.

Source : teacher's synthesis.

Pour bien lire ce document :

property: things or land that you own; inner life: thoughts and feelings.

Activité 1 · Understand

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Documents

Consigne :

Read and answer.

  1. What were men supposed to do?
  2. What was « the angel in the house »?
  3. What did the 1882 Act change?

Ce qui est attendu (5 pts) : Reading

Activité 2 · Practise

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Lesson

Consigne :

Complete with was / were supposed to or would.

  1. Women ___ stay at home.
  2. She believed life ___ be long.
  3. A widow ___ wear black.
  4. He promised he ___ come back.

Ce qui est attendu (7 pts) : Language

Activité 3 · Produce (spoken)

25 min
Travail à rendre

Supports : Lesson, documents

Consigne :

Record 1 minute 30: explain the idea of separate spheres and how it began to change. Sentence starters: In the 19th century, women were supposed to… / Yet,… / This shows that….

Ce qui est attendu (8 pts) : Production

Trace écrite · document à compléter (papier ou ENT)

Complète la trace écrite avec les mots de la banque, puis recopie-la dans ton cahier.

publicsupposed

Women were ________ to stay in the private sphere; men had access to the ______ sphere.

Séance 2 · « The Story of an Hour »

75 min

Séance approfondie : cours développé, documents sourcés, activités exigeantes avec coups de pouce.

La question du jour

What happens in Louise Mallard's room?

Mon plan de travail

Le cours à lire · Free indirect speech and symbolism

Chopin tells Louise's thoughts in free indirect speech: the narrator uses she, but we hear Louise's voice (she would live for herself). The open window and the spring symbolise new life. The ending is ironic: the doctors think she died of joy at seeing her husband alive.

Document 1 · Kate Chopin, « The Story of an Hour » (extracts)

Short story, 1894 (public domain).

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

[…] She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air.

[…] There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself.

[…] "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Source : Kate Chopin, « The Story of an Hour », 1894 (text on Wikisource).

Pour bien lire ce document :

afflicted with: suffering from; to break the news: to announce bad news; aquiver: trembling; breath: light wind.

Activité 1 · Understand

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Documents

Consigne :

Read and answer.

  1. Why must the news be told gently?
  2. What does she see through the window?
  3. What does she discover?

Ce qui est attendu (5 pts) : Reading

Activité 2 · Practise

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Lesson

Consigne :

Identify the technique or symbol.

  1. « she would live for herself »
  2. the open window
  3. « the new spring life »
  4. « Free! Body and soul free! »

Ce qui est attendu (7 pts) : Language

Activité 3 · Produce (written)

25 min
Travail à rendre

Supports : Lesson, documents

Consigne :

Write 200 words: explain how the room and the window express a conflict between private self and public role. Sentence starters: In the privacy of her room,… / The window symbolises… / Society, however,….

Ce qui est attendu (8 pts) : Production

Trace écrite · document à compléter (papier ou ENT)

Complète la trace écrite avec les mots de la banque, puis recopie-la dans ton cahier.

freedomwindow

In her room, Louise discovers _______; the open ______ is a symbol of new life.

Séance 3 · Essay: is privacy still possible?

75 min

Séance approfondie : cours développé, documents sourcés, activités exigeantes avec coups de pouce.

La question du jour

Can the private sphere resist the public eye today?

Mon plan de travail

Le cours à lire · Essay structure

Essay structure: introduction (hook, definition, question), part 1 (yes, arguments + examples), part 2 (but…, arguments + examples), conclusion (answer, opening). Link with On the one hand / On the other hand / Furthermore / Nonetheless / Ultimately.

Document 1 · Arguments to discuss

Notes written by the teacher.

Privacy is threatened: data collected by apps, cameras in public places, celebrities followed by photographers, people sharing others' photos without consent.

Privacy is protected: data protection laws, the right to delete one's data, private messaging, choices about what we post.

Literature: Chopin shows that inner life can stay hidden, even from one's family.

Source : teacher's notes.

Pour bien lire ce document :

consent: permission; data: information.

Activité 1 · Understand

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Documents

Consigne :

Read the notes and answer.

  1. Give two threats to privacy.
  2. Give two protections.
  3. How does Chopin's story fit the debate?

Ce qui est attendu (5 pts) : Reading

Activité 2 · Practise

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Lesson

Consigne :

Choose the right linking word.

  1. ___, apps collect data. ___, laws protect us.
  2. ___, cameras are everywhere.
  3. Privacy is threatened; ___, it is not dead.
  4. ___, privacy depends on our choices.

Ce qui est attendu (7 pts) : Language

Activité 3 · Produce (written)

25 min
Travail à rendre

Supports : Lesson, documents

Consigne :

Write an essay of 200 to 230 words: « Is privacy still possible today? » (no personal details required). Sentence starters: Privacy can be defined as… / On the one hand,… / Ultimately,….

Ce qui est attendu (8 pts) : Production

Trace écrite · document à compléter (papier ou ENT)

Complète la trace écrite avec les mots de la banque, puis recopie-la dans ton cahier.

conclusionparts

An essay has an introduction, two ______ and a __________.

Fiche à trous · je complète

Complète le texte avec les mots de la banque (sur papier ou dans le document de l'ENT).

1894futuresphereswindow

Kate Chopin published « The Story of an Hour » in ______.

The open ______ symbolises freedom and new life.

« she would live for herself »: would expresses the ______ in the past.

The idea of separate _______ gave the public world to men and the home to women.

Ce que j'ai appris

Les 3 idées que je retiens :
Une phrase en anglais que je veux retenir :
Ce qui reste difficile pour moi / ma question pour le professeur :