Recap by BV2

Topic recap sheet n°5 : Memory is a tricky thing |
Step One : The US Gun issue
Content / Documents :
Pictures : photos of Dylan Roof + Tip of the Iceberg Cartoon + My First Rifle Photo Project + the Tears
of the President
Video : the Confederate Flag : symbol of hate or heritage ?
Texts : Preface to Gunfight / Why Obama cries over gun Control / Translation (False Mythology)
Graphs : guns in the US (ownership, mass shootings, evolution since O’s election)
Civilisation / Culture : the origins of the second amendment
Picture(s) (description & meaning)
Every time I think
about those kids
it gets me mad!
Description :
In January, President Obama gave a
speech on gun control, during which he
was moved and shed some bitter tears.
Meaning :
He cried when remembering the past mass shootings, Sandy Hook in particular. Indeed, he feels
powerless, and has failed to make things change. The US congress rejected all his attempts at reinforcing
gun control.
Graph (description & meaning)
1)
2)
Description : 1) when a Democrat is elected
president, more guns are sold.
2) Since 1973, fewer and fewer households
have owned guns
Meaning : 1) As the Democrats are in favor
of a stricter gun control, people hurry to buy
a gun.
2) In the USA, the number of guns hasn’t
changed, so a household owns several guns.
Vocabulary :
English
French
The right to bear/carry
an arm/weapon
Crime rate
Slaughter/bloodshed
Violent trend
Gun law
Le droit de porter une
arme
Taux de criminalité
Massacre
Tendance à la violence
Législation sur les armes à
feu
Haine
Peine de mort
Projet de loi
Sans pitié
Illégal
Méchant
Braquer une arme sur qqn
Etre ému
Etre en deuil
souffrir
Hatred
Death penalty
bill
Pitiless/callous
Unlawful
Mean
To aim an arm at sb
To be moved
To be mourning
To be grieving
English
French
The cure
remède
To injure/wound
To emulate
To take revenge for
To slay
blesser
imiter
se venger
massacrer
To take side (with)
To demonstrate
Firearms
A gun owner
a hot button issue
To outlaw/ban gun
A corpse
Death toll
Prendre parti (pour)
Manifester
Armes à feu
Propriétaire d’une arme
Un sujet sensible
Interdire les armes
Un cadavre
Nombre de victimes
Recent events, historical & cultural references mentioned in the
documents:
-
Obama cries over gun control: slaughters in school, Philadelphia massacre, 300 million guns
in the country, 30.000 deaths per year…
-
Some politicians and NRA officials think gun control cannot diminish gun violence.
A comedian has parodied this argument by inventing nonsensical sentences and placing
them in the mouth of Republican candidates : ‘there is is no link between guns and gun
violence. “How any reasonable person could look at gun violence and say that guns are
involved is beyond me”( Texas Senator Ted Cruz) “*… +unproven connection between gun
violence and guns,”(Florida Senator Marco Rubio)
Republican Presidential candidates said president Obama “stubbornly insists on linking gun
violence with guns”
-
But this one is not a joke by a comedian : “No limits on guns; they save lives.” Donald Trump
-
2nd amendment: “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the
right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (1787) does not make
much sense today… It was written in the context of the War for Independence. Only the
British soldiers were allowed to carry guns, and American revolutionaries had to form a
militia (now the US army…) to gain their independence.
-
Racism has played a central role in the evolution of gun laws. The Ku Klux Klan was formed
after the Civil War. First objective: the confiscation of all guns from the newly freed black
people. People like Dylann Roof might represent the “tip of the iceberg”: the underground
threat is bigger than it seems.
-
The confederate flag is down! (Columbia, South Carolina) After the Charleston church
shooting, during which Dylann Roof killed 9 black people, the Congress of SC decided to
remove the flag from the government buildings. There had been a debate over the meaning
of the flag : Heritage or emblem of racism and hatred? President Obama said that the flag
belongs in a museum.
Key expressions (grammar, syntax, translation...)
- it gets me mad
-it made him cry
-since 2013, there have been over 1000 shootings
-from the 18th century onward, black people have been forbidden to use guns
-Checks and Balances ( la séparation des pouvoirs ) : the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary
-he failed to convince his opponents to make the situation evolve
-to shed bitter tears
-law-abiding citizens
-the NRA : National Rifle Association
-gun ownership
-In many countries, only the state representatives can carry a gun
-“the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”
Document prepared with great care by :
Samantha Fache , Rémi Giraudet, Pierre Antoine Gaertner, Baptiste Pascolo, Pierre
Soreau, Jérémy Lobbens