Corrigé - Insight Hatier

Editions Hatier
COMPRÉHENSION
COMPÉTENCE LINGUISTIQUE • EXPRESSION
1. The woman is a "sitting parent" who has come to watch young Felicia for the evening.
2. This appears to be their first meeting. In contrast to the normal course of events, "This time, that was not the
way it happened". The woman also reflects that "It is strange that I should have been sent here tonight,"
presumably a place where she has never been.
3. The fact that Felicia's family hires both home-help and "sitting parents" indicates that they belong to the upper
class. Their financial privilege is also evidenced by the household objects mentioned: low tables, books, a vase
of roses on the piano.
4. 1. "it would usually be". The use of "would" indicates an established routine.
2. "But this time, that was not the way it happened. Instead...". Link words are used to express the contrast
beween what usually happened and what happened that night.
5. Felicia's resemblance to a young girl that the woman knew in the past obviously stirs up intense emotion. We
understand that the first girl was taken from the woman's life in tragic circumstances, and she is reminded of her
loss by this new child.
6. "It was a place where they put people until they could decide what was to be done with them". The camp is
depicted as a place where people lacked even the most basic necessities: "We used to take everything we could
spare for ourselves", children cried, and mothers had to "go away", never to return.
7. All of Felicia's questions possess the innocence of a child. The simply formed questions, all but one of which
can be answered with "yes" or "no", are related to her own experience of hunger, sadness and loneliness: "Did
the mothers have to go out to supper?".
However, though her questions show a childish naiveté, she's clearly sensitive to the woman's solemn tone and
emotion and accords her the appropriate respect.
8. 1. She would have said "I have to go away"; the use of "have to" shows that the decision is imposed on her by
an outside force.
2. The mother would never have chosen to abandon her daughter. We are led to understand that she is sent away
to another concentration camp or even to her death.
9. Because of Felicia's resemblance to the other girl, there is an instant connection between woman and child.
The nighttime scene, "the glow of the shaded lamp", and soft voices set an intimate tone from the start. There is
also the desire for physical contact: though she refrains from touching Felicia's hair, the woman eventually puts
her arm around the girl and they embrace. Felicia is "taken into the sphere of love and intimacy".
10. Felicia was accustomed to fairy tales, which generally allow for quiet relaxation before bed, setting the stage
for pleasant dreams. Typical of fairy tales, what she was told that night did happen a long time ago "in another
country". However, Felicia was aware that the story that she was hearing was different because the heroine was a
real little girl just like her. Though she did not possess the knowledge to put the "camps" into context, she knew
instinctively that she was bearing witness to great sadness. Obviously, her expectations of a typical, happy
ending were not met.
11. 1. Type de sujet
Expansion : commentaire.
Les implications du récit de la garde d'enfants.
Pistes de recherche
À la différence de Felicia, un adulte comprend très bien la réalité tragique à laquelle il est fait allusion (les camps
de concentration, l'extermination de millions d'enfants et d'adultes).
Vous noterez que la garde d'enfants adapte son récit à la petite fille; c'est d'ailleurs toute la finesse et la subtilité
de ce texte.
© Hatier
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Editions Hatier
Langage utile
• Verbes : to be aware / unaware of (être / ne pas être conscient), to be sensitive to, to be acquainted with (être
au courant), to grasp (saisir), to realize (se rendre compte), to allude to (faire allusion à), to evoke / to conjure
up (évoquer), to have no clue (n'avoir pas la moindre idée), to guess (deviner).
• Noms : awareness (conscience), knowledge (connaissance), knowledgeable (informé), hidden meaning (sens
caché), hint (allusion).
• Adjectifs : subtle, evocative (évocateur), implicit, unforgettable, present to the mind, painful (douloureux).
2. Type de sujet
Discussion : le rôle des contes de fées.
Pistes de recherche
Les contes transportent l'enfant dans un monde magique où rien ne semble impossible.
En même temps l'enfant apprend sans s'en rendre compte comment se comporter en société, à discerner le bien
du mal, les bons des mauvais. Il exorcise ses peurs et le rassure : dans les contes les faibles sont toujours
victorieux à la fin.
À lire : Bruno Bettelheim, La Psychanalyse des contes de fées.
Langage utile
• Verbes : to get carried away / taken out of oneself (être transporté), to discover, to identify to, to rouse
curiosity, to draw tears (tirer des larmes), to impassion, to touch the heart-strings (aller droit au cœur), to
convey (faire passer une émotion, un message), to conjure up a vision (évoquer), to enlighten (éclairer), to
inspire.
• Noms : escape, evasion, bewitchment (ensorcellement), delight, wildest dreams, the mind's eye (l'imagination),
behaviour (comportement), rules (règles).
• Adjectifs : dreary, gripping, exhilarating, magical, dramatic, evocative, suggestive, informative.
Les adjectifs substantivés permettent de généraliser : the good, the bad (les bons, les méchants).
TRADUCTION
Aide
Veillez à la présentation du dialogue : en français on marque le changement d'interlocuteur par un passage à la
ligne et un tiret.
- Est-ce que les mamans devaient aller dîner en ville ? demanda Felicia.
- Non, dit la femme.
Elle se leva de sa chaise et maintenant qu'elle posait la main sur l'épaule de la petite fille, Felicia se sentit
englobée dans la sphère d'amour et d'intimité. “ Veux-tu que nous allions dans l'autre pièce ? ” dit la femme.
Dans la pièce de devant, elles se tinrent main dans la main dans la lumière tamisée de la lampe et la femme
regarda autour d'elle les livres, les tables basses où étaient posés des revues et des cendriers, le vase de roses sur
le piano, jetant un regard sombre quasi aveugle sur ces objets qui n'avaient aucune réalité.
- Est-ce que c'était ta petite fille ? demanda Felicia doucement, avec insistance.
- Non, dit la femme. Elle n'était pas à moi, du moins elle n'était pas à moi au début. Elle avait une autre mère,
mais la mère a été obligée de partir.
© Hatier
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