Recap by MP

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) : The tip of the Iceberg
Description : The picture is a cartoon. Dylan Roof is sitting on an iceberg that looks like a KKK member. He
holds a confederate flag and a smoking gun. He has a threatening look.
Meaning : D. Roof is the young man who killed 9 black people in a church in Charleston. He said he
wanted to start a race war, and kill as many black people as possible. He was seen holding the
confederate flag before going on the killing spree. The Dylan Roof case is just the tip of the iceberg, of a
deep problem grounded in the American society : racism and gun issues.
Graph (description & meaning)
Gun-related murders and video game consumption :
There is a common idea related by traditional media which makes a link between video game consumption
and gun violence. This graph shows the absurdity of this assertion : there is no correlation between video
games and violence at all.
Vocabulary :
English
Confederate flag
French
English
French
Drapeau confédéré
aim a gun at somebody
gun control
contrôle des ventes
d’armes
le droit de porter une
arme
arme
fusil
menace
meurtrier
Peine de mort
Auto-défense
Chiffres alarmants
retaliation
Braquer une arme sur
qqn
représailles
the right to bear an
arm
Weapon
Rifle
Threat
Murderous (adj)
Death penalty
Self-defense
Staggering figures
Law and order issues
wantom
The NRA
To threaten
A murderer
Questions d’ordre
publique
gratuit
menacer
Un meurtrier
Recent events, historical & cultural references mentioned in the
documents:
- Civil War (1861-1865): The Union (Northern states) vs the Confederacy (Southern states) : pro
slavery
The Confederate flag was the symbol of the Confederacy and it’s a symbol of white supremacy. It is
still flown in some Southern states but South Carolina decided to get rid of it after the Charleston
Church Shooting (D. Roof)
- Second amendment : the right to keep and bear arms (It’s the main argument of pro gun activists)
The full text reads : “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right
of the citizens to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
- Sandy Hook : mass shooting in an elementary school where 20 children and 6 adults died, in 2013.
- Obama tried to pass several gun control laws, but he failed because of the NRA and the republican
majority in Congress in 2013. This year he cried during a press conference because there’s nothing he
can do about it : he cried tears of powerlessness and frustration.
Key expressions (grammar, syntax, translation...)
- the right to bear an arm
- empty one’s magazine
-
Document prepared with great care by : Valentin, Thomas, Benoit