Agadir French High School
Speaking Exam
Key Question: To what extent does the Frontier Myth define US Culture ?
Notion : Myths and Heroes
Themes :
• Westward Expansionism;
• The Myth of the Frontier;
• The Heroes of the West (cow-boys, native Americans, Lewis & Clark);
• Manifest Destiny
Documents studied :
• ‘The Frontier in American History’, F. J. Turner
• Dances with Wolves (video extract)
• The Myth of the Cowboy (video extract)
• American Progress : painting by John Gast (1872) (Skylight Unit 4)
• Manifest Destiny (Skylight Unit 4)
• The Way West, A. B. Gurthrie J. (Skylight Unit 4)
• The Conquest of the West : visual analysis
• The fabric of America (audio track) (Skylight Unit 4)
Definitions
Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis : ………………………………………………………………………..
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The new meanings of the Frontier: ………………………………………………………………………
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The wilderness : ………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Manifest Destiny : …………………………………………………………………………………………….
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American Expansionism :…………………………………………………………………………………….
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Vocabulary
Verbs
To go west / to travel westward
To invade, to colonize
To be on the go / to be on the move
to inspire fear, To threat
To cross new frontiers
to challenge authority
To aim at (Ving)
to be in harmony with (nature)
To reach a goal, To fulfil a dream
to shape the country’s economy
To be keen to conquer / to colonize, to civilize, to urbanize
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To go beyond one’s limits
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To plough, To grow crops
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To overspread the continent
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To toil / to work hard
Nouns & Expressions
American progress / American expansion / US expansionism
Ruggedness
Town vs countryside
Weapon
The myth of the Frontier
Cattle herds Individual spirit
Baddies, cowboys, outcasts, adventurers, horsemen
The building up of the myth
Cattle wranglers, Rustlers
Mission, protestantism
Pioneers, Settlers, farmers
Farmland
Native Americans / Indians / warriors, Tribal lands, Tribes
Real estate
Barbed wire
Metropolis
Shortage of food / supplies
Border, Frontier
The cattle roaming wild
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Railroad
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Wagons, Stage coach, a cart drawn by horses
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Telegraph (pole / wire)
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‘Go West young man’
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Founding commitment
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Wilderness, Wild West, Open space, Territory, hinterland
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Bows, arrows, hatchet
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Harvest
Adjectives
Bold / courageous / Brave
Unspoilt, deserted, wild
Tough / energetic / muscular
Stripped (resources)
Self-reliant, self-sufficient
Booming (population)
Ressourceful, Dynamic, Free-spirited
Sparsely populated
Ever-widening
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Remote
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Hungry for lands and profits
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Strenuous, harsh
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Introduction
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Arguments
1. Lewis and Clark embody the spirit of the West.
Example : Lewis and Clark Journal
2. The pioneers brought a new concept of ownership of the land (≠ Natives’one)
Example : the invention of barbed wire
3. Some settlers were hungry for lands and profits
Example : California gold rush
4. The expansion of Thomas Jefferson's "Empire of Liberty" still continue nowadays
Example : American mission to promote democracy throughout the world.
5. Hollywood and the cinema industry has contributed to the creation of the myth of the cowboy
Example : western movies (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), How the West Was Won (1962)…)
6. The myth of the frontier is still alive nowadays
Example : space frontier, internet frontier…
7. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Example : ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. ..................................................................................................................................................
Example : .........................................................................................................................................
9. ..................................................................................................................................................
Example : .........................................................................................................................................
Quotes
“So long as free land exists, the opportunity for a competency exists, and economic power
secures political power.”
Frederick Jackson Turner
"The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization"
Frederick Jackson Turner
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"All America lies at the end of the wilderness road, and our past is not a dead past, but still
lives in us."
T.K. Whipple
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Personal Opinion
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If you have any question, send me an email : [email protected]
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