camus english corner

LET'S RECAP !

• On September, 9th 2015 Elizabeth became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, thus surpassing Queen Victoria. Elizabeth has been the Queen of the UK and the Commonwealth for 63 years, since 1952 when her elder sister Mary I died.
• On this occasion, all the British newspapers – tabloids and broadsheets alike – displayed very different frontpages to honour record-breaking Elizabeth. We had a close look at The Sun and The Times in particular.
• The Sun, which is known as the most popular scandal newspaper in GB, with twice as many readers as The Times, aims at catching the readers’ attention and making as many people as possible buy it, by all means. On the official photo provided by Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth is wearing an elegant but not too formal burgundy dress. She is sitting facing at a slight angle, giving her the image of someone easy to talk to, very close to the people. Anyone who does not know she is the Queen would not necessarily guess she is. This feeling is emphasized by the massive headline : « reigning champion ». Many people would find it inappropriate for so-called journalists to dare address the British Queen in such a familiar way. On the photo Queen Elizabeth is sitting at her desk in front of an open red box, which traditionally contains all the important documents coming from the government for the Queen to study every day. The message is clearly announced in the newspapers headlines or articles : Queen Elizabeth is still as hard working as ever, even though she has been reigning for such a long time.
• The Times, on the contrary, decided to show the Queen in a beautiful golden dress, with her crown on top of her head, looking away through an open window. This artistic photo almost looks like a painting using light and colour in a very subtle way. The news editors also chose to quote the Queen’s coronation speech and publish it on the frontpage. The Queen certainly does not seem very close to the people on The Times’ frontpage. She may also look behind the times and disconnected from everyday life. We could even imagine that this frontpage could be the one announcing the Queen’s death. 
• Between tradition and modernity, sometimes working at her desk sometimes sending the first royal tweet at a high tech conference, multi-faceted Queen Elizabeth - as well as the rest of the Royal family - regularly makes the headlines. We may conclude that the British press plays a major role in the image of the Royal family that is conveyed today.

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COURSE MATERIAL

• 2 frontpages : The Sun and The Times
• 2 audio documents from Audio-Lingua : Mary about the British press and Jenny talking about the Royal Family and the press part 1 & part 2.

NOTIONS

• Forms and places of power
• Myths and heroes
• Idea of progress

ISSUE

• The British Royal Family today: tradition or modernity? How has the Queen become a symbol?
  
• To what extent does the British press help shape a certain image of monarchy today?
• To what extent has the Queen known how to evolve through time
  

TO GO FURTHER (click on the links)

• Kellogg’s royal cereal  
  
• Elizabeth’s first royal tweet
• Elizabeth’s biography
• 3 queens, 3 destinies out of the ordinary : a timeline, Password p.76-77
• Helen : audio document on the press in GB
  

Today we compared the frontapges of 2 newspapers mentioning Queen Elizabeth's 63 reign.

• Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She has reigned over the United Kingdom for 63 years, since 1952.
• She is married to Prince Philip.  Prince Charles is their eldest son. He is the heir to the throne.
• Next in line is Prince William. When he becomes King, Kate the Duchess of Cambridge, will become Queen. They have 2 children : George and Charlotte.

 

Remember !

• You will be tested on your pronunciation of If I were... I would be..., on your capacity to give details (beware of the tenses you use), of the questions you ask your partners and on the rhythm of your spoken English.
• You can hesitate. Feel free to use gap-fillers : anything else ? / so... / right... / well... / probably... / let me think / honestly... / I have no idea... / that's a tough/difficult one / I think
• Be curious : ask your partner details about his / her answers
• French is banned !
• Have fun, be orginal and creative. Surprise your partners :)
• Practice at home over the weekend. Use Acapela text-to-speech.

In groups I gave you a document that you had to work on. Then one student in each group had to report your comments to the class.

Try to be organised :

• INTRODUCTION : type of document / date / source / title / topic / aim
• DESCRIPTION
• COMMENTS/ANALYSIS/OPINION

These four documents are frontpages of British newspapers. The Times and The Daily Telegraph are informative press whereas The Sun and The Daily Express are known to be tabloids (= gutter or scandal press).

They were published on Wednesday 9th September, 2015.

They all deal with Queen Elizabeth II (the second), who became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, thus surpassing Queen Victoria's 63-year-reign.