M1 LEA Economic and social questions in the English speaking world

For next week, read the article "The Luck of the Irish" and answer the following questions, which we will discuss in class :

In the booklet, read the  article : “The Luck of the Irish”

Questions

A VOCABULARY

1 Find words which could replace

“spawned” para 1

“towering” para 2

“backwater” para 3

“clout” para 5

2 Which  words  could you use if you wanted to say the opposite of

“boom” para 1

“burden” para 2

“remarkable” para 3

“valuable” para 6

Statistics

Look at the graph on page one of the article “The Luck of the Irish” and complete the following sentences, with the indicated number of words, so that the sentences accurately reflect the information in the graph, as well as being grammatically correct sentences.

a) In 2003 Gross domestic product per head in Ireland was almost  ---------------   -----------    -----------------   as it was in Spain.

b) Irish per capita  GDP , in comparison with the European average,  ________     ____________   after 1994, whereas GDP in Greece _____________   ________________.

c) In 1985, per capita GDP in Portugal was only around  ____________     _____________  ____________       __________  it was in Spain.

Préparation agrégation anglais Civilisation britannique 21

I would recommend that once a month you read again the framing text (texte de cadrage) on the British civilization question, which you can find here

http://saesfrance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/programme-agreg-ext-2017.pdf

This is important, because each month you will understand this document a little better, and see more clearly what the jury are looking for, and while you are reading books or articles or watching documentaries or listening to lectures, you will be fitting the new information into your general view of the period.

On this blog I have been recommending documentaries, but of course books are very important. The full bibliography has been published on the site of the SAES:

http://saesfrance.org/bibliographies-pour-le-programme-de-lagregation-de-la-session-2017/

Nobody reads all that, of course; you need to choose. Don't hesitate to read only key chapters of the books.

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Le Royaume-Uni à l’épreuve de la crise 1970-79

This video is not a documentary, but a musical theatre play, produced by a radical theatre group of the type which had significant success in the 1970s

Touring from 1973, and presented on BBC television in 1974, this Scottish nationalist play tells a story of how the English elite have constantly reorganized Scotland and the Scottish economy  for their own benefit. It is not intended to be impartial. It helps to explain some of the roots of national feeling in Scotland, which will be visible in the election of a number of nationalist MPs during the decade, although the seventies will finish with a very dark period for Scottish nationalism.

You will find it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-r_J14n100

If, like me, you are sometimes a little busy, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while darning your socks (although, this video being an artistic production, it would be better to watch it this time).

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I know I am repeating myself, but I have just finished reading this book, which, in my opinion, is far and away the best published history of the period: well-written, fair-minded, and wide-ranging. I don't know the other books of this author but I will be reading them.

Séminaire: introduction à l'historiographie

Last Wednesday's class is here:

http://www.jcmullen.fr/2016chronoww1.mp3

These recordings will often be available, but not always.

Préparation agrégation anglais civilisation britannique 18

Le Royaume-Uni à l’épreuve de la crise 1970-79

Most of these posts point you to videos which explore a theme in some depth, whether it be a particular political problem or a particular political personality. Those which refer to particular, dated, events or situations are not in chronological order : it is up to you to put your notes in the order which you think is the most useful. 

Naturally enough, we remember first of all the Prime Ministers who, each in their own way, made a difference to British life and society. Here is a television interview with Prime Minister Edward  Heath in October 1971. He covers a large number of issues, and if you can understand most of what he is talking about, or avoiding talking about, you are making very good progress. Notice the handkerchief in the top pocket, which was already old-fashioned in 1971.

Here is the interview, with famous presenter Robin Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG9rjoc2zkU

If, like me, you are sometimes a little busy, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while practising your Tai Chi.

Séminaire master recherche: introduction à l'historiographie

We will be using the First World War as an example to ask questions about what kind of stories historians tell about the past, and why.

For week two, you should watch this video by Christopher Clarke (How Europe went to war in 1914), and be ready to discuss is in class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6snYQFcyiyg

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Le Royaume-Uni à l’épreuve de la crise 1970-1979

The Northern Ireland conflict : the Maze prison

As you know, history shows no shortage of horrifying events. This (sometimes harrowing) video shows one aspect of the Northern Ireland conflict. It is a history of the Maze prison. The Maze prison was built to replace a « Prisoner of War » style camp at the point when the British government decided it would be better tactics to treat paramilitary prisoners (Republican and loyalist) as criminals, rather than as political prisoners. From 1972 to 1976 such prisoners were « special category » - fundamentally treated as political prisoners. In 1976, this changed. The documentary includes interviews with both loyalist and republican paramilitaries, and with prison officers. Some of these people were later involved in the « peace process » which led to the present situation where there is almost no military conflict in the province. The first half of the documentary, up to just before the hunger strike, deals with the 1970s.

The video is here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeixMFHtv18

If, like me, you are snowed under with work, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while weeding the allotment.

Emplois du temps agrégation, administration etc

Un nouveau blog a été ouvert pour les infos pour ceux qui préparent l'agrégation (interne ou externe) à Rouen.

Vous le trouverez ici

https://agreganglaisrouen.wordpress.com/

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Préparation agrégation anglais civilisation britannique

Le Royaume-Uni à l’épreuve de la crise 1970-79

If the 1970s are best known as an era of social and economic crisis, they are also considered a particularly creative period in UK popular music : indeed there may well be a link between social crisis and pop creativity. We often see punk rock considered as a response to the return of mass unemployment, UK reggae as, among other things, a demand for visibility for UK-born Black people. Less often discussed is the late 70s genre « synth pop ». This documentary looks at synth pop music in the late 1970s.

You will find the video here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1P93r9xes

If, like me, you are snowed under with work, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while waiting for a train..

Seminar: Introduction to historiography

The first session of the seminar "Introduction to historiography and to memory studies: Britain and the First World War" is on the 14th September, at 2pm in room B114.

Colloque chansons espagnoles

Je vais faire une intervention dans ce colloque à Paris en octobre...

Préparation agrégation anglais civilisation britannique 15

Le Royaume-Uni à l'épreuve de la crise 1970-1979

Perhaps the most remembered event about Britain in the 1970s is the election of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Prime Minister in 1979. This video is a long interview with her two years earlier, when she was leader of the opposition.  Political interviews are often less exciting in form than documentaries, but it is important to watch a few. 
Everyone will have their own opinion on Thatcherism of course. Nevertheless I think it is fair to say that most people would recognize a few characteristics of Thatche’rs performance in this interview. Firstly, she is obviously extremely well-prepared and well-informed, and also skilful. Secondly, since she has not yet been elected, she is tempted to concentrate on « values »  rather than on specific policy intentions, which remain perhaps surprisingly vague. Values can raise people’s enthusiasm, whereas specific policies might provoke arguments. When she speaks of controversial subjects (such as trade union laws and comprehensive education) there is little sign of the policies she is going to follow, policies which will break quite sharply with those of previous Conservative governments. Thirdly, she uses a very large number of rhetorical devices which I am hoping you will understand. For example, why do you think she says « Winston » and not « Winston  Churchill » ? Or note the frequent use of rhetorical expressions such as « we must face reality » - which have little political content, since the whole debate is about different views of reality. See what you make of the interview:

Here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkTxc8LQcW4

If like me you have a lot to do, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while going fishing.

Wooden replica of 17th century London burnt to the ground on Great Fire anniversary | UK news | The Guardian

Wooden replica of 17th century London burnt to the ground on Great Fire anniversary | UK news | The Guardian

Préparation agrégation anglais civilisation britannique 14

Le Royaume Uni à l'épreuve de la crise 1970-79

Cyprus

Most of Britain’s colonies gained their independence before 1970, although a trickle of independences continued throughout the 1970s. This does not mean that Britain’s imperial past had no more influence : debates and struggles around immigration and around racism were very much present. On the foreign policy side, the British governments of the 1970s organized fewer military interventions that in previous decades (Suez, or Kenya, for example) or in subsequent decades (the Falklands, or Iraq, for example). One of the places where Britain’s imperial past caught up with it in the 1970s, to some extent, was Cyprus. This 1984 documentary is rather long, but explains the situation well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXbGq5Ukzw

If like me you have a lot to do, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while learning to juggle.

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Le Royaume-Uni face à la crise 1970-79

1979 : The night the government fell

When a British government finds it has a healthy majority in the House of Commons – of thirty or forty members or more – it can concentrate on its own programme, while keeping an eye on opinion polls because of the following elections. However, if it is a minority government, or has a majority of only two or three, it will often have to  be negotiating with smaller parties, listening to their priorities in the hope that they will support the government when there is a vote in the House, or at least abstain.  The Prime Minister is then faced with the question of what kind of concessions to smaller parties are acceptable compromises, and what concessions would be unethical (and the line is not easy to draw). This fascinating documentary shows the situation on the night when Margaret Thatcher, leader of the opposition in 1979, finally defeated the government. It was very close, and so parliamentary tactics were all used to the last possible minute.

Although in my opinion the start of the documentary repeats some worn old clichés about the "Winter of Discontent", the rest of the programme is very useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRVVdGQcN0&list=PLbcpJyKOigUdAeDuhLdHGTyrc9HgiazAB

If like me you are very busy, use an online tool like clipconverter to make the videos into MP3 files you can listen to while doing your judo.

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Le premier livre sur la question civilisation britannique à l'agrégation est sorti. Voir ici:

https://www.amazon.fr/Royaume-Uni-%C3%A0-l%C3%89preuve-Crise-1970-1979/dp/2340014379/

Je le trouve très bien - mais je ne suis pas objectif! C'est moi qui ai écrit un des chapitres, et plusieurs autres sont écrits par des collègues et amis.

Préparation agrégation anglais civilisation britannique 11

This book is indispensable. And it is 500 pages long, so now is a good time to start.
It is however very easy to read and - if you are on kindle or you buy it second hand now - it i snot expensive:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Lights-Went-Out-Seventies/dp/0571221378/ref=pd_lutyp_simh_1_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51nKaqXGN6L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_SL500_SR101%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=KHXN2GGRV4S6CJZ39J64

I am on page 350.

Préparation agrégation anglais civilisation britannique 10

This is the tenth in a series of posts mainly aimed at students preparing the agrégation in English for 2017

Agrégation anglais civilisation britannique

Le Royaume-Uni à l’épreuve de la crise 1970-79

You can't work all the time, so, since it is summer, why not watch a few 1970s sitcoms from Britain. They help understand what was commonly considered to be funny in that rather different world.

Rires pas toujours garantis.

On the Buses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxmiaifA45w

Bless This House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC2syU1Gj-I&list=PLWaL4WZXchZgFfDOsxfydjOm-gPd0C8m-

And Mother Makes Three

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2RchO2Qq94&list=PLS5biuOvDKUiThW-WoemOriJROVqjqHg9

Man About the House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R_3YmqgAJ4&list=PL6Lx-5H6DFNAGpgTj3kjZe0vNGnp4WtjH

To the Manor Born

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDqYkbEWjw

Les deux derniers seraient considérés aujourd’hui comme assez racistes (en tout cas c’est mon avis). Je les mets quand même afin de mieux connaître l’époque.

Mind Your Language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMYBMbMpSUY

Love Thy Neighbour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sOLgadNVoc