Épreuve de spécialité LLCER terminale

Anglais sujet A

Le candidat traitera, au choix, l’ensemble du sujet 1 ou du sujet 2.

SUJET n°1
Le sujet porte sur la thématique « Expression et construction de soi ».
Axe d'étude n°3 « Initiation, Apprentissage »

Partie I (16 points) : prenez connaissance des documents A, B et C et traitez le sujet suivant en
anglais.
Write a commentary on the three documents (about 500 words): taking into account their
specificities, analyse the way minorities – in the USA – address their cultural heritage in the
documents and how they manage to redefine what it means to be American.

Partie II (4 points) : rendez compte en français des idées principales du document A (80-100
mots).

Document A
"I have a dream" what it's like to be a minority in America
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on August
28, 1963. It was also the debut of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech to more than 200,000
people. This demonstration demanded voting and economic rights, equal opportunities for Black
Americans, and an end to segregation and discrimination for people of color. This march was an
5 intricate part of the entire Civil Rights Movement and helped launch legal change in the 1960s. The
ratification of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, the launch of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was intended to help establish a new America. An
America that embraced people's differences. Where anyone could pursue their dreams, despite
the color of their skin.
10 Fast forward to 2017
America is still a divided country. Minorities are met with racism and exclusion from achieving1 the
"American Dream" Dr. King promoted on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Minorities continue to
face an on-going crisis in economic discrimination, equal education funding, physical
discrimination and police discrimination and brutality.
15 Every January, we like to reflect on Dr. King's words and inspiration, but it's important to realize

1
Achieve (v) : succeed (v)
 that the work is not over, and in some ways, it hasn't even started. As a UNI 2 student and a woman
of color, I would like to educate you on the issues I face as a person in the minority (…).
Economic Discrimination and the Effect on Education
I believe, like many others, that education can help decrease poverty levels for future generations
20 of Black Americans. But if minority neighborhoods are struggling with wage gaps and high
unemployment rates, how can they afford to pay the taxes needed to maintain their public
schools? Lack of tax money depletes3 the ability to provide quality teachers, technology and
facilities. Not to mention, state funding for public education in many states is inadequate and
inconsistent, which creates a huge obstacle for the nation's growing number of poor minority
25 students who are trying to overcome the odds.
The amount of funding spent on each student can vary drastically4 from state to state. Of the 27
states with the highest percentages of student poverty, all but five spent less than the national
average of $10,938 per student. "These children can learn at the highest levels, but you have to
provide for them. You can't assume they have books at home, or they visit the library or go on
30 vacations. You have to think about what you're doing across the state and ensuring they're getting
what other children get," says Carey Wright, Mississippi's state superintendent of education.
Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation agrees. "We have to think about how to give
these kids a meaningful education. We have to give them quality teachers, small class sizes, up-to-
date equipment. But in addition, if we're serious, we have to do things that overcome the damages
35 of poverty. We have to meet their health needs, their mental health needs, after-school programs,
summer programs, parent engagement, early-childhood services (...)."

By UNIBusiness Editor, « "I have a dream" what it's like to be a minority in America », UNIBusiness,
University of North Iowa, 2017
https://business.uni.edu/news-views/i-have-dream-what-its-be-minority-america

2
UNI student (n) : a university student (n)
3
Deplete (v) : decrease (v), lower (v), reduce (v)
4
Drastically (adv) : enormously (adv)
 Document B
Kissing in Vietnamese
My grandmother kisses
as if bombs are bursting1 in the backyard2,
where mint and jasmine lace3 their perfumes
through the kitchen window,
5 as if somewhere, a body is falling apart
and flames are making their way back
through the intricacies of a young boy’s thigh,
as if to walk out the door, your torso
would dance from exit wounds.
10 When my grandmother kisses, there would be
no flashy smooching4, no western music
of pursed lips, she kisses as if to breathe
you inside her, nose pressed to cheek
so that your scent is relearned
15 and your sweat pearls into drops of gold
inside her lungs, as if while she holds you
death also, is clutching your wrist.
My grandmother kisses as if history
never ended, as if somewhere
20 a body is still
falling apart.

By Ocean Vuong, ''Kissing in Vietnamese'', Reprinted from Split This Rock’s, The Quarry: A Social Justice
Poetry Database, 2015.
https://poets.org/poem/kissing-vietnamese

1
Burst (v) : explode (v)
2
Backyard (n) : garden (n)
3
Lace (v) : tie-up (v), link (v), interweave (v)
4
Smooch (v) : kiss (v)
Document C
Latinx1 Pride

By USA Today, Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th – October 15th), photo taken on Sept, 25th 2019.

1
Latinx (n) : refers to people of Hispanic descent who are living in the USA
 SUJET n°2
Le sujet porte sur la thématique « Expression et construction de soi ».
Axe d'étude n°2 « Mise en scène de soi »

Partie I (16 points) : prenez connaissance des documents A, B et C et traitez le sujet suivant en
anglais.
Write a commentary on the three documents (about 500 words): taking into account their
specificities, analyse the way we re-invent ourselves through art in the documents. For what
reasons?

Partie II (4 points) : rendez compte en français des idées principales du document A (80-100
mots).

Document A

'Art can be for everyone': behind the scenes at the Museum of Selfies
A new pop-up exhibition in Los Angeles aims to explore the history of the self-portrait (...)
Museums are no longer just places to see art – they’re venues to take selfies posted with
#museum. So why not call out the elephant in the room? That’s the philosophy behind the
Museum of Selfies, a pop-up exhibition which opens next month in Los Angeles.
5 The exhibition traces the history of self-portraits from the prehistoric era to 2006, the year Paris
Hilton claims to have '' invented'' the selfie. There are self-portraits in 21st-century art, mirror
selfies by Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s, food selfies from Instagram, iconic skyscraper selfies
and the infamous bathroom selfie. Naturally, there is an entire section devoted to “the art of the
narcissist”.
10 The California game designers Tommy Honton and Tair Mamedov came up with the idea last year
after learning that more people take selfies with Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in the Louvre in
Paris than photograph the artwork itself.
“We joked around with the idea of a selfie museum and thought: ‘What about a space that
explored something that was polarizing but undeniably catchy, in terms of selfie culture?’” asked
15 Honton. “We bring in sceptics while exploring the history and the culture around this whole
phenomenon.”
The 8,000 sq ft museum, which is set in a former department store, will be divided into two
sections. The first is a timeline of the selfie from the first cave painting to Facebook and cellphone
cameras. “We want to show people all these things had to converge for selfie culture to become a
20 thing,” said Honton. “If we didn’t have social media, the selfie probably wouldn’t have taken off.”
The internet revolutionized the selfie, said Honton. “You can take a selfie with a Polaroid, but
unless you can share it, or upload it quickly, what effect will it have?” he asks. “Selfies are universal
– it’s culturally represented.”
The second part of the exhibition is a series of contemporary artists who have made artwork
25 inspired by selfie culture, though their names are currently under wraps. The museum also hopes
 to announce something in the museum which will merit inclusion in the Guinness Book of World
Records.
But while you might think a space like this is just another digitally driven exhibition, the museum
has installations where people can make their own selfies. The term “selfie” was Oxford
30 Dictionaries’ word of the year in 2013, but it was first used in 2002 in an online forum in Australia.
Today, more than 2m selfies are uploaded daily. But should we be worried by selfie culture? “We
all have egos. Selfies aren’t bad unless they’re at the sake of your mental health, sanity or your
life,” said Honton. (…)
Thankfully, the museum doesn’t take itself too seriously, however. “We don’t want this to be an
35 elite, art world, ivory tower thing,” said Honton. “Art doesn’t have to be hard to understand – it can
be for everyone.”

By Nadja Sayev, “Art can be for everyone': behind the scenes at the Museum of Selfies”, January 23rd 2018,
The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/23/museum-of-selfies-los-angeles-interview
 Document B

I am born, Chapter 1 David Copperfield

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station 1 will be held by
anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I
was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o'clock at night. It was
remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.
5 In consideration of the day and hour of my birth, it was declared by the nurse, and by some sage
women in the neighbourhood who had taken a lively interest in me several months before there
was any possibility of our becoming personally acquainted2, first, that I was destined to be unlucky
in life; and secondly, that I was privileged to see ghosts and spirits; both these gifts inevitably
attaching, as they believed, to all unlucky infants of either gender, born towards the small hours on
10 a Friday night.
I need say nothing here, on the first head, because nothing can show better than my history
whether that prediction was verified or falsified by the result. On the second branch of the
question, I will only remark, that unless I ran through that part of my inheritance while I was still a
baby, I have not come into it yet. But I do not at all complain of having been kept out of this
15 property; and if anybody else should be in the present enjoyment of it, he is heartily welcome to
keep it.
I was born with a caul3, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of
fifteen guineas. (….)
Not to meander4 myself, at present, I will go back to my birth.
20 I was born at Blunderstone, in Suffolk5, or 'there by', as they say in Scotland.

By Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter 1, 1850

1
Station (n) : position (n)
2
To be acquainted to somebody (v) : to meet somebody (v)
3
A caul (n) : placenta (n)
4
To meander (v): to lose oneself in... (v)
5
Suffolk : a county in the East of England
Document C

By Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait, 1984

 Correction

SUJET n°1

Partie 1 (16 points) : prenez connaissance des documents A, B et C et traitez le sujet suivant en
anglais :

Write a commentary on the three documents (about 500 words): taking into account their
specificities, analyse the way minorities – in the USA – address their cultural heritage in the
documents and how they manage to redefine what it means to be American.

In the wake of 1the Black Lives Matter Movement, we cannot help but wonder what it
means to be American today.
Arguably2, the set of documents prompts us to analyse how minorities in the USA are
addressing their past. It is composed of an article written by the University of North Iowa and casts
light3 upon the series of discriminations Afro-American students face in this day and age. Then,
Ocean Vuong's poem ''Kissing in Vietnamese'' also alludes to the past and to the persona's cultural
heritage. Finally, the image refers to the fact that the Hispanic population living in the USA is both
of being American and proud of their cultural heritage. To what extent is the past crucial and helps
minorities build their identities?
In a first stage, we will examine how minorities dwell on their cultural heritages and on
iconic figures. In a second stage, we will focus on how minorities draw on their past to shape their
identities.

Firstly, document A refers to an iconic speech and to an iconic American heroic figure:
Martin Luther King. The author claims that Afro-American students are still being discriminated
against because of their skin colour. Martin Luther King's speech delivered in 1963 became a
milestone4 in American history. From a very young age, Afro-Americans are excluded from the so-
called American Dream “America is still a divided country” (l.11). The first text addresses the
notion of a cultural heritage in terms of families and explains how the country should provide for
children “ensuring they're getting what other children get” (l.30). Similarly5, in the second
document, the persona6 seems to be a child mesmerised7 by his past which is embodied8 by his
Vietnamese grandmother. She becomes a reassuring kiss that “bursts” (l.2) into flames recalling
the Vietnam War (1955-1975) and thus9 a tragic past and the discriminations the Asian population
had to face back then (l.18). Finally, the third document relies10 on the ''Latinx Population'' who is
proud of their roots11, their origins and their culture they pass on to their children. Finally, we can

1
Dans la lignée de, qui a suivi le...
2
De manière indiscutable
3
Mettre en lumière, éclairer
4
Essentiel, à marquer d'une pierre blanche ...
5
De la même manière
6
Le « narrateur » d'un poème
7
Fasciné
8
Incarnée par
9
Ainsi
10
S'appuyer sur
11
Racines
argue that the three documents rely on families or fatherly (like Martin Luther King) figures to
enhance a long history of discriminations. Indeed, the children and their parents are still hoping for
a better future.
Then, the three documents show us how the American identity is shaped by embracing our
heritage, our roots and our differences as document C implies. Indeed, this document praises dual
identities as the Mexican and the US flags are proudly interwoven in their skirts and in themselves.
They are both American and Latinx or Latinos. Similarly, the persona has a double identity: he is
both American and Vietnamese as he expresses his love for his Vietnamese grandmother (l.1).
However, we can assume that the first document differs in tone. Indeed, documents B and C
celebrate differences and do not address the issues of racism or discriminations directly, contrary
to document A. The latter12 discloses13 facts and statistics about black poverty. Yet, the author also
seeks to embrace America's multicultural heritage and America's rich diversity “An America that
embraced people's differences. Where anyone could pursue their dreams” (l.8). Documents B and
C seem to show to what extent the American Dream was achieved whereas document A prompts
us to react to stop any form discrimination.

To conclude, the set of documents aims at showcasing a multicultural America. Minorities

dwell on14 their roots to shape their new American identity.

586 words.

Partie 2 (4 points) : rendez compte en français des idées principales du document A (80-100
mots).

L'auteur met en parallèle deux époques : 1963 et 2017 et s'ouvre sur le discours de Martin
Luther King. Les mouvements des droits civiques aux États-Unis ont conduit à plusieurs lois comme
le « Voting Rights Act » ou le « Civil Rights Act ». Toutefois, encore aujourd'hui, l'Amérique
demeure un pays divisé.
Selon la journaliste, les Afro-Américains sont de plus en plus pauvres. La journaliste
explique par ailleurs qu'ils n'ont pas les livres dont ils ont besoin pour étudier. Ils n'ont pas non
plus l'occasion de s'inscrire dans des bibliothèques comme les autres enfants. Pour elle, c'est en
leur offrant une meilleure éducation que le sort de tous les Afro-Américains s'améliorera.

112 mots.

Conseils supplémentaires :
Vous auriez pu analyser l’article à la lumière du contexte actuel et des dernières élections
américaines. En effet, chaque candidat souhaitait séduire les minorités pour remporter l’élection.
Ces minorités jouent un rôle de plus en plus essentiel et modifient le paysage politique actuel.
Pensez à Kamala Harris qui devint le 6 novembre 2020 la première femme afro-américaine et
asiatique à devenir vice-présidente des USA. Parlez du mouvement Black Lives Matter et de ses

12
Cette dernière / ce dernier
13
Révéler
14
Reposer sur
revendications.
Quant à l’extrait, vous connaissez peut-être d’autres textes littéraires qui évoquent cette recherche
généalogique : Beloved de Toni Morrison en est un exemple, c’est aussi le cas du roman Light in
August de William Faulkner. Toute la littérature du Sud des États-Unis évoque également cette
quête.
Toutefois, le poème faisait référence plus référence à l’héritage culturel vietnamien. Pensez à des
œuvres qui représentent la communauté asiatique au cinéma. Le blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians
(2018) de John Chu ou The Farewell (2019) de Lulu Wang ont remis sur le devant de la scène cette
communauté peu représentée au cinéma ou dans les arts.
Enfin, pour illustrer la fierté d’appartenir à la communauté américano-hispanique, vous pouvez
faire référence à des personnages de série ou de films qui évoquent cette double culture. Vous
pouvez penser particulièrement à la musique ou à des artistes fiers de leur héritage culturel et qui
en parlent ou chantent en anglais et en espagnol.
SUJET n°2

Partie 1 (16 points) : prenez connaissance des documents A, B et C et traitez le sujet suivant en
anglais :

Write a commentary on the three documents (about 500 words): taking into account their
specificities, analyse the way we re-invent ourselves through art in the documents. For what
reasons?

Do I look like a dinosaur? The set of documents prompts us to analyse how artists or people
in general reshape1 themselves. Why do they do so? It is a composed of an article by Nadja Sayev
for The Guardian in 2018; the incipit of David Copperfield - a famous Bildungsroman2 written by
Charles Dickens and Jean-Michel Basquiat's Self-Portrait painted in 1984.
We may wonder to what extent these documents show how we re-invent ourselves
through art, painting, photography or literature.
In a first stage, we will examine how the artists depict themselves in a faithful manner: how
close are they from the reality? In a second stage, we will focus on how they recreate themselves
through art as reality can never be fully reached3 and may be just an illusion. Self-representation is
being questioned.

First, document A alludes4 to a “pop-up exhibition” (l.1) held in Los Angeles dedicated to
the art of selfies. Selfies tend to represent a truthful reality and account for our daily lives as “food
selfies from Instagram, iconic skyscraper selfies” (l.7) are displayed5 in this museum. Similarly,
document B refers to the narrator's birth minute after minute: the title “I am born” seems strange
at first. In fact, the reader is invited to witness his birth, hence 6 the present tense. The narrator
discloses a few details of what actually happened on that day to give us a truthful account of this
moment “To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been
informed and believe) on a Friday” (l.3). We can testify to7 the beginning of his life, just as the
museum which traces back the selfies from prehistoric times. In addition, document C also
illustrates the origins of mankind as Jean-Michel Basquiat depicts himself as a dinosaur.
Then, the three documents dwell on reality and our identities are distorted8 through art or
illusion. Indeed, document C is entitled Self-Portrait and seems to prompt us to make fun of
ourselves. Similarly, Honton argues that we cannot take ourselves seriously in this museum, hence
the « entire section devoted to “the art of the narcissist” » (l.8-9). In the same manner, the literary
excerpt jokingly recreates the narrator's character and makes fun of himself as well. Indeed, we are
told that he was born in « Blunderstone » (l.20). The name of the town relies on a pun as a
“blunder” means a mistake, an error in slang. Just like selfies, dinosaur-self-portraits, Charles
Dickens may illustrate here the impossibility to represent ourselves truthfully; we can only
reinterpret ourselves, our births and what we actually look like.

1
Reshape (v) : refaçonner / réinventer
2
Bildungsroman (n) : roman d'apprentissage
3
Reach (v) : atteindre
4
Allude to (v) : faire allusion à
5
Display (v) : exposer
6
Hence (adv) : d'où
7
Testify to (v) : assister à
8
Distort (v) : déformer
 To conclude, the set of documents cast a light on we represent ourselves through selfies or
social media: we need to show what we exist. Basquiat is also fully aware of his transient existence
as the dinosaur – a dead species – is here a king wearing a crown; while document B also distorts
the codes of self-representation. As a result, the three documents argue that we can only
represent ourselves through parody.

531 words.

Conseils supplémentaires :
Comparez l’art de l’auto-portrait à celui du selfie. Pensez-vous qu’il soit différent ? Pensez-vous
qu’il soit excessif de consacrer un musée aux selfies ? Est-il une représentation avérée de votre
réalité ? En quoi les réseaux sociaux ont-ils modifié notre vie et la représentation que nous
donnons de nous-mêmes aux autres ? Est-ce dangereux ? Pourquoi souhaite-t-on embellir ce que
l’on vit ? Si vous connaissez les auto-portraits de Norman Rockwell, n’hésitez pas les évoquer.
Puis, concernant l’autobiographie fictive (document B), pensez à d’autres autobiographies.
Pourquoi décide-t-on de narrer sa vie ? Ici, il s’agit d’une parodie des mémoires et le romancier
britannico-indien Salman Rushdie a repris les codes de l’incipit de David Copperfield pour son
roman Midnight Children (1981) associant la naissance d’un enfant à l’indépendance (ou la
renaissance) de l’Inde.
Enfin, le tableau est lui aussi ironique. Basquiat étant un artiste street-art, vous pouvez le comparer
à d’autres artistes de ce type comme Banksy. En quoi représentent-ils notre société et qu’en disent-
ils ? En quoi se représenter en tant que dinosaure royal (voyez la couronne) est-il ironique et
représente-t-il la fragilité de notre humanité ? Vous pouvez ainsi penser aux natures-mortes
(notamment celles de George Washington Lambert ou de William Etty).

Partie 2 (4 points) : rendez compte en français des idées principales du document A (80-100
mots).

Nadja Sayev évoque un musée du selfie à Los Angeles. Il expose des selfies tout comme
celui de Paris Hilton en 2006. Le terme « selfie » a été élu le mot de l'année par l'Oxford Dictionary
en 2013. Plus de deux millions de selfies apparaissent sur la toile chaque jour.
Tommy Honton and Tair Mamedov expliquent que l'idée leur est venue en constatant que
les gens ne prenaient pas simplement la Joconde en photo, mais qu'ils se prenaient eux-mêmes en
photo devant elle. En effet, selon Honton un selfie doit être vu par tous, sinon il ne sert à rien. Le
but est de démontrer que l'art appartient à tous.

112 mots.