Washington's birthday

Compétence

Culture : je découvre la civilisation des pays anglophones.
Écrire et réagir à l’écrit : je structure mon propos.

Did you know?

Also called Presidents’ Day, this federal holiday is celebrated on the 3^rd Monday of February ‒ from the 15^th to the 21^st ‒ to celebrate the 1^st American President, born on February 22, 1732. Do you know any other American Presidents?

Watch

1
Name the four presidents. Do you know what they’re famous for?

2
Practice saying the numbers aloud.

3
Debate: which President should be the 5^th on this mountain?

4
What do these numbers represent? Quiz your friends.

4 / 1927 / 400 / 5,500 / 60 / 14 / 1 / 1,278 / 3

● Located in South Dakota, in the Black Hills.

● Also called The Presidents’ Mountain.

● 4 US Presidents (from left to right): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

● Three million visitors a year.

● It took 14 years (from 1927 to 1941) and 400 men to carve the mountain.

● Mount Rushmore cost nearly one million dollars.

● The mountain is 5,500 feet above sea level.

● The faces of Mount Rushmore are 60 feet high.

● Washington’s nose is approximately 21 feet long.

● The eyes of each President are 11 feet wide, and their mouths are approximately 18 feet wide.

● The memorial lies over 1,278 acres.

Read

1
Why did Obama deliver this speech? Which pronoun does he use a lot? Why?

2
Concentrate on Donald Trump’s use of pronouns. How does he address the American people?

3
Debate. Describe the tone of each speech. Do you find them equally efficient?

4
Make a wordcloud from Trump’s speech with “unity” words.

Let me tell you, this generation coming up ‒ unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic ‒ I’ve seen you in every corner of the country. You believe in a fair, and just, and inclusive America; [...] and I believe as a result the future is in good hands. My fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. [...] Whether you are young or whether you’re young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your president ‒ the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago. I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change ‒ but in yours.

Barack Obama’s Farewell Address in Chicago, 10 January 2017.

I just received a call from Secretary Clinton. She congratulated us ‒ it’s about us ‒ on our victory. [...] I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all Americans. [...] For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help. So that we can work together and unify our great country. Working together we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. [...] We will do a great job, we will do a great job. And I can only say that while the campaign is over, our work on this movement is now really just beginning.

Donald Trump’s US election victory speech in NYC, 9 November 2016.