m&h6

4th Theory and Early Castaways
Today we talked about Henry Pitman, a surgeon who survived a shipwreck in the Caribbeans. His story was told by J. Taylor, and probably inspired Daniel Defoe.

Then, we started thinking about early incarnations of a castaway, like Ulysses in Homer's Odyssey or Sinbad the sailor in the Arabian Nights. These heroes became universal, because humanity has always been fascinated by these themes (unknown lands, exploration, exile, survival, symbolic death and return).

 Warm UP

 Babylon
acre
synonymous of cities and decadence (reggae)
isn't Babylon famous for... ?


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idea of progress 5

Workgroup Intro Ned Ludd comes from Sherwood forest, like Robin Hood. The riots (= émeutes ) started around Nottinghamshire [ Notingemshe ]. In the 19th century, there were economic difficulties because of the Napoleonic Wars. The Luddite movement lasted for 5 years : they not only ( non seulement ) broke into factories ( to break into = entrer par effraction ) and attacked the machines, but also ( mais aussi ) employers and soldiers. The British government tried to find a compromise, but it didn't work out, so they punished Luddites: 17 were executed thousands of troops were deployed Luddites were protected by local communities because they had the public opinion with them. Luddites were very effective, because they kept fighting, and they could regroup many people.  
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Idea of Progress 6

Fighting the Luddites Today we tried to finish what we started last time. We studied two documents that explained how the Luddites worked : they would form a band of about 30 people, go to the house of a machine owner ( Propriétaire ) by night, and break the machines, sometimes hitting the owner. Initial reactions were to try and calm the rioters ( émeutiers ), by appealing ( en faisant appel ) to their patriotism and threatening them ( en les menaçant ), mentioning their families and (underpaid) jobs. Authorities also blamed the Napoleonic Wars for the troubles. Eventually, laws were voted to make machine-breaking punishable by death, and the army was sent against them.
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Idea Of Progress 1

Presentation of the Luddites, an Industrial Rebellion  Today, we started working on the new notion, "Idea of Progress." We studied a few pictures from the 19th century, they looked like drawings. The first document presented people, maybe peasants, with weapons. There was a building on fire in the background, and a huge character on the foreground, called "the Leader of the Luddites."  The second document presented us with a group of angry people with axes. A man tried to stop them from destroying a machine. It was a machine used in the textile industry. The third document was a poster asking for people to denounce Luddites (machine breakers), and rewarded witnesses (témoins) with £1.000. We also noticed that it took place in the early 19th century (in 1812 precisely).  Then the last document compared the Luddites with rats in a cage, like people who reject technology. To sum it all up, we know: - the Luddites were a group of people, - who destroyed m...
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