Axe culturel 3 — Art et pouvoir : l'art comme arme d'engagement, de témoignage et de résistance dans le monde anglophone (programme LVA Tle)
Évaluation complète de fin de chapitre, tout en niveau difficile. Travaille seul et sans aide, puis vérifie tes réponses avec le corrigé détaillé dépliable en bas de page.
Read the following text carefully, then answer the questions in English. Justify your answers with quotations from the text.
Document — Adapted from an article on protest music in the English-speaking world (contemporary press).
In the summer of 1939, a young schoolteacher named Abel Meeropol slipped a poem into the hands of a Harlem nightclub singer. The lines described a horror he had seen in a photograph: the lynching of two Black men in the American South. The singer was Billie Holiday, and the song became «Strange Fruit». When she first performed it, the room fell silent; some listeners wept, others walked out in discomfort.
The record company refused to release it, judging the subject far too dangerous. Holiday recorded it anyway with a smaller label. For years, club owners begged her not to sing it, and she was warned that it might end her career. She sang it all the same, always as her final number, the lights dimmed, no encore allowed. «It reminds me how Pop died,» she said, «but I have to keep singing it.»
«Strange Fruit» did not change the law overnight. Yet it forced thousands of comfortable listeners to confront a reality they preferred to ignore. Decades later, it is widely regarded as one of the first great songs of the American civil rights struggle — proof that a three-minute melody can bear witness more powerfully than a thousand speeches.
Answer in English in full sentences, reusing precise vocabulary from the chapter (to denounce, to bear witness, dissent, statement piece…).
Choose ONE of the two subjects and write 150–180 words in English. Use precise vocabulary from the chapter, at least two examples from the English-speaking world, and logical connectors.
Exercice 1 — Compréhension de l'écrit
Éléments attendus (compréhension fine + citations).
1. (2 pts) The words came from a poem written by a schoolteacher, Abel Meeropol, inspired by a photograph: «a young schoolteacher named Abel Meeropol slipped a poem into the hands of a Harlem nightclub singer». The poem described a real atrocity, the racist murder of two Black men: «the lynching of two Black men in the American South». (1 pt pour l'origine du texte, 1 pt pour le contenu cité.)
2. (2 pts) It was risky because powerful people tried to stop her: the record company «refused to release it», club owners «begged her not to sing it» and she was warned that «it might end her career». Singing it anyway, with a smaller label and as a final, defiant number, meant facing professional ruin and emotional pain to denounce racism. (Reformulation personnelle + idée du courage / du risque attendue.)
3. (2 pts) The song did not change the law immediately («did not change the law overnight») but it forced indifferent audiences to face an uncomfortable truth and became «one of the first great songs of the American civil rights struggle». The phrase summing up the power of engaged art is: «a three-minute melody can bear witness more powerfully than a thousand speeches». (1 pt pour l'impact, 1 pt pour la citation finale.)
Exercice 2 — Compréhension — analyse et mise en perspective
1. (2 pts) The two opposite reactions show that engaged art works by provoking an emotional response: those who wept were moved to share the victims' suffering, which is exactly what bearing witness aims to achieve. But those who 'walked out in discomfort' reveal its limit: art can disturb without convincing, and some audiences reject the message rather than face it. The contrast suggests that engaged art can force a confrontation with reality, yet it cannot guarantee that every spectator will accept its denunciation. (Analyse du contraste émotion / rejet attendue.)
2. (2 pts) Toute réponse argumentée et nuancée est valorisée. On attend l'idée qu'une œuvre comme «Strange Fruit» touche l'émotion et la mémoire d'une manière qu'un discours rationnel atteint rarement : elle 'bears witness' et reste gravée (its silence in the room, its haunting beauty). Le candidat peut nuancer : un discours ou une loi agit plus directement sur le pouvoir, tandis que l'art agit lentement sur les consciences ; les deux sont souvent complémentaires. (Position claire + appui sur le texte exigés.)
Exercice 3 — Expression écrite (au choix)
Attendus communs : longueur respectée (150–180 mots), anglais correct, vocabulaire de l'axe (to denounce, to subvert, to bear witness, dissent, censorship, statement piece, to speak truth to power…), au moins deux exemples précis du monde anglophone (un artiste, une chanson, un mouvement…), connecteurs logiques (however, whereas, although, therefore, as a result…), point de vue clair. Barème indicatif : richesse de la langue 2 pts · contenu/arguments et exemples 2 pts · structure et connecteurs 2 pts.
Exemple de production attendue — Subject A (≈170 mots, niveau 18-20/20) :
I would argue that art is indeed one of the most lasting weapons of protest, although it rarely works alone. A law can be repealed and a speech is quickly forgotten, whereas a powerful work of art lingers in the collective memory. «Strange Fruit», for instance, still forces audiences to confront the horror of lynching more than eighty years after it was first sung. Similarly, a Banksy mural can be painted over by the authorities, yet its image circulates online and provokes debate for years. However, we must remain nuanced: art seldom changes the law on its own; it amplifies movements rather than replacing political action. The civil rights songs of the 1960s mattered because they accompanied marches and demands. Therefore, art and direct protest are complementary: speeches and laws act on institutions, whereas art acts on consciences. Ultimately, because it speaks to emotion and memory, engaged art often outlives the very powers it denounces.
Exemple — Subject B (≈165 mots) :
Good morning, everyone. I have come here today to defend something fragile and precious: the right of the artist to disturb. Throughout history, those in power have tried to silence uncomfortable voices. Billie Holiday was warned that «Strange Fruit» might end her career, yet she kept singing it; Ai Weiwei was imprisoned, yet he turned his surveillance into art. Why does it matter? Because, as the saying goes, art must speak truth to power. When a society loses the freedom to criticise, it loses the ability to see itself clearly. Of course, dissent can be dangerous. However, self-censorship is far more dangerous still, for it kills ideas before they are even born. So I urge you: defend the artists who make you uncomfortable, even when you disagree with them. A free society needs its rebels, its satirists and its painters of walls. Keep questioning, keep creating, and never let anyone tell you that art and politics must stay apart.
Cours particuliers de anglais (lva) à Marseille, en présentiel ou à distance — un prof qui s'adapte à ton rythme et reprend ce qui coince.