Download (Re)Shaping the Face of War ACTIVITY 1 Watch the video again

(Re)Shaping the Face of War
ACTIVITY 1
Watch the video again and complete the spidergram with key words or expressions.
a. Compare notes with your partner.
b. Use the spidergram to recap orally to your partner. Then, change roles.
ACTIVITY 2
Get ready to present two pictures you particularly like or find relevant to illustrate the
war. Select one picture you consider “pro-war” and a second one you consider “antiwar”.
a. Briefly describe them without insisting on insignificant details.
b. Focus on several aspects you find particularly interesting or meaningful: colours
and light, shapes, suggested movements, composition, details • What struck me
first… The colours are rather/quite/extremely/almost too…
c. Say what you think they express about the war and why you consider them pro- or
anti-war paintings: I guess the artist… The artist must have…The prevailing
impression is one of…
d. Explain the reasons why you selected these two paintings – compare them to each
other first, then with the other pictures and say what they evoke for you: Both
paintings… Contrary to the first painting, the second one… Whereas…
ACTIVITY 3
A. Group A – Listen to the interview and complete.
1. Note down the different time markers you hear. Then note down the stressed word
and expressions corresponding to each period.
a. ______________ :
b. ______________ :
c. ______________ :
2. Recap information focusing on the government organization dealt with in the first
period.
a. Name?
b. Date of creation?
c. Objective? ________ ________________________________________
d. Reason? __________________________________________________
3. Concentrate on the second period and recap.
a. Problem?
b. Consequences?
4. Third period.
a. A new programme?
b. Objective?
c. But…
B. Group B – Listen to the interview and complete.
1.a. The beginning of the interview deals with:
the fact that people didn’t want to see WWI soldiers back from the front.
b. Note down words and expressions to prove your point.
2.a. Authorities:
b. Note down words and expressions to prove your point.
3. Sidcup? Explain what it was. What happened there?
4. Harold Gillies? His connection with Sidcup?
5. What solution did Harold Gillies develop to answer the problem mentioned at the
beginning of the interview?
ACTIVITY 4
A. Group A
1. Go to www.iwm.org.uk/history/war-art-schemes-of-the-first-world-war.
a. The British government art schemes during WWI – list the chronology.
b. Explain what these art schemes consisted of (objectives, people involved, projects
and achievements).
c. Find two passages showing that these art schemes were not focused on the front
and military operations only.
d. Imagine what the “home” subjects could be.
2. Get ready to report what you have learnt so far –from the recording (ACTIVITY 3)
and the webpage you visited– to your partner from the other group.
B. Group B
1. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zxw42hv.
a. Why were there so many facially mutilated soldiers?
b. Collect some extra information about Harold Gillies and Sidcup.
c. How was Harold Gillies’s activity perceived? Why? Did the perception evolve?
2. Get ready to report what you have learnt so far – both from the recording
(ACTIVITY 3) and from the webpage you visited – to your partner from the other
group.
C. Work in pairs and recap information.
1. Art schemes during WWI
a. Draw a mindmap with key words and expressions to reorganise information.
b. Imagine the impact it had on public opinion.
Propaganda resulted in…
If the government had not developed such schemes, public opinion would have…
They wouldn’t have…
2. The early stages of plastic surgery.
a. Prepare a short presentation on the subject – introduce the topic, announce the
three elements (Causes? • Objectives? • Who?/Where?) your presentation will deal
with and write a short paragraph for each.
b. Imagine the impact it had on public opinion.
Without plastic surgery, many wounded soldiers would have…
If they hadn’t developed plastic surgery, …
Harold Gillies developed…, as a result…
ACTIVITY 5 – Final Project
Leave a comment on the National Portrait Gallery’s webpage.
Briefly introduce yourself, say whether you liked the exhibition (the paintings you saw
in Step 2) or not and talk people into or out of visiting it. Explain what you have learnt
about WWI, propaganda, arts and plastic surgery through these portraits. Select one
painting you found particularly interesting and comment on it.
ACTIVITY 6 – Reflecting about the Syllabus Notions
1. What elements could you reuse to flesh out your oral presentation on the following
notions?
a. The idea of progress?
b. « Lieux et formes de pouvoir »?
2. The power of propaganda – To what extent did art and plastic surgery help
maintain public support and faith in the war?
Authorities had to…
If they hadn’t developed these schemes…
These schemes helped maintain…
3. Work in groups of four and prepare a five minute oral presentation on the notion «
lieux et formes de pouvoir » .
a. Two of you proceed as follows:
Introduce the notion – give a brief definition – reuse what you have learnt in the
previous activities and show that they match the definition.
b. The other two proceed using the following plan:
Start from a series of examples dealt with in the previous activities – explain how they
relate to the notion – finish with a wider definition of the notion.
c. Exchange views on the advantages and drawbacks of both methods.