Annales gratuites Bac L : A job for a German immigrant

        The waiting area grew colder and emptier as dark fell, and he moved closer to the smoking
     stove by the clerk's counter. Soon there would be nothing left to do but knock on church doors and
     seek lodging for the night. He brooded over other possible avenues but came up only with cold
     alleyways. Well, it was warmer by the stove at least, and he stretched out his legs toward the heat.
5       He surprised himself suddenly with a twitch - he'd been asleep. He looked to the far corner and
     saw the clerk at the desk beckon at him.
        "You. Yeah, you"
        He had been called.
        "Yes, sir." Hands on thighs, optimism rising, he stood.
10     "You been here all day. Didn't you sign in? Don't you realize we're closed?" He looked about
     and saw that the other benches sat vacant and the hall was empty but for himself and the clerk.
     The optimism dwindled away. The man was just kicking him out.
        "Sorry. Sorry. I'll go."
        "No - wait. Turns out you're lucky. See, I only let you snore because of the rotten weather, but
15  now it seems I'm lucky. You noticed the snow? Well, someone at Street Cleaning only just looked
     out the window, and they sent a boy over here with an order for an overnight shoveling¹ crew - just
     in time for closing. So what about it? Shoveling snow for the city. You want the job?"
         It took him a moment to follow. "Snow, a job, shoveling," he repeated, and then he understood.
     "Ja, danke, danke" he said.
20    "Is that a yes? You better stop speaking Dutch and learn some English."
        "Yes. Yes, sir."
        "All right, good. You can start now and go till the regulars show up at six, see? Anyway, you've
     had your beauty sleep, and I think I can tell from looking that you ain't got evening plans." Beauty
      sleep? the stableman wondered. Evening plans? He wasn't sure how he should respond.
25    "Or don't you want a night job? You want I find some other lug²?"
        "A lug? No... or, yes. I mean, yes, I'll do it - and no, no one else.
        "'You'll take the job."
        "I'll take it"
        "Good. The thing of it is, you're the only man left. You think you're man enough to shovel the
30  city alone?"
        "The city, alone?" He thought a moment. Perhaps it was a joke. "That would take a long time,
      sir," he finally said. His English might have been better if only the few people who talked to him
     had made more sense.
        "You're right, it would. So, first thing you do is round up, say, twenty men and take 'em down to
35  the dock at Coffee House Slip, East River off of Wall Street. You'll get the carts and shovels there
     and sign up with the fellow at the office. The others get paid for the time they shovel, you get paid
     foreman's³ wages, starting right now."
        Foreman's wages.
        "What's your name?"
40     "Geiermeier," he said, and leaning over the clerk's ledger⁴, he saw it written out in the beautiful
     Gothic script he'd learned as a boy and pointed to the entry. "I signed in this morning."
        "You got to be kidding. Is that how you say that? I must have tried to call you five times today,
     yesterday, too. I started to think it was Chinese, all that up and down and curlicue around, no way
     of knowing what letters is meant. Where'd you learn to write like that anyhow? You don't know how
45  to give yourself a leg up, do you?
        A leg up? Americans said much that he didn't understand. He had listened almost obsessively
     to the names being called. But then the clerk uttered a strange, vaguely familiar word, and it
     dawned on him: this was how the clerk had been pronouncing his name, with the g misinterpreted
     as h, the vowels collapsed, the m transmuted, and the sounds and stresses generally so different
50  from the actual pronunciation that it hadn't even registered on him. He frowned slightly with
     frustration - how many opportunities had he missed in the past two days because of this?
        "That's a G," he said weakly, pointing to the page. "I never realized you were calling me."
        "What kind of writing is that, Greek? You ain't Greek, are you?"
        "It's German."
55     "Aw, jeez. Now, there's plenty of Germans in New York, and they seem to get along. But where
     are you going to get with a name no one can read, and you can't even tell when they're trying to? It
     just won't do, that name. Or the handwriting either."

Adapted from Elizabeth Gaffney, Metropolis, 2005.

1 to shovel : déblayer
2 lug : gars
3 foreman : contremaître
4 ledger : registre

Vous traiterez les questions dans l'ordre, en indiquant clairement leur numéro sur votre copie.
Lorsque la réponse doit être développée, le nombre de mots ou d'éléments de réponse sera indiqué dans la question.
En l'absence d'indications, vous répondrez brièvement à la question posée.

1.
a) Name the country and city where the story is set.
b) What time of the year is it?
c) What time of the day is it? Justify your answer with two quotations.

2. Geiermeier is waiting in a sort of job centre. How long has he been there?

3.
a) "Soon there would be nothing left to do but knock on church doors and seek lodging for the night." (lines 2 and 3)
In your words say what his problem is and how he must be feeling.
b) In what particular way does this problem get solved?
c) Say what he is asked to do. (20/30 words)

4. "Turns out you're lucky." (line 14)
In your own words, say what chain of events makes Geiermeier lucky. (40/50 words)

5. Read from line 14 to line 19.
Describe and explain Geiermeier's reaction to the clerk's words.

6. Focus on what the clerk says from line 20 to 30.
What does it reveal about his attitude towards Geiermeier? (2 elements)

7. Focus on the passage from line 39 to the end.
Why didn't Geiermeier get a job sooner? (40 words)

8.
a) Read from line 55 to 57. Say what the clerk implicitly tells Geiermeier to do and explain why.
b) Imagine Geiermeier's thoughts and reactions following the clerk's remark. (40/50 words)

Vous traiterez les questions dans l'ordre, en indiquant clairement leur numéro sur votre copie.
Lorsque la réponse doit être développée, le nombre de mots ou d'éléments de réponse sera indiqué dans la question.
En l'absence d'indications, vous répondrez brièvement à la question posée.

I - L'ANALYSE ET LES DIFFICULTES DU TEXTE

Il faut soigner tout particulièrement votre expression car beaucoup de questions exigent des réponses rédigées.
Les questions sont complexes et demandent de la concentration.
On attend de vous des réponses plutôt longues et agrémentées de structures linguistiques variées.

II - LES REPONSES ATTENDUES

1.
a) Name the country and city where the story is set.
The story is set in New York, U.S.A.
b) What time of the year is it?
It is winter.
c) What time of the day is it? Justify your answer with two quotations.
It is nightime.
l 1 "as dark fell" ; l 3 "and seek lodging for the night".

2. Geiermeier is waiting in a sort of job centre. How long has he been there?
Geiermeier has been waiting there for two days.

3.
a) "Soon there would be nothing left to do but knock on church doors and seek lodging for the night." (Lines 2 and 3)
In your own words say what his problem is and how he must be feeling.
He is homeless and he must feel desperate and resigned as he's got no place to sleep in.
b) In what particular way does this problem get solved?
He gets a job for the night. Indeed, he fell asleep in the job centre and was the only one left to be called.
c) Say what he is asked to do? (20 / 30 words)
He is supposed to work as a foreman and set up a 20-man crew to shovel the snow blocking city streets overnight.

4. "Turns out you're lucky." (Line 14)
In your own words, say what chain of events makes Geiermeier lucky. (40 / 50 words)
Because of the cold weather, Geiermeier preferred staying by the stove at the job centre and fell asleep. In a moment of compassion, the clerk let him sleep inside past the closing time. In the meantime, it started snowing heavily in New York, which blocked the streets.

5. Read from line 14 to line 19.
Describe and explain Geiermeier's reaction to the clerk's words.
First, Geiermeier doesn't understand the clerk's words, thinking that he should leave. It takes him a while to understand the job offer. Finally, he feels grateful for it.

6. Focus on what the clerk says from line 20 to 30.
What does it reveal about his attitude towards Geiermeier? (2 elements)
The clerk seems to be xenophobic and exasperated by Geiermeier's astonished look and slow reaction.
l 20 "Is that a yes? You better stop speaking Dutch and learn some English."
In addition, he is condescending and cynical.
l 29 "You think you're man enough to shovel the city alone."

7. Focus on the passage from line 39 to the end.
Why didn't Geiermeier get a job sooner? (40 words)
Though he had been called several times, he didn't recognize his name because the clerk was unable to read his handwriting and thus pronounce his name properly. Moreover, he fell asleep in the job centre as he had no place to go to.

8.
a) Read from line 55 to 57. Say what the clerk implicitly tells Geiermeier to do and explain why.
The clerk suggests that Geiermeier alter his name, adopt a clearer handwriting and learn English so as to fit in the American society.
b) Imagine Geiermeier's thoughts and reactions following the clerk's remark. (40 / 50 words)
Geiermeier's feelings must have been hurt because he is really proud of his handwriting. He must have felt surprised and disappointed at the notion of having to alter his name and by so doing, betraying his genuine cultural identity, especially in a country known for its cultural diversity and open-mindedness.