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Annales gratuites Bac L : Compétence linguistique

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LE SUJET

August 28, 1919
Detroit, Michigan
America

Dearest Matka,

     You will not understand this easily, so best I tell you quickly. Now my name is Rose. Do you like it ? I whisper this new name and a summer surrounds me : flowers and larks(1) and quite breezes, and I forget the boat and the people crowded tight against me, squeezing the thoughts out of my head. A new name cannot make your daughter a different person, Matka and all you taught me is mine forever. But now I'm in America, and my name is Rose. It is a happy name. A name Americans understand.
     Stanislaus, reading this letter to Matka, ask her to say my new name. She should feel for one moment what it means to be in America, where everything is new and different, even something so little and so grand as a name.
     The people we know don't have the names they had on the boat. Matka, forgive me, but when I got here they made me Rose, so this is who I am now. You would be proud to see me.
     I plan to become an American as soon as I can. I plan to learn English fast. One day I will have lots and lots of nice things, Matka, and you will have nice things too because I will send them to you.
     Two days here, and already I see how there is so much in America : so much time, so much space. There is everything ! Time to work hard and earn good money, time to tell stories and laugh.
     My name is gone !
     I am here ! I am here !
     With precious love always from your daughter…


November 16, 1919
Detroit, Michigan
America

     Dearest Matka,

     Late at night is the only time my thoughts of you aren't hidden. Overlook my crooked lettering because I'm writing in the dark as everyone sleeps ; only the light from the moon peeks in where the curtain doesn't pull shut. It's never quiet here in America. Across the hall the Jasinski's baby girl cries, boot steps clump to the washroom, a harmonica plays the same song every night, then stops too suddenly.
     The daylight hours are not ours anyway ; they belong to the factory, the landlord, the hallways I can't scrub clean of muddy footprints, the peddler(2) whose prices are too high, the butcher with the meat cut ways I don't understand, the teacher at night school and his long sighs and bad complexion, the babies who whimper to be held. Nights have always been for dreaming, so that is when I dream of you, Matka, and everything behind me.
     When I went to say good-bye, you were surrounded by chickens ; you were tossing out their feed. Neither of us spoke. Only the chicken squawked(3), as handfuls of food rained down upon them when it was supposed to be just one. These months later, I want to hear your voice, but it's chickens I remember.
     It is like nothing you can think of, to live in America. Even the sun is bigger here, its light whiter. There are so many people, and they talk too fast ; their language is twisted and gnarled, like trees growing in the wind. There are stories here, but I don't know them. I only know the stories you told me, Matka, and I repeat them to myself so I won't forget. The story about the day the rooster(4) got its crow. The story about the wolves running through the snow and how their tracks filled with gold coins. I think of you telling me those stories, but I still can't hear your voice.
     At night, I feel my American baby growing inside me. My body doesn't want to let go of this baby. This is not the right way to think because again and again this child will find new ways to leave me. There's no end to leaving. Not yet a mother and already I know this.
     My husband learns English words at the factory school. "I am a good American", he can say and write. What he learns he teaches me. He is good this way. We learn together.
     Stanislaus, reading this letter to Matka, please tell her we are fine here in America. Tell everyone we are fine. Tell them to remember us in their prayers. We remember them.
     With precious love always from your daughter…

Pears on a Willow Tree. (p. 9-11), Leslie PIETRZYK, (Granta Books,1998)

(1)larks (line 6) : alouettes
(2)peddler (line 36) : marchand ambulant
(3)squawked (line 41) : caquetaient
(4)rooster (line 48) : un coq


1 - Use the following articles to complete the paragraph : Æ , the, a, an.

…..Matka's daughter left for America at … turn of … century. After … trip across … Atlantic which had been … extremely unpleasant experience, she was delighted to find out what … immense country America was and what … incredible prospects stood ahead of her. After … while, however, … past started haunting her.

2 - Put the verbs in brackets into the right tenses and voices :

During the trip Rose …(think) that when they … (be) in America, they would learn English fast. No sooner … they … (arrive) there than they … (give) an apartment. It was the first time they … (live) in a big city and she … (feel) lost. Happily the baby … (be born) in a few months and she … (tell) her child the stories she … (teach) by her mother.

3 - Put the verbs in the right forms :

a- Rose looked to (make) … a fresh start.
b- It was no use (clean) … the hallways. They were always muddy.
c- The teachers expected her (understand) … everything he said.
d- She couldn't help (think) … about her mother.
e- She remembered (feed) … the chickens at home.
f- "Remember (say) … your prayers every night", her mother had told her.

4 - Rephrase the following sentences using the prompts

a- "When I got here they made me Rose"
   - No sooner …
b- She still can't hear her mother's voice.
   - She wishes …
c- "Tell everyone we are fine".
   - Rose asked Stanislaus …

5 - Link the following sentences with the words in the list making any necessary changes :

so…that, in spite of, hardly…when, whenever, even though.

a- She arrived in America. She immediately saw how much space there was.
b- She appreciated being able to earn money. She hated her noisy conditions of living.
c- Americans spoke too fast. She didn't understand them.
d- Her husband learnt new words. He always taught them to her.
e- They met many difficulties. They didn't regret leaving Poland.

LE CORRIGÉ

COMPETENCE LINGUISTIQUE

1- Use the following articles to complete the paragraph : Æ , the, a, an.

Æ Matka's daughter left for America at the turn of the century. After a trip across the Atlantic which had been an extremely unpleasant experience, she was delighted to find out what an immense country America was and what Æ incredible prospects stood ahead of her. After a while, however, the past started haunting her.

2- Put the verbs in brackets into the right tenses and voices :

During the trip Rose had thought that when they were in America, they would learn English fast. No sooner had they arrived there than they were given an apartment. It was the first time they had lived in a big city and she felt lost. Happily the baby would be born in a few months and she would tell her child the stories she had been taught by her mother.

3- Put the verbs in the right forms :

a- Rose looked forward to making a fresh start.
b- It was no use cleaning the hallways. They were always muddy.
c- The teachers expected her to understand everything he said.
d- She couldn't help thinking about her mother.
e- She remembered feeding the chickens at home.
f- "Remember to say your prayers every night", her mother had told her.

4- Rephrase the following sentences using the prompts

a- "When I got here they made me Rose"
   - No sooner had I got here than they made me Rose.
b- She still can't hear her mother's voice.
   - She wishes she could hear her mother's voice.
c- "Tell everyone we are fine".
   - Rose asked Stanislaus to tell everyone they were fine.

5- Link the following sentences with the words in the list making any necessary changes :

so…that, in spite of, hardly…when, whenever, even though.

a- She arrived in America. She immediately saw how much space there was.
Hardly had she arrived in America when she saw how much space there was.
b- She appreciated being able to earn money. She hated her noisy conditions of living.
Even though she appreciated being able to earn money, she hated her noisy conditions of living.
c- Americans spoke too fast. She didn't understand them.
Americans spoke so fast that she didn't understand them.
d- Her husband learnt new words. He always taught them to her.
Whenever her husband learnt new words, he taught them to her.
e- They met many difficulties. They didn't regret leaving Poland.
In spite of many difficulties, they didn't regret leaving Poland.

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