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*** A 2 Portraits of Cats *** BBC ***
Look at the cats.
Choose your favorite one.
Present it to your friends.
Details in Gustave Courbet’s paintings -courtesy of Le Musée Courbet in Ornans
photos by Marie André-Milesi, courtesy of le Musée Courbet in Ornans, France
B1 Ground Hog Day
http://www.groundhog.org/
Ground Hog Day
Story
A ground hog is a small animal that digs and lives under the ground. It is also called the woodchuck.
Ground hogs live in many parts of America. In the winter they hibernate like bears and some other animals.
There is a legend that says a few hundred years ago Europeans brought Ground Hog Day to America. They said that the ground hog wakes up from his hibernation on February 2. (February 2 is half way between winter and spring.) If he comes up from his hole and it is sunny, he will see his shadow and be frightened. If he sees his shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter weather. But if he comes up and the sky is cloudy, he will not see his shadow and will not be frightened. Then spring weather will come very soon.
Some people believe this legend and they watch the sky on February 2. Many people are happy if it is cloudy on that day. They think spring will come soon. But most people think it is just a fun legend. What do you think?
Vocabulary
to hibernate (verb)- to sleep through the winter
hibernation (noun)- comes from hibernate (long sleep through the winter)
legend– old story that is told from parents to children, and children’s children, and so on for many many years
shadow– darkness made where the light can’t go through (when the sun shines you can see the dark outline of your body on the ground)
When not hibernating or caring for young, woodchucks spend much of their time eating and sunning.
They love to stretch out on warm ground, a smooth rock or along a low branch of a convenient tree. Their tree climbing ability is limited, however, and infrequently used.
Woodchucks prefer to eat fresh green vegetation. They eat a wide variety of wild plants, clover and alfalfa, and garden vegetables if they can get them. On rare occasions, they eat snails, insects, or young birds that they come upon by accident. Early in spring they eat bark and small branches.
Test your knowledge
- Another name for a groundhog is___.
a. a woodchuck
b. a squirrel
c. a fox - Groundhog Day is February___.
a. 14th
b. 2nd
c. 22nd - The groundhog pops up out of its___.
a. hole
b. nest
c. lair - The groundhog is looking for its___.
a. mother b. friend c. shadow - If the sun is shining, it will___ its hole.
a. go back into
b. stay out of
c. run around - If it doesn’t see its shadow, ___.
a. there will be six more weeks of cold weather
b. spring will come early this year
c. it will rain for the next two weeks - The groundhog lives in___.
a. the ground b. a tree c. a river - The groundhog spends all___ in its hole.
a. winter
b. spring
c. autumn - People are looking___ to spring.
a. backward
b. forward
- T
his kind of belief is called a___.
a. festival
b. superstition
c. true story
Robert Louis Stevenson
My Shadow
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow–
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes goes so little that there’s none of him at all.
He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close behind me, he’s a coward you can see;
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
from Repeat after us
A1-A2-B1 Our film review of the Secret of Kells
https://fr.vikidia.org/wiki/Celtes
About the film: Where does the story take place?
1) It takes place in Iona in Scotland
2) It takes place in Kells in Ireland
3)Louis Le Bocquy, a painter (born in 1916) inspired the film-maker
3) The book was transferred in 806 from Iona in Scotland to Kells in Ireland
Who are the characters of the film?
Abbot Cellach:
1) he is a tall and protective man who lives in a tower
2)he forgot he was an illuminator in the past
3)he has got ginger hair
4)he lives in a tower to forget the past
Abbot Aidan:
1) He is of small size
2)he teaches Brendan how to draw or how to observe
Pangur Ban:
1) She is a real and mythical cat
2) She is only mythical
3) There are poems written by the monk in the archives which mention the cat
Aisling’s parents:
1) They were killed by Crom Cruach
2) They died when she was younger
3) They are still alive
Aisling:
1) She is a fairy and an angel
2) She is intelligent, careful and also very sensitive
3) She moves on four feet
4) She can transform herself into a wolf
Abbots Tang, Leonardo and Assoua:
1) They are all illuminators
2) They are allowed out of the monastery
3) They are not allowed out of the monastery
4)They are entirely dedicated to the scriptorium
5) They eventually/finally die but the spectator doesn’t see them
The Vikings:
1) They are not menacing shadows
2)They are represented as cruel animals
3) They represent death, unhappiness, dangers and tragedy, destruction and war, horror and blood
Crom Cruach:
1) He is a Celtic God with a snake
2)He represents the dragon as a legend
3) He was shot by Saint Patrick in Irish mythology
4)His name means “The Dark One”
What are the Celtic symbols in the film?
1) The square
2) The rectangle
3)The triangle
4)The circle
5) light modifies the scenes
6) light doesn’t modify the scenes
7) forest as paradise on earth
8) forest as opposed to flat landscapes
9) the circle as the symbol of harmony
10) the “triskele” is a Celtic symbol which is a representation of water, fire and earth
And now the story:
1) it starts when Brendan is a child and finishes when he is an adult
2)it is the story of the evolution of a young boy into adulthood
3)the Book is always present in Brendan’s mind
4)the Vikings are always present in Brendan’s Uncle’s mind
The Book of Kells:
1)The Book of Kells is a real book which is in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
2)The Book of Kells isn’t a real book and doesn’t exist.
It is a legend.
What about Pangur Ban, the magic spell and spirit?
1)Pangur Ban, the white cat, existed. She is a female cat.
2)Pangur Ban the white cat never existed.
3)One of the monks wrote poems about her.
How is Celtic mythology represented ?
1) symbols inspired by nature and animist cults.
2) it is close to natural rites and rhythms
Can you name painters who inspired the artist?
The monastery is very beautiful.
The colors are original.
People are monks and priests.
Walls have got bizarre shapes.
Brendan is twelve years old.
He is an orphan: he hasn’t got any parents.
His father and his mother died.
He meets a very friendly girl: she is called Aisling!
She will help him. She is a fairy. He is looking for berries to make ink
because he wants to write the Chi Ro page.
Brendan is of medium height and size and has got ginger hair.
He lives in Kells in Ireland.
Brendan’s Uncle is the head of Kells.
He is taking care of other monks and people.
The book is very important to him.
The security and safeness of the monastery matters to him as well!
He lives in a tower which opens with a very narrow door.
He is very strict because he wants to save the monks and his people from the Northmen’s attacks.
The Secret Of Kells
Description of Aisling: long white hair and green eyes. She looks like a fairy and she is one! She has the power to turn the cat, Pangur Ban into a fish-cat, a spirit! She can use her spells!
Description of Brendan: short orange hair and blue eyes, long feet, curly and funny ears! He is the hero of the story and we can see him when he is older!
Description of the monks: Asian, African, all walks of life! They are wearing long red coats
I like the scene when :
– When the bad guys come and attack the town of Kells
– When Brendan goes into the forest to look for an eye
– When Brendan dreams that the Vikings will attack Kells because he has visions and can trust his imagination! He is a visionary!
– When Brendan makes a lot of drawings on the Book! He is inspiring!
I like the scenes when there is
- a lot of suspense and many battles
- when the forest is beautiful
- when the book is beautiful and turns into a magic spell!
- Pangur Ban is really cute with two different colours for his eyes! Pangur Ban did exist! He was one of the monk’s cat. The monk wrote poems about her!
Our film review about the Secret of Kells
I liked the scene when the little boy writes the sacred book
-I liked the discovery of the forest
-I liked the scene when he catches the monster’s eye.
-We liked the red and the green colours and the drawings!
My best scenes:
– The meeting between Aisling and Brendan
-She is quicker than Brendan,
she runs faster and she is the best!
-She has magical powers to trasnform nature .The cat can go where she cannot
My best favorite scenes
-When his Uncle is hurt, someone tells Brendan : « You must go, your Uncle is not dead! »
– Brendan disobeys his Uncle to pick up berries because he is not allowed to do so!
-Vikings’s attack and the wolves eat the Vikings in the forest
-Brendan thinks the bees will attack him but it is not true!
the Vikings ‘s attacks are in red
Aisling in the forest
the wolves ‘s scenes are also in red
Aisling ‘s eyes
the wolves ‘s eyes
beautiful nature: waterfalls, rivers, leaves in spring, leaves on trees, leaves falling down,
the Vikings’ s eyes
Pangur Ban
the monster Crumach
The scene when Brendan is writing
when the Vikings go Kells
When Brendan meets his uncle
The wolf’s lips and mouth
When Brendan writes the Book of Kells
the fire, the sky, the buildings, the walls, the attacks, the
Brendan catches the goose
Brendan’s UNCLE’s clothes
green berries for green ink
Aisling disappears and gets lost in darkness
red represents evil or a danger: it means something bad is going to happen
and green represents what is best and good in life, luck, happiness,
writing and drawing