The analysis is to be written...

 Here is the link to the school's website:

http://www.lyceedocteurlacroix.fr/

English Teachers (2011):

Harriet's Russian doll.

This document is a photomontage, it is like a Russian doll.

First, We can say that Harriet is a strong woman. We studied in the first extract that Harriet's physical appearance is strong, and in the beginning of the book, she wanted to have a big family, a lot of children, a big house, thinking working in the same time. She saw herself as a strong woman, not physically but she thought she had a strong mind. That's why the first picture is a strong woman.

Then it is “Le malade imaginaire” by Molière, because Harriet is always pregnant and says that she is sick, she always needs the help of her mother while her sister, Sarah, needs more help from Dorothy, and Sarah does not complain contrary to Harriet who asks always the support of her mother.

The third doll is a character from a series called Gossip girl. What is interesting here is the word “gossip”, because at a moment Harriet said nasty things about Amy, the children of her sister Sarah, who is a mongol child. I think we can compare her to a gossip girl because she said it to David and Sarah never knew what Harriet said.

We finish with a woman and her baby in her arms, protecting him. Here is an important face of Harriet, and must be the more important. Harriet supports her child Ben till the end of the book whereas the other characters of the family reject him during all the book. Harriet is with Ben like a real mother, she is present for her son, she does what she can for him, for his integration in the society. An important moment is when Ben is in the institute about to die, and Harriet saves him, she plays her mother's role.

To conclude, it is important to emphasize that David rejects completely Ben and doesn't support Harriet in the integration, on the contrary, he rejects Harriet too.

 I was quite interested in the following Greenpeace campaign:

I was wondering whether it was possible to integrate it in a lesson. The idea would be to make the pupils imagine their own stencils and catchphrases. We could keep Greenpeace's message or use their tool only but for a different purpose. Indeed the stencils would not necessarily represent endangered species but could illustrate human beings living in pollution for example. Any ideas?

The first character is Harriet. She's a dreamy woman, full of ambition.

The second character represents her « old fashion » face. In fact, it seems she's living in a time which is not hers. In the book The Fifth Child , Doris Lessing said that Harriet prefers staying a virgin and waiting for the one she'll love and live with. Harriet doesn't even like this new generation, the seventies. She's not in her world.

The last character is a child. It shows the « young » face of Harriet. Indeed, she's immature, and she's always asking for help to her mother, Dorothy. She's not independent.

Ben and Amy

Those documents are two photomontages which represent Amy and Ben’s true selves. It is based on the matryoshka doll’s principle.

Ben:

On the first doll we can see a photo of a “normal” angry boy. Ben looks like a real little boy at first sight. The second picture represents Hester from the movie of the same name. When you look at her she really looks like a little girl but in fact she kills people just like Ben. Indeed at a moment in the book we can imagine that he kills a dog or cat, the author lets us imagine the fact that he really did it. On the third picture we can see a little boy who is muscular and distorted for his age. We can see his anger which represents quite well Ben’s. This anger is not supposed to be normal for a little boy in addition to this muscular body. On the last picture we can see a sculpture of a distorted baby made by Ron Mueck. This picture reminds us of Ben’s birth. At his birth the author described us a “deform little baby” who was “yellowish”.

Amy:

On the first picture we can see a down syndrome’s child. As we know Amy is a Down syndrome’s child. On the second picture we can see a little angel. Even if Amy does not look like a cute little girl she is a true little angel. She is nice and kind moreover she looks more like a real child thanks to her behavior than Ben’s. On the third doll we can see Sullivan from the movie Monster Inc. Outwardly we can see that he is a monster and we can be afraid of his appearance. In fact Sullivan is really nice besides he would not be able to hit a bee. The last doll represents Sully from the movie Monster Inc. wearing a monster costume. Outside she looks like a monster but inside she is just a little girl.

Those two photomontages draw a parallel between Amy and Ben’s true behavior. There is a chiasm between those two children. Outwardly Ben looks like a real little boy but he is in fact a little monster really strange inside. However Amy is a monster (because she is a down syndrome’s child) when we first look at her but she is the real little child here. In addition to the fact that she is nice and cute she acts more like a real child contrary to Ben. Ben kills animals and does not talk to anyone while everybody love Amy. We can say that appearances are deceitful.

For our Russian doll, we decided to choose Harriet. So, first, we represented her with a child and a smiling woman because during the entire book, Harriet will try to be happy every time and it is her dream to have a large and happy family. So we took this young mother and her baby.

Then we chose a little girl who is crying. She represents the childish attitude of Harriet. She is crying because she wants something, and Harriet wants a big house, a large and happy family and also a house full of people. Moreover, when she is pregnant with Ben, David does not want to invite all the family anymore because his wife is tired but Harriet still refuses to cancel the party.

Finally, the last part of the Russian doll is a monster. It represents the deepest face of Harriet because she rejects Ben because he is a monster. This is a proof that Harriet is not better than he is. She must protect her child from the world but she rejects him instead. In the end, she will be kind with him like a real mother, it is when she brings Ben back from the institution where Ben is ill-treated.

The real monster in the book could be David who is not present at all when Harriet needs him.

This is a photomontage based on the idea of the Matryoshka doll. Five characters are interlocked into each other.

The photomontage intends to show the real character of Ben, to stop judging, and to show the differences between other people. We also have to look beyond appearances.

The first picture shows a baby who is an alien. We can see a baby who looks strange. Indeed, he has strange wide eyes. Moreover, he has on his right a strange thing and he has pointed ears. This refers to the image that the family or the reader may have of Ben. Furthermore, he is perceived as a monster and a different child who is abnormal. He is like an extraterrestrial who is not like everybody but like a child who comes from another planet.

The second picture shows a doll that is called Chucky. It’s from a movie and the character is really monstrous and evil. The picture refers to the moment when Ben has probably killed the dog (p.62). So, Ben could symbolize a monster who is supposed to kill and he is not perceived as a child, a human being.

The third picture represents Esther, a child from the movie of the same name. that’s a story of a weird child who is different and who kills people from her adoptive family. As opposed to Chucky here the character is a human being like Ben, a character who represents evil and provokes fear: “he didn’t look like a baby at all” (p.48).

The fourth picture represents Elephant Man whose real name is Joseph Merrick and whose life was reinterpreted in the movie by David Lynch. This is a story of a man who is distorted. He is very different and people consider him as an animal but in reality he is kind and not cruel like the others could say. It shows that he is seen as a monster because of his appearance whereas he is just a nice man who needs love (like Ben: “whom no one could love” p.56). Moreover, he provokes pity like Ben: “poor Ben” (p.56). To conclude, Ben is a kind child, not a monster even if he has monstrous appearance and behavior.

To finish, the fifth picture show a kind and normal child like the real Ben. This is the main character of the movie Arthur and the Minimoys. He is a normal child. Indeed, in reality, Ben is a child with no problems nor differences.

Thus, before believing in appearances, we have to accept differences and to be nice with everybody and to see people for who they really are.

You can download the pages of the logbook we gave to the kids during the trip.

Page 1 of the logbook : The questions to the families.

Page 2 of the logbook : The London Dungeon

Page 3 of the Logbook : Tate Britain

Page 4 of the Logbook : Wicked - The Musical

Page 5 of the Logbook : Jack the Ripper

Page 6 of the logbook : Camden Town photo hunt

Page 7 of the logbook : The scrapbook project.

Arafath didn't go to London.

Here is Arafath's work:

Lydia went to London.

Here is Lydia's work:

Here is the link to the school's website:

http://www.lycee-marxdormoy-creteil.fr/

English teachers (2011):

Anne MENENTEAU

Armelle BATARD

Philippe HATTAIS

Cyril BROT