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Titre : La Petite Marchande d’allumettes
Niveau : lycée – première – CECRL : de B1 vers B2
Langue : anglais
Objectifs
Culturel : les contes (Andersen et autres)
Linguistique : compréhension écrite, expression de l’intention
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Contenu de la séquence proposée
Document principal : The Little Match-Seller
De nombreuses versions de La Petite Marchande d’allumettes sont disponibles en ligne : par exemple, sur un site dédié à Andersen (http://hca.gilead.org.il/) ou encore dans le corpus du Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org/). La version utilisée dans ce dossier vient du premier site mentionné. Elle a été choisie pour son niveau de langue, parce que cette traduction fait partie du domaine public et parce qu’elle est un peu plus courte que la seconde. (N.B. : il s’agit d’un site américain, d’où l’orthographe des mots savory et colored.)
Andersen et ses contes les plus connus.
- Compréhension écrite générale puis détaillée
Voir « Pistes d'exploitation et réponses possibles ».
Why do you think children love this story? Compare the end of all the tales by Andersen you know. Can you find a common point?
1. Formes réduites
- Objectifs : accentuation des mots porteurs de sens ; rappel du schéma intonatif de la phrase affirmative ; lecture à voix haute
- Phrase support :“It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast.”
- Démarche : cette phrase fait alterner de façon régulière mots lexicaux accentués et mots grammaticaux réduits : les faire repérer. Noter également l'allitération (falling fast) et les assonances (last/fast, cold/old/snow). Faire travailler les liaisons nécessaires pour que la phrase puisse être lue sans interruption (it was, cold and, dark on, last evening, the old year).
Faire lire la phrase à voix haute.
2. Schéma intonatif de phrase
- Objectif : lire à voix haute une phrase plus longue.
- Phrase support :“They were very large, so large indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate.”
- Démarche : dans un premier temps faire repérer les syllabes accentuées et faire trouver aux élèves les groupes de sens (indiqués par les virgules au début de la phrase seulement).
Les élèves peuvent constater, par exemple, que si la voix peut descendre sur le premier large ou sur mother, elle ne peut que remonter sur indeed car la suite de la phrase en dépend.
Si l'on a gardé à l’esprit le schéma intonatif de la phrase affirmative, on soulignera la difficulté de continuer à lire une phrase qui se poursuit après le "glide final", quand la voix doit rester basse. D’où la nécessité de reprendre plus haut, quand on le peut (entre deux blocs indépendants) après un mot tel que and, ce qui est le cas ici.
Dans la dernière partie de la phrase, en revanche, on évitera une coupure après street, car ce qui suit est un complément de but, et donc fortement dépendant de ce qui précède.
Sur le site du Collectif Dalit (les Dalits sont les « Intouchables » en Inde) à la rubrique « exposition photo », se trouvent deux clichés, à la septième ligne, liés à la fabrication d'allumettes par des enfants.
On peut amener les élèves à en faire une description et une mise en relation avec le conte, et intégrer ce travail à un projet pédagogique autour de Child labour.
Une visite du site apporte de nombreuses informations (en français) sur les populations Dalit.
www.france-fdh.org/
Documents secondaires
Définition des contes de fées
Ce texte est proposé sur le site pour enseignants Scholastic.com, dans une page intitulée Discovering fairy tales.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/
On peut donner l’intégrale de la page, car il s’agit d’un texte très court ou bien n’en donner que le premier paragraphe, l’intérêt étant d’amener les élèves à réfléchir sur les contes pour enfants, contes de fées et autres.
Exemples de questions pour lancer la réflexion :
- Give examples of tales which include the elements mentioned in the first paragraph of the text.
- Fairy tales are translated in many languages and read to children all over the world. Why?
Variations sur contes de fées
James Thurber a écrit une version moderne du Petit Chaperon rouge. Ce texte de Little Red Riding Hood est en ligne sur le site éducatif Newark.Rutgers.edu.
http://newark.rutgers.edu/
Il sera intéressant, après une lecture du texte, de demander aux élèves d’identifier les éléments qui diffèrent entre la version originale qu’ils connaissent et celle de Thurber.
On pourra prolonger cette étude en demandant aux élèves (travail à la maison ou travail de groupes) de réécrire un autre conte à leur manière.
Autres contes
WebQuest à proposer aux élèves :
Go to the page (http://teacher.scholastic.com/) and work in groups.
Read the 15 short tales from the 15 countries in the list. Can you classify the tales according to their subjects? List the themes of each country. What do these stories all have in common?
One member of each group will present their choice and conclusions to the rest of the form.
(Voir dans « Pistes d'exploitation et réponses possibles » pour une proposition de corrigé.)
Pistes d'exploitation et réponses possibles
Anticipation
1- Short MCQ about Andersen.
- Hans Christian Andersen was born: in 1652, in 1805, in 1978.
- He was: Danish, British, Spanish.
- He died in: 1696, 1875, 2002.
- His first name was: Hans-Christian, Johan-Sebastian, Wolfgang-Amadeus.
2- Do you know other tales by Andersen?
What about these titles? What are their French equivalents?
The Little Mermaid – The Emperor’s New Clothes – The Ugly Duckling – The Brave Tin Soldier
La Petite Sirène – Les Habits Neufs de l’Empereur – Le Vilain Petit Canard – Le Petit Soldat de plomb
Compréhension générale
- Where and when does the action take place?
In a city (streets, houses, carriages) - New Year's Eve
- How many characters are present? How many characters are only mentioned? Explain why the author made this choice.
Only one character is present – five (or a few more: “some”) other characters are only mentioned. It emphasizes the little girl’s loneliness.
- Who are the secondary characters? What is their function in the story?
dead mother – to make us sympathize with the girl (she is an orphan)
boy – to make the girl a victim (she was robbed)
father – to make us pity the girl (she was beaten)
grandmother – the only positive character, helps young readers to accept the girl’s death or death in general
some – they represent society, it gives a social and moral ending to the tale.
Compréhension détaillée
Paragraph 1
- List the adjectives. What do you notice? Which words are repeated? Why?
All the adjectives convey a negative impression, even “large”, which is associated with the slippers that were too large.
“little", "cold", "large", "poor", "terrible/terribly", and "naked” are repeated: to stress the situation.
- A boy steals one of the girl’s slippers. Why is the boy’s action dreadful?
It shows the little girl is not the only poor child in town. It also indicates that there is no feeling of solidarity among children. “Every man for himself.”
- What is the symbolic value of snow?
If it is associated with the girl it can be a symbol of purity; but if associated with the city it becomes a symbol of isolation and hardship/of a cold, harsh society.
- What is the role of this paragraph?
It is the introduction and it forces the reader to take sides with the girl against society.
Paragraph 2
- What do the lights “shining from every window” suggest?
There are people living in the warmth of their homes, who are not aware of the girl’s presence.
- Why did the author choose New Year’s Eve?
It’s a traditional festive day: families have a big meal together. Once again it underlines the girl’s loneliness.
- This paragraph alludes to the girl’s social class and family. Give details.
She comes from a very low social class as she has to sell matches to survive. The description of her flat make things obvious. Her mother is dead (we can imagine lots of causes). Her father is violent ("beat her").
- The five senses are mentioned in this paragraph. Quote the sentences.
sight – lights, etc.
hearing – "scratch!"
taste and smell – savory smell of roast goose
touch – she could not keep off the cold
- What is the effect of the burning match?
It shifts the tale from reality to imagination.
- This paragraph is the only one where there are exclamations. What is the impact on the reader?
Usually exclamations bring action and enthusiasm/strong emotion to a story. They force the reader to get involved in a narration. They can also mislead the reader as to the end of the tale.
Paragraph 3
- What is the effect of the burning match, this time?
As in the previous paragraph, it leads to the imaginary world, but this time it is more fantastic: ”the goose jumped down from the dish”.
Paragraph 4
- Why do you think Andersen described the Christmas tree so precisely?
Because he wrote his tale for children. For children (in Northern Europe) Xmas trees are synonyms of pleasure and presents (which the match seller will not have).
- This paragraph has the same structure as paragraphs 2 and 3. Explain.
The girl strikes a match, imagines beautiful things and then the match goes out. A short sentence finishes the paragraph and makes the reader face reality rather brutally.
Paragraph 5
- This paragraph differs greatly from the previous three. Explain.
The girl hasn’t lit a match and sees things with no light. As the word “dying” is written, we can imagine that the sentence “a soul was going up to God” refers to the girl’s soul. This paragraph announces the end of the tale.
Paragraph 6
- Why is this passage suddenly dynamic? Find the positive words in it.
The adjectives are positive: "clear and shining", "mild and loving", "brighter". The girl speaks to her grandmother. She is active. She lights the whole bundle of matches.
- What does the grandmother’s imaginary presence suggest?
We already know that the grandmother is dead. Andersen announces the girl’s death more clearly this time.
Paragraph 7
- Does the reader immediately know the little girl’s dead? Why?
No, it is said only at the end of the first, rather long sentence. This is a writer’s strategy to maintain the reader’s attention and hope.
- List all the words related to death.
"Pale", "frozen to death", "corpse", "the stiffness of death". The “last evening of the year” symbolizes the death of the year too.
- Does Andersen present death as positive or negative? Justify your answer.
It’s presented both as negative and positive: the girl died in terrible conditions but this death is supposed to free her from reality and bring her into a better world: Andersen uses words like “beautiful things” and “glory”.
- Is there a moral? Can you imagine why Andersen chose to write such a story?
There is no moral (there’s clearly a religious one) but the reaction of the passers-by brings a moral point of view and a feeling of guilt to the reader. Andersen may have wanted the children of his time to be more aware of social differences. In the nineteenth century many writers had the same approach and wrote novels in which the situations were often melodramatic: Dickens in England (Oliver Twist) and Louisa May Alcott in the USA (Little Women).
Can you think of another story in which a poor little girl works alone in a street? (Clues: she is ill-treated, she is carrying a bucket to fetch water from a well, and she’s the main character in a French novel.) Does the story end the same way?
In “Les Misérables” Victor Hugo introduces Cosette in a similar way. But the hero will help her and the end will be completely different.
Webquest
Ressources en ligne
Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen 2005
Le site officiel du bicentenaire de la naissance de Hans Christian Andersen.
www.hca2005.com/
Project Gutenberg : Andersen’s tales
En ligne les contes suivants : The Emperor's New Clothes, The Swineherd, The Real Princess, The Shoes of Fortune, The Fir Tree, The Snow Queen, The Leap-Frog, The Elderbush, The Bell, The Old House, The Happy Family, The Story of a Mother, The False Collar, The Shadow, The Little Match Girl, The Dream of Little Tuk, The Naughty Boy, The Red Shoes.
www.gutenberg.org/
The Little Mermaid: the text
Une traduction en anglais du conte.
www.geocities.com/
The Little Mermaid: a cartoon (PDF, 6 Mo)
Sur un site danois, une bande dessinée en anglais à imprimer et utiliser en classe.
www.have.dk/
Hans Christian Andersen Teacher Resource File
Le ISLMC (Internet School Library Media Center) était un site destiné aux documentalistes, enseignants parents et étudiants. Bien que maintenant fermé, ce site propose une bibliographie intéressante et des plans de cours.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/
Autres contes
Dick Whittington and His Cat
Le texte de ce conte typiquement britannique.
www.mainlesson.com/
The Baldwin Project
Une liste de textes en ligne.
www.mainlesson.com/
Burke County Public Schools
Une webquest très riche sur les contes de fées.
www.burke.k12.nc.us/
Divers
Little Women
Le texte intégral du livre de Louisa May Alcott est téléchargeable dans le cadre du Project Gutenberg
www.gutenberg.org/
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