1. Bonjour!
Je m’appelle Aline.

2. Can you find my country on this
map?

4. What comes to mind when you
think of France?
The Eiffel tour, bread, wine, cheese, fashion?

5. • Nice
Where I Grew Up

6. My Family

7. My School

8. France in the 17th Century – King Louis XIV
Became king at 4 years old!
Reigned for 72 years.
Autocratic king
Divine right monarchy, power comes
from God, no one can judge the
ruler's actions.

10. Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695)
Fabulist and poet.
Upset with the situation
of France.
Other writers criticizing
Louis XIV were thrown
in jail.
« Je me sers d’animaux
pour instruire les
hommes. » => I use
animals to teach men.

11. La Fontaine's version of Aesop’s « The Oak and the Reed»
One day the proud Oak said to the Reed,
“You poor thing, you must be so
upset with Nature. The smallest wind
makes you bend your head. For me,
similar to strong mountains, not even
a tempest will bother me. The North
Winds that make you bend are but a
whisper to me.
Now, if you grew in my shade that covers
the whole neighborhood, you
wouldn’t suffer as much. I would
protect you. But instead you grow on
the humid banks, exposed to wind.”

12. You are so kind,” replied the Reed,
“But do not worry. The winds for
me are much less dangerous than
for you; I bend, but do not break.
You have resisted the wind, but
let’s just wait till the end.” As he
said these words, came the worst
wind the North ever gave birth
too. The tree held strong; the
reed bent.

13. “The wind redoubled his
efforts, so that finally it
uprooted the oak who
once stood tall, the one
who thought himself so
strong now belonged
among the dead.

14. Metaphors are used : What would The
Oak represent? The Reed ? The wind?
How do you interpret « I bend but do not
break » ?
Why did La Fontaine use a fable to tell this
story?

15. How do you make your voices heard?
What issue do you care about?
Brainstorm a fable that could illustrate this
message.

16. Key aspects of the text
The Oak : tall and mighty. Maybe a
bit haughty and arrogant as
well ?
Offers his « protection » to the
reed.
The reed's answer? « No thanks!
You might think yourself strong,
but just wait and see... »
Teaches the value of humility at
the same time as it suggests
that rulers may not be as
powerful as they think
themselves.
Also criticize the set ways of the
monarchy, implying that if one
refuses to change, it is bound
to be « uprooted » !

17. Autres slides: notes diverses sur la presentation
(choses a rajouter eventuellement?)
23/10/2013

18. Tout flatteur vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute. (Le Corbeau et le Renard, l, 2)
La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure. (Le Loup et l’Agneau, l, 10)
Si ce n’est toi, c'est donc ton frère. (Le Loup et l’Agneau, l, 10)
Plutôt souffrir que mourir, c’est la devise des hommes. (La Mort et le Bûcheron, l, 16)
Garde toi, tant que tu vivras, de juger les gens sur la mine. (Le Cochet, le Chat et le Souriceau, l, 41)
Je plie et ne romps pas. (Le Chêne et le Roseau, l, 22)
Il faut autant qu’on peut obliger tout le monde : On a souvent besoin d’un plus petit que soi. (Le Lion et le Rat, II, 11)
Patience et longueur de temps font plus que force ni que rage. (Le Lion et le Rat, II, 11)
Est bien fou du cerveau qui prétend contenter tout le monde et son père. (Le Meunier, son Fils et l’Âne, III, 1)
Ils sont trop verts, dit-il, et bons pour des goujats. (Le Renard et les Raisins, III, 11)
La méfiance est mère de la sûreté. (Le Chat et un vieux Rat, III, 18)
Petit poisson deviendra grand. (Le Petit Poisson et le Pêcheur, V, 3)
Un tiens vaut, ce dit-on, mieux que deux tu l’auras. (Le Petit Poisson et le Pêcheur, V, 3)
Le travail est un trésor. (Le Laboureur et ses Enfants, V, 9)
Rien ne sert de courir ; il faut partir à point. (Le Lièvre et la Tortue, VI, 10)
Aide-toi, le Ciel t’aidera. (Le Chartier embourbé, VI, 18)
Selon que vous serez puissant ou misérable, les jugements de cour vous rendront blanc ou noir. (Les Animaux
malades de la peste, VII, 1)
Tel est pris qui croyait prendre. (Le Rat et l'Huître, VIII, 9)
Amour, Amour, quand tu nous tiens / On peut bien dire: Adieu prudence. (Le Lion amoureux, IV, 1)
Mais les ouvrages les plus courts sont toujours les meilleurs… (Discours à M. le duc de La Rochefoucauld, X, 14)
Que de tout inconnu le sage se méfie. (Le Renard, le Loup et le Cheval)
Il ne faut jamais vendre la peau de l’ours / Qu’on ne l’ait mis par terre (L'Ours et les deux Compagnons, V, 20)
Qu’on me rende impotent, cul-de-jatte, goutteux, manchot, pourvu qu’en somme je vive, c’est assez, je suis plus que
content. "Ne viens jamais, ô Mort; on t’en dit tout autant." (La Mort et Le Malheureux, I, 15)
Les délicats sont malheureux : rien ne sauroit les satisfaire. (Contre Ceux Qui On Le Goût Difficile, II, 1)
Si Dieu m’avait fait naître propre à tirer marrons du feu, certes marrons verraient beau jeu. (Le Singe et le Chat, IX, 17)

19. Aesop: early sources interpret the fable to be
about pride and humility, providing advice on
how to survive in turbulent times.
« It is just the same in the case of a just and
balanced spirit, which cares not for invincible
strength and defeats malice and other evils
by patient endurance, and achieves great
riches by the acquisition of undying glory whereas boldness more often than not has
its downfall. »

20. Set 'within the commonwealth of trees', it presents the two trees as sharing in its
government. When a storm 'threatens the constitution of the state', the willow cringes
acquiescently while the oak goes down fighting, but will not acknowledge the willow as the
ultimate victor.
I am an Oak, tho' fall'n indeed!
Thou still a vile and skulking weed,
Rais'd by no merit of thine own,
But by the blast that laid me prone.
Say, if thou canst, what plant or tree,
Except a sycophant like thee,
Devoted to intrigue and strife,
Who'd e'er prefer a dastard's life,
Preserv'd by guile and crafty saws,
To falling in a GLORIOUS CAUSE?
Much the same point was made in Jean Anouilh's reinterpretation of the story in 1962.
There the oak asks the reed if it doesn't find La Fontaine's fable morally detestable. The
reed's answer is that the limited concerns of 'we little folk' will see them better through
testing times than taking the moral high ground. When once again the oak falls in the
storm, the reed jeeringly asks if he had not foreseen the outcome correctly. The tree's
answer to the reed's envious hatred is simply, 'But I am still an oak'.