help with french essay

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on June 12, 2013 at 6:12pm

Hello

here is a first correction, it's not perfect but it's a beginning.

Just a problem (last §)   "et un homme qui typifie les française," what is the meaning you wanted in this sentence"

 

Le rôle de Charles de Gaulle dans la libération de la France durant la seconde guerre mondiale et la création de la cinquième république ont fait de lui une grande figure de l’Histoire de France.

Mais au moment des manifestations de Mai 68, cette vision sur le général avait changé. Il est intéressant d’examiner les évènements de Mai 1968, pour identifier leur influence sur l’histoire de France et la réputation de Charles de Gaulle.
En Mai 1968, nombreux sont les gens, plus particulièrement les étudiants et les ouvriers, qui ne sont pas contents de l'état de France contemporaine. Le terme 'gaullisme' renvoie des images d'une France vieille, une France où les jeunes ne sont pas importants. Beaucoup de gens voyaient en lui une sorte de dictateur, déconnecté du prolétariat et indifférent à leurs besoins. La présence des ouvriers, particulièrement ceux des usines automobiles, ajoutent à l’importance des manifestations.
Plus de dix millions d’habitants, soit 24 % de la population, sont descendus dans les rues en signe de protestation, c’était la plus grande grève nationale de l’histoire du pays. Au plus fort de la crise, De Gaulle, craignant une guerre civile, a disparu une journée (en l'Allemagne). Toutefois, Gaulle revient s’adresser au peuple. Cette décision était cruciale dans les évènements parce que si le peuple avait su qu’il est allé en Allemagne ils auraient pu le voir comme un traitre. Les grèves et les émeutes se sont arrêtées aussi vite qu'elles avaient commencé.
D’une part, De Gaulle est un héros national, un héros de guerre (et un homme qui typifie les française), d’autre part, il a presque mené le pays au point d’une guerre civile. L'histoire de la France aurait été très différente si la révolution avait continué, et la place de Charles de Gaulle dans l'histoire de la France aurait été très différente aussi. Tout bien considéré, Charles De Gaulle est un personnage très important dans ces évènements.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on June 14, 2013 at 8:27pm

I think that means that when one  imagines a French man in a particular situation  , he is likely to paint in his mind someone  who is similar to De Gaulle .

If someone typifies a particular  nation (or other group)  then  that person's qualities  would resonate with what  you would expect of someone in that group.

It is very hard to give examples because  it seems like you are  accusing people of different origins of all sharing  the same qualities ( and there are actually laws against that).

But maybe it is harmless to say that Jewish mothers have a  strong ( and at times extremely funny)  reputation of being very loving/uncritical to their sons (perhaps daughters also)  and so   Jewish mother who  was indifferent to her son  would be considered (rightly or wrongly) untypical -she would not typify  Jewish mothers (in our mind's eye).

Is that "être typique"?

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on June 15, 2013 at 12:03am

oh ok I found it in a dictionary.

I didn't have search because it 's a word I never heard before (and I am French living in France) and the sentence sounds weird.

to say that : "when one  imagines a French man in a particular situation  , he is likely to paint in his mind someone  who is similar to De Gaulle" there are different forms.

But here I would rather say  "un héros de guerre et un homme qui représente parfaitement le peuple Français"

"être typique" is used but it's not exactly that here. I will explain later.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on June 15, 2013 at 12:36am

Yes I like "représente parfaitement" .

We have a similar  expression which I am not sure is really used in French and it is "the man in the street" or "the man on the Clapham omnibus" .He is the ordinary man ,the man that you would look at and take no notice..

I think it may also be the man who is targeted by advertisments and political campaigns (apparently he does not exist ...)

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on June 15, 2013 at 8:32am

yes we have the same expression  "l'homme de la rue"  which means the ordinary man. we can say "le quidam" too.

More usual, in oral conversation, we can say  "Monsieur tout-le-monde" or "madame tout-le-monde". (Or  "Monsieur Dupont").

we have "le citoyen lambda" to say "someone, a man ordinary" without a special importance. It's the term used in statistics or in a study document.

we have "le Français moyen",  it's this man with a wife and 2,17 children who works 39 hours and 20 minutes per week, who has a TV, a washing machine and a phone, and the best, who eats 68,5 kgs potatoes / year. This French foreigners think with a beret and a baguette under his arm ;-)

all theses expressions are know and used.

But I think we can't say that here. De Gaulle was all we want but not "un homme de la rue" or "un homme ordinaire". (50 years after, De Gaulle is always considered as a great man in France. Even if he did political errors, he was able to stop at the right time).

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