Questions about The Suburbs: the New American Nightmare

The following questions about the extract from John Keats' essay should help you understand his argument:

• Draw a list of the negative terms that are used by the author to describe the suburbs.
• Why do Washington politicians encourage suburbanization ?
• Why can't suburbanites make real friends ?
• Can the suburbs be said to be children-friendly environments ? Why ?

                                                                                                                    (Johan, Maud, Timothée)

The Suburbs: vocabulary (Timothée, Maud, Johann)

Here is a list of vocabulary related to the issue discussed in John C. Keats' description of the suburbs as "the new American nightmare"

Words in English	French translation	Word in context
The edges of American cities	Les marges des villes américaines	''The slums we're building around the edges of American cities''
a neighborhood	un quartier
The folks next door	Les voisins les plus proches
housing developments	ensembles immobiliers	''We offer here for your inspection facts relative to today's housing developments''
to destroy	détruire, démolir	''They destroy etablished cities''
an area	une zone
city managers	les administrateurs municipaux	''These facts are well known to responsible city managers''
a contractor	un entrepreneur
a rural tract	une zone rurale
hurriedly	en hâte	''a shopping center and supermarket are hurriedly built''
material prosperity	prospérité matérielle	''That such prosperity is entirely material''
to socialize with someone	nouer des relations avec qqn, entretenir des relations sociales	''A man in a development has no need to socialize with the other men'' ''his socializing takes place in the city where he works''
services	des services	''They merely supply services to one another''
homogenous	homogène	''In a homogenous community,no one has anything to offer anyone else''
too-much-alike people	des gens trop semblables	''too-much-alike people have nothing to communicate to each other''
facilities	installations, équipements	''facilties for dances, sports''

Torches of Freedom: questions (Chloé & Guenièvre)

Read the Wikipedia article explaining the meaning of the phrase ''Torches of Freedom'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom

Then answer the following questions:

1. In the early 20^th century, how were women smokers perceived ?
2. What did smoking symbolize for feminists and flappers ?
3. What did the International tobacco league lobby for in order to encourage women to smoke?
4. What did Edward Bernays want to fight against?
5. Why did the Easter Sunday Parade shock people?
6. What was the result of the targeting of women in tobacco advertising?

Torches of Freedom: vocabulary (Chloé & Guenièvre)

Here is a vocabulary list that will help you understand and discuss an important page in the history of tobacco advertising, namely the invention of the phrase ''Torches of freedom''.
The history of this metaphor can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom



Torches: des flambeaux
A habit
Foolishness: bêtise
Symbol of emancipation
To prohibit: to forbid by law or other authority
fallen women (having sunk in reputation or honour)
To encourage women to smoke in public
To expand the number of women smokers = to increase the number of ...
To recruit women smokers : recruter
To attempt to eliminate the social taboo: tenter de ...
Women are gaining more equality: to gain = acquérir, gagner
Many women bear no children: to bear children = to give birth to children
to march: manifester, défiler
To spark discussion : inaugurer des débats
This percentage peaked in 1965: a atteint un record
To appeal to young women : attirer, séduire

Key words
Women smokers
Social taboos
Emancipation
Feminine desires
Torches of freedom
to march, a march
Sex taboo
Equality
Modernity
Freedom
Liberation
Racial barriers
Upward mobility
Gender equality