For me, when I read the play I was surprised by the importance of the social classes and the relationships between people in the Victorian society, even if I know they were so. Because when we follow the story of Earnest/ Jack in the play, we see at first that he was refused to marry Gwendolen by Lady Bracknell because of his unknown origin. Lady Bracknell didn’t want to let her daughter marry if she didn’t know where the husband came from, what class he came from, to be more precise. She had already asked many questions about the way Jack lived to know if he would be able to be a good husband (according to her own social codes of course ). But at the end when she realized that Jack was the elder brother of Algernon she didn’t hesitate to marry her daughter with him.

 It is almost the same situation for Cecily when she said that she wanted to be with Algernon and Lady Bracknell refused because of her relationship with Jack. It’s not the same when she learns that Cecily is rich. The man's wealth completely changes her way to see Cecily. 
Lacroix Alyssa

Alyssa

1G1

My favourite scene in act 3 is when Lady Bracknell arrives and when she sees that her daughter wants to marry Jack without her consent and Algernon with Cecily too. It is my favourite scene because it is the only one where Lady Bracknell doesn’t control what happened there and where we see that her way of thinking is just imposed by the society in which she lives. It is already a scene where Jack rebels himself against Lady Bracknell and he is a little bit cheeky: “But my dear Lady Bracknell, the matter is entirely in your own hands. The moment you consent to my marriage with Gwendolen, I will most gladly allow your nephew to form an alliance with my ward [ …] Then a passionate celibacy is all that any of us can look forward to.” 

We see here with Lady Bracknell, because she does not know the origin or the social class of Jack, she refused to give the hand of her daughter, Gwendolen.
But in the end, once the story of Jack has been revealed, Lady Bracknell accepts and gives her blessing. Gwendolen and Jack will be able to start their love story.
Owen Quentel 1G2

The story of this play is mostly about two young men, that are in love with two young women and want to marry them, and they all belong to the upper class. The main objective Oscar Wilde thought about, writing this play, might have been to criticize this aristocracy. As a matter of fact, he showed the superficial nature of the upper class, writing about characters that act ridiculously, sometimes as children would have done : one wants to marry a girl he almost does not know, he falls out with his friend for almost nothing, this one who prohibits him, as for a child, to eat the cucumber sandwiches, and after that muffins, while their two loves are making friends, but then get angry about the two men, and after all unite against them, they act as children would play. The author exaggerated their ridiculous behaviour in an almost sarcastic way, laughing at them and at their     « luxury problems » : they are not worried about work, how they're going to feed their family, no, but they get angry because aunt Augusta doesn't accept one to marry another, or because one ate all the muffins...they actually just have whims. It shows that the upper classes are not that upper in their mind than the medium ones, they only, unfairly, are richer, and it makes them acting childishly.
By Alice

Guilliann Herrou 1^er G3

I was really impressed by this woman's courage ! First, like many others, she had the strength to volunteer to help the army, and then, after an air raid, she worked for hours, under fire, to save others' lives. She was very brave and that's so impressive for me, because I'm not sure I would have put my life in such a danger to try to save others, she was very courageous !
Alice

I shall not know again

Because my heart for loss of YOU

Was broken, long ago.

My dear friend, my beloved has passed away but not in my heart. Maybe he died in action in a War which stole from everybody a husband, a friend, a brother and my love but I swear you I will not let such a thing happen again… I can understand your pain and like you I will never forget him. Your brother was the greatest man I have ever met in my life. And I'll do everything I can for him never to be forgotten…

Your bereaved friend

b) Your caring letters help me live easily.
C) He fell roughly into the hideous trench.

d) The exhausted soldiers solemnly shook hands with their enemies.

b) Your incredible letters help me live.

c) He fell brutally into the deep trench.

d) The brave soldiers shook hands with their impressive enemies.

Those who order are not those who do.

2) Dylan denounces those who have the power :

- the government(s)

- the military industrial complex

3) The rhythm is very repetitive with regularly stressed patterns, which might evoke a military march, a funeral oration or a complaint.

     In this first part we are going to see in which ways the two first documents can be linked. The song Like A Rolling Stone written by Bob Dylan talks about how a young woman became a rolling stone which means she changed from a rich and carefree woman to a poor woman who lived in the street. Let’s talk a little about the song and its interpretation by Bob Dylan who sings it. The music seems happy but when we hear the lyrics they are pretty harsh though. Maybe the music is used to recall what she had lost. Nevertheless, we can hear, a few times, the sound of a harmonica and the harmonica is usually used to give sad feelings… This Bob Dylan’s song was also sung by Jimi Hendrix and personally I prefer his version.. With the sound of the electric guitar the song does not seem as happy as in Dylan’s. So we can say Bob Dylan decides to show us how cruel people can be to this poor young woman whereas Jimi Hendrix decides to show the poor woman’s entire sadness.

     Even if the second document is happier than the first one it retraces the same history but reversed. Miss Robinson lived the same thing as the woman in the song but she lived that when she was younger but after, with luck, she had the possibility to pick herself up after that crisis. So at the end of A string of beads Miss Robinson became the woman of the beginning of Dylan’s song: Lucky, beautiful and rich. In the case of the song the young woman became what Miss Robinson was: unlucky, poor and sad.

       In this second part we are going to see in which ways the two first documents diverge. First, the first document is a song while the other is a short story but we should remember that Bob Dylan won a literary price.

      Then, in Bob Dylan’s song the poor young woman is not named whereas in A string beads, all the characters have names: Miss Robinson, Mrs Livingstone, Count Borselli and Miss Lyngate. And they also all have a job and a story, which allow us to feel in better ways what the characters feel.                            Nonetheless, the fact that the woman in Dylan’s song has no name is better for us to put ourselves in her place because it means that it can happen to anybody.

    Then, the two don't take place at the same time because in the short story, the story takes place in a time where the social classes were still very marked and when the society itself really cared about this system. But Dylan’s song has a really modern side most because of a certain vulgarity in the words he uses.

 Finally, we can definitely say that the tone is not the same because in the song, there’s a young woman who became really poor and in the short story the poor lady became what she always wanted to be.

    In this last part, we are going to see that the poem The road not taken is the beginning of the two other documents because the whole poem talks about a choice that a man has to do for once in his life and that this choice will define how his life will be after. We can also mention the strange choice of this man, even if at the end we know that it was the good one, the man chose the road which seemed less attracting and where no many people seemed to walk whereas there is another path which seemed to be taken by a lot of people and more pleasant. And we can imagine that our two women chose two different paths, roads and that that choice led to the life they had eventually. Miss Robinson must have taken the same road as the man in the poem and the girl in the song probably took the other.

    Finally something seems weird to me because if the right choice is the road which is the less travelled by, that means that a lot of people took the wrong path... 

Alyssa's work.

In the short story, the choice is about leaving or staying. Eveline is a young woman facing migration choices, which may actually be hard, because choosing to leave is choosing to lose a whole world, your own country, your family, friends, customs, routines. Of course it can lead to a way greater life, but it is a risk to take this step into the unknown. Here, by leaving, Eveline would nevertheless choose to go away from some of her fears : her father for example, whose violence she is afraid of. But finally she chooses not to leave, probably because she is too attached to her life here, even if it is harsh.

In the poem, we don't know what the choice is about, but there's no need knowing it, because this text is written in the purpose of sending a message. This message says that taking a road which is not often taken can be as interesting as taking the road everyone takes. It is not beacause we know nothing about it and that it does not seem as bright and shiny as the other that we have to be scared of it. The author says he took that unknown road and that is what has made all the difference in his life. It can sometimes be brighter to follow your instinct, better than to follow the others. Even if it is not recommended, going by the road you feel is the right one for you can probably only lead you to something that will correspond to you.

Those two texts inspire me a lot, as I am in a period where I am also facing choices and those choices can not be taken lightly. The authors tell us the mechanics of the reflection in those important decision-making moments. In the short story, we can very well, through the use by James Joyce of the train of thoughts (stream of consciousness), see how Eveline weighs the pros and cons, and examines every single thing she would miss if she chose to stay, compared to what she could get if she chose to leave. The authors also tell us how, any road you will take, you will necessarily miss many things from the other(s) road(s) and however, it will be worth it. And many times, hapiness is a journey, not a destination, as the journey may teach much more than the arrival.

Alice

We can see that these two texts are talking about their stories. The first one, as I said before, talks about the situation of a woman who lost everything in her life : her money, her beauty and her charm. The song and the lyrics by Bob Dylan is very sad if we put our feet in her shoes. The lyrics are very moralizing and against the woman. Indeed, people had warned her of what she was going to lose because of her casual attitude and her scorn towards poor people. Bob Dylan is  laughing about her in some way and it’s very ironical. 
The second document is the same story, but it’s reversed this time. She is very poor at the beginning. People think she’s a thief, a liar and she is not trustworthy. But because of her goodness and her kindness, she succeeds in life and is a millionaire at the end of the story. The link between these stories is that this is the same story, this is just inverted.

The differences between the stories are in the behavior of the two women. The first one is very careless, she is casual and not very worried about other people : she only thinks about herself and doesn’t care about poor people or people in need. This is why I think Dylan made fun of her and made her situation ironic. She is not a very good person, she is even detestable. That’s why she lost everything.
The second woman’s behavior is way better ! She is at first very modest : she doesn’t talk at the dinner, she is quiet and very humble about her necklace (which is the main event in the story). And this is why she succeeded in her life. She returned the necklace that was not hers, and because of this honesty, she became what the other woman was : a rich person but this time, with a big heart.

The first document, Like a Rolling stone is about a young woman who was once rich but who lost everything and had to beg for a meal. The second document A string of beads is the story of Miss Robinson, a governess, at the beginning she didn't have money, but who eventually turned up to become a countess in the end. 

We can link these two documents, because they both refer to a change in social position, the rich woman who went to the best schools and who has known people in high places now has nothing, not even enough to buy a meal. The governess who had nothing and who decided to spend the money she had to go on holiday married a count and now is a countess and millionaire. 

We can oppose these two documents, because the stories are reversed, in the song, the rich woman is now in need and in the short story, the governess is now countess.

Inès

Both documents tell the stories of two girls whose social positions change during the story and the song. In the song, the beautiful girl loses everything one day : her beauty and her money. In the short story, the girl climbsup the social ladder and went from governess to countess. The difference is in the fact that the changes are reversed : in the song the girl loses everything, she went from a high status to a very lower one whereas in the short story the girl acquires a better way of life and a higher rank in society. 

 

"The road not taken" and "Home" both tell the story of a dilemma. Indeed, the paths in the poem could be linked with the two men in the short story. Tom represents the road most taken, the one chosen by Mrs. Meadows, and George represents the least followed road. Moreover, at the end of the story, we learn that Mrs. Meadows sometimes regrets her choice. The poem makes it clear that it is not always the most chosen path that must be taken. There are many possibilities, all of which offer beautiful things.

 

George decided to choose a very different path from the others, but in the end, we know that he was a happy man who did not regret any of his choices. Mrs. Meadows chose the path of security with Tom while George chose to live a marginal life.

 

At the end of the poem "The road not taken", the author tells us that he took the road less chosen and that this made the difference. George also chose this original path and at the end of his life, he does not regret anything because he lived all he had to live. The moral of these two stories is linked and shows us that we should never conform to certain rules because, in the end, we can miss out on many beautiful things.

I really liked the poem and the short story because the authors both showed that originality can bring beautiful things. Generally, people are afraid of being different and of stepping out of the ordinary because they feel more vulnerable and less secure. But Robert Frost and Somerset Maugham have shown that originality makes a difference. I find these documents all the more interesting because they have so much in common even though they were written by two men from totally different countries. Moreover, despite the difference in style of the two authors, we can find some grammatical similarities in both documents. 
Laurie

First of al,l the characters, in both stories, are faced with a dilemma and at the end of their choices it can be all or nothing. The short story      « The happy man » is the metaphor of « The road not taken ». The representation of « The road not taken » by the « The happy man » is really well-explained by a meeting. So many people are going to enter our life and by our choices we can decide whether they will stay or not and decide to take a different path or not. These dilemmas may take us out of our comfort zone, which is really courageous. By the story « The happy man » the author shows us that our life is full of compensations. Taking the risk, you lose something but also you can find something, which could be really important for you. 

In my personal life I've experienced that concept and once I've made the best choice ever and I do not regret it.

Secondly Robert FROST, by his poem, shows us the reality of the dilemma between time and choices. Sometimes I wonder : What if I had had the courage to do that, where would it have taken me ? I'm not able to answer this question, no one else can , because of our actions and choices. But sometimes thanks to our subconscious we are able to reface the dilemma and this time we are aware that it is our last chance to take the good path.