3 POST: The idea of progress

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

1. Read the definitions and fill in the gaps with suitable words.

PROGRESS

1. Forward movement, as toward a goal . Advance .  Development . Increase=

                                    =======>> Quantity

2. Gradual betterment . Steady / Progressive improvement of society / civilization / humankind.

                                    =======>> Quality

2. Brainstorming: Here is a list of questions you must ask yourself about the notion. Complete the blanks.

What type of progress?

technological / scientific / social / cultural/ educational/ medical/ ecological/ environmental / pharmaceutical/ political/ nutritional.

Who are the people concerned?

individuals / companies / governments / politicians/ students/ scientist / artists/ associations/ NGO’s charities/ trade unions/ labour unions/ religious institutions/ teachers.

Which period of time is concerned?

the past / the present / the future/ utopia/ uchronia/ dystopia.

What is at stake?

medical issues / physical performances / technical advances / innovations / dehumanization / domination / environmental issues / animal rights / place of women in society / race relations / social inequalities / economic opportunities / globalization / retrograde/ communication loss/ ethics and morals/ work and income.

What are the advantages and disadvantages (= drawbacks) / the pros  and cons / the upside and  downside?

Is it profitable (= beneficial, Positive, useful, healthy / rewarding, advantageous)  or is it potentially dangerous  (Unsafe, threatening, hazardous, useless, harmful / Alarming, risky, negative, unhealthy, detrimental)

for human beings? Why?

Is the impact positive or negative?  For whom?

Normally, we can say that for exemple one type of progress can be negative and positive. Progress is usually positive for humans but in some situation it can be negative.

Can we afford to reject progress  or can’t we do without it (nowadays & in future)?

We can't reject progress because if we did we will go back to the stone age, now and in the future.

Can’t we improve on the idea of progress  commonly accepted  in  our  modern world and consumer society? If so, how?

Yes, we can probably improve the idea of progress to improve our living and our future life. We have to reduce our consummation to create a better progressing world.

3. Build up your vocabulary

Complete the grid during the school-year with words and phrases suitable for the notion

UPSIDE / THE PROS	TYPES OF PROGRESS	DOWNSIDE / THE CONS
Enable  people to work  more efficiently  / improve our living standard  / ...	Technological progress	Cut people off from the real world /  lose touch with nature  / ...
Increase the knowledge  of  the world  / discover new materials  / ...	Scientific progress	Raise  ethical issues  /  create new inequalities  / DNA mutation / cloning / ...
Upgrade education  /  reduce gender and racial discrimination  / Same sex marriage / Improve international relations / Working conditions / ...	Social progress	Lose traditional values  /  disrupt conservative lifestyles  / Same sex marriage /  ...
Americanization of culture worldwide / Encourage new cultural movement and open up people's mind / Promote free or cheaper access to museums, operas... for people to spend less time in shopping Malls / ...	Cultural & Artistic	Lose of traditional national cultures and promote / Standardisation of culture some cultural movements are only hype = short, lived fashion / It requires public subsidies / Money which politicians are not necessarily ready to grant / ...
	Educational
	Ecological
	Political
	Medical

                                                               

2 POST: Key issues in relation to the idea of progress

In Patrick Chappatte cartoon's we can found a lot of key issues in relation to the idea of progress. In class we have found three of them:

- Could the internet be a threat to culture and art ?
- Is the younger generation really aware of illegal practices when it comes to culture on the internet ?
- Does the internet epitomize the idea of progress or can we argue that it also shows its limits ?

We can say that Chappatte is a real good cartoonist, he had demonstrated al this issues with one cartoon.
The artist use humor to get what he want's, and what he want's is to demonstrate that people on internet are not very honest because for example this cartoon defend the idea of illegal downloading. He uses a big event such as the Cannes festival to touch the viewer and to tell the people that illegal downloading is bad.

1 POST: A cartoon by Patrick Chappatte, The international Herald Tribune

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

A Fanatic Geek at the Cannes Film Festival

- Patrick Chappatte his a Pakestanee cartoonist. He draws for "Le Temps", "International New York times" and "NZZ am sonntag". His cartoons reflect events of every day life, sush as the 9/11 attacks or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ... 

Since 1995, Chappatte has worked in graphic journalism or comics journalism a genre of reporting using the techniques of graphic novels.

Nowadays Patrick Chappatte, has an website called Chappatte cartoons, where you can find all his cartoons. There is also a biographie of the artist.   

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS.

This document is a cartoon designed by Partick Chappatte. It was created the 16 of May 2008 during the Cannes international film festival. It's an annual event in May the document is a highly-debated issue, namely the illegal  downloading. 

Firstly, what catches the first attention of the viewer, is the central of the cartoon. There is a young lady with a long dress, blond hair and a nice makeup. Next to her there is a man, with a black jumper and blue jeans. With his facial expretion we can supose that he his hungry. Also he has to be a really famous movie maker because he is doing an otographe for the man that is standing in front of him. 

The man in front of him seems more casual look, he has han long white tee-shirt with an at (@) written on it, he can maybe represent social networks. Above him he has an cartoon bubble, he is talking to the other man, telling him that he loves his moves, he had pirated them all, that's why the left man was looking hungry.   

Secondly we can see that, in the top left-hand there is Famous Artists climing up the famous Cannes stairs coverd by a red carpet. In front of them there are paparazzis and fans taking pictures and holding papers for han othographe.

The message of the cartoon drawn by Chappatte is put across mainly through the balloon in which the teenager’s words sound like an accusation of illegal downloading from the Internet.

The boy claims that he loves the director’s films, which is a nice thing to say, but what he adds suggests that he does not care about artists copyrights. 

Therefore, the cartoonist means that the Internet enables people to illegally download any film or music they want without respecting authors’ rights.

The cartoonist’s goal is to criticize this illegal thing by using humor. 

This teenager is probably representative of his generation insofar as most young people download music or movies illegally nowadays. 

He seems to consider this as normal and legitimate though it is not legal. He seems carefree and enthusiastic about what new technologies enable him to do.

Finally, it seems really difficult to stop illegal downloading. As Internet users will always find ways to circumvent the law.

That’s why artists and the show-biz industry must find new ways to make money out of their art.