Document 1 : Damien Gayle, The Daily Mail, 2014
Breathtaking beauty of Britain: Landscape photographs taken around the UK reveal the stunning wild countryside
The monument rises from a hill behind a shroud of mist. Before it, trees shed their coats into a placid body of water reflecting a cloud-flecked sky.

Document 2: William Boyd, Sweet Caress, 2015
What drew me down there, I wonder, to the edge of the garden? I remember the summer light – the trees, the bushes, the grass luminously green, basted by the bland, benevolent late-afternoon sun. Was it the light? But there was the laughter, also, coming from where a group of people had gathered by the pond.

Document 3: Elena Marimon Munoz, Past Present, Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England, 2015 (photographie)

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : Choisir un des deux sujets suivants.
1. Elena Marimon Munoz gives an acceptance speech at the British Life Photography Award ceremony on the virtues and limits of photography. Write
her speech. (300 mots ±10%)
2. Discuss this statement from Document B: A camera can be a “wonderful machine” (l. 19). (300 mots ±10%)
Candidats LVA : Traiter les deux sujets suivants.
1. The narrator of Document B arrives at the party with her camera. Continue the scene, imagining the reactions of the guests. (150 mots ±10%)
2. Discuss this statement from Document B: A camera can be a “wonderful machine” (l. 19). (300 mots ±10%) [/blockquote]

Document 1 : Rhonda R. McClure, www.thinkgenealogy.com, 2013
Have you ever wanted to find out more about where you come from? Ever wondered why you look the way you do? Perhaps you have pondered why your greatgrandparents came to the United States or how your family ended up in Australia. Or perhaps you just like solving puzzles or mysteries!

Document 2 : Nadine Gordimer, My Son’s Story, 1990
He was a schoolteacher in one of the towns that had grown up long ago along the reef of gold-bearing rock east of the city–Johannesburg. Where his great-grandfather or grand-father had come from nobody had recorded–the rough hands of those generations did not write letters or keep notes;

Expression : 
Tous les candidats sauf LVA: Choisir un des deux sujets suivants.
1. Sonny’s children come across the photograph of Sonny’s great-grandfather (document B, lines 7-12). They ask Sonny about the story behind the photograph. Write the scene including their conversation. (250 words +/- 10 words)
2. Would you be prepared to look for information about your ancestors? Why or why not? Explain. (250 words +/- 10 words)
Candidats LVA : Traiter le sujet suivant.
To what extent do you think that it could be beneficial to you and your family to carry out research on your family tree and find out more about your roots? Discuss and illustrate with examples. (300 words +/- 10 words)

Document 1 : Alice Hoffman, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, 2014
Now, here it was, the last Saturday in March, and Eddie settled down with his rod. He’d left his studio in the dark, and it was hardly daybreak when he began to fish.

Document 2: Douglas Kennedy, The Pursuit of Happiness, 2002
By 1927, the commanding apartment buildings along Park Avenue were not just tall; they were immensely tall, true towers, the first skyscrapers built for permanent living. The tallest of them was the Ritz Tower, shooting up from the pavement at the corner of Fifty-seventh Street and Park Avenue.

Document 3 : How green could New York City be?, www.terreform.com (photographie)

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : Traiter un des deux sujets suivants au choix. (300 mots ±10%).
1. Eddie finally decides to talk to Beck. Write their conversation about the future of Manhattan.
2. You are Emma/Phil Wilson, an environmental activist. A new holiday resort is going to be built in the middle of a nature reserve. You write an article for Green Living magazine to denounce the problems raised by these plans and to suggest a few solutions.
Candidats LVA: Traiter les deux sujets suivants.
1. Eddie finally decides to talk to Beck. Write their conversation about the future of Manhattan. (200 mots ±10%).
2. A group of architects is running a contest among students in architecture. You are Emma/Phil Wilson, one of these students. Write a speech in which you give your vision of the ideal city of the future, and try to convince the architects to build it. (250 mots ±10%).

Text 1 : J. K. Rowling, Introduction to One City, 2005
Most of my pre-Potter Edinburgh days were spent in a small block of flats that housed, at that time, three other single mothers. I was very glad to move in, because it was a big improvement on my previous glorified bed-sit, and in my three years there my daughter learned to walk and talk and I secured my life’s ambition: a publishing deal.

Text 2: Under the Bridge, The Crime of Living Without a Home in Los Angeles, by Charles Davis (theintercept.com, 2015)
A year ago he slept in his own apartment, but today Charles Jackson sleeps under a bridge bordering Silver Lake, one of the more fashionable neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : sujet 1 (a et b) OU sujet 2.
1. a. What kind of charity would you be willing to join? Why? (+/- 100 words) ET b. Maria Foscarinis writes to a Los Angeles official to protest against the exclusion of homeless people. Write her letter. (+/- 150 words)
2. “OneCity seeks to unify: I cannot think of a better goal, for Edinburgh, Scotland or the world.” (Document A, ll. 41-42). Discuss. (+/- 300 words)
Candidats LVA: Sujet 1 OU sujet 2
1. What can citizens do individually and collectively to make their city a better place to live in for everyone? (+/- 300 words)
2. “OneCity seeks to unify: I cannot think of a better goal, for Edinburgh, Scotland or the world.” (Document A, ll. 41-42). Discuss. (+/- 300 words)

Text 1 : Ken Follett, Fall of Giants, 2010
Her angry feminism had set as hard as concrete during years of living alongside the tough, hard-working, dirt-poor women of London’s East End. Men often told a fairy tale in which there was a division of labor in families, the man going out to earn money, the woman looking after home and children.

Text 2: Douglas Kennedy, The Pursuit of Happiness, 2002
Predictably, my parents tried to block my move there. When I announced – around three weeks before my graduation – that I had been offered a trainee job at Life, they were horrified.

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : sujet 1 (a ou b) ET sujet B.
Sujet 1 : a) Text A: Ethel writes a letter to The Times to defend the vote for women. (+/- 150 words) OU b) Text B: The narrator’s parents continue the conversation after their daughter has left the room. Write the dialogue. (+/- 150 words)
Sujet 2 : ‘We’ve got some campaigning work to do.’ (line 38) How can each and every one of us make the world a better place? (+/- 150 words)
Candidats LVA: sujet 3 ET sujet 4.
Sujet 3 : A politician delivers a speech in favour of women’s rights. Write the speech. (+/- 150 words)
Sujet 4 : ‘We’ve got some campaigning work to do.’ (line 38) How can each and every one of us make the world a better place? (+/- 250 words)

Text 1 : Robin De Peyer, standard.co.uk, 2014
As the lights went out, their memories burned bright: London pays tribute to WWI heroes with dramatic display
London was plunged into darkness last night as lights across the capital were switched off in a poignant act of remembrance to those who gave their lives in World War One.

Text 2: Helen Dunmore, The Lie, 2014
[The scene takes place during the First World War.]
I wondered if the war had forgotten about us, although I knew it couldn’t have done. […] Then there was an order: we were to march to another quay, where the troopship lay.

Text 3: Ian McEwan, Atonement, 2001
[The scene takes place during the Second World War.]
The convoy had entered a bombed village, or perhaps the suburb of a small town – the place was rubble and it was impossible to tell. Who would care?

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : sujet A ET sujet B.
A. A journalist writes a short magazine article to say why it is important to commemorate the World Wars. Write the article. (150 words, +/- 10%)
B. “No one would ever know what it was like to be here.” (Document C, ll. 4-5) Turner writes a letter to his mother to tell her about his war experiences. (150 words, +/- 10%)
Candidats LVA: sujet A ET sujet B.
A. “No one would ever know what it was like to be here.” (Document C, ll. 4-5) Turner writes a letter to his mother to tell her about his war experiences. (150 words, +/- 10%)
B. “Who would care?” (Document C, l. 2) Why is it important that we should never forget the World Wars? (250 words, +/- 10%)

Text 1 : J. K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy, 2012
The move to Pagford had been the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Excepting occasional visits to her father in Reading, London was all that she had ever known.

Text 2: Joanna Trollope, The Soldier’s Wife, 2012
Isabel put her fingers lightly across her eyelids, and opened her eyes slowly behind them. She was not, of course, at school.

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : sujet 1 ou sujet 2 au choix. Candidats LVA: sujet 3 ou sujet 4 au choix.
Sujet 1: Leaving home can be scary but it’s a necessary stop towards growing up. (300 words)
Sujet 2: Gaia writes to her father about living in Pagford. Imagine the letter / email. (300 words)
Sujet 3: « But the twins -« , Isabel began (line 20). Starting with this line, rewrite the end of the text focusing on Isabel’s thoughts and feelings. (300 words)
Sujet 4: « Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder about what’s to come. » (N. Marlens, The Wonder Years). Discuss this statement (300 words)

Text 1: Joyce Carol Oates, Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, 2002
The taller of the two men, who wore dark-rimmed glasses with green-tintedlenses, said, “You’re Matthew Donaghy?”
Matt was so surprised, he heard himself stammer, “Y-Yes. I’m – Matt.”
The classroom had gone deathly silent. Everyone was staring at Matt and the twostrangers. It was like a moment on TV, but there were no cameras. The men in their dark suits exuded an authority that made rumpled, familiar Mr Weinberg in his corduroy jacket and slacks look ineffectual.

Text 2: Margaret Murphy, theguardian.com, 2014
Suzie is proud of her foster son, Ben. Though shy and withdrawn, he settled well intothe family, got a couple of A-levels, then a job in a cycle shop, gaining full independence when he found himself a room in a shared house in Heaton. Now Benis dead. Discovered by his foster mother in his ownlocked room, slumped over his computer; his skull is smashed. There is blood everywhere, spattered on the ceiling and on the floor and the wall behind his desk.
A sad story of a promising life cut cruelly short.

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : sujet 1 ou sujet 2. Candidats LVA uniquement : sujet 3
1. Write what happens next after the end of document A.
2. How do you explain the success of crime fiction? Do you enjoy it? Explain why or why not.
3. Document B, lines 17-19: ‘My view is that the pact between reader and writer is one of trust: the reader promises to immerse herself inthe story, and the writer promises to tell the truth about that story’. Do you agree with this statement? In your opinion,what makes a good detective story? (300 mots)

Text 1 : Ann Weisgarber, The Promise, 2013
[The scene takes place in 1900 in the USA.]
On the first of March, I went to my mother and asked for a loan.
‘Marriage,’ she said, her eyes hard with disapproval. The etched lines around her lips deepened. ‘Do as I had to.’

Text 2: Jessica Brockmole, Letters from Skye, 2013
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. July 27, 1913
Dear Sue,
No, I haven’t joined the Ballets Russes. To be honest, I’m not so sure what to do next.

Expression:
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : Choisir un des trois sujets proposés ci-dessous. (300 mots ±10%).
1. David answers Sue. Write his letter.
2. You are Phil / Emma Wilson, 18. You are a pupil at Finchley Hill High School. Your school has decided to organise a speech contest for Universal Children’s Day. Write
the speech you will deliver to promote the right to education for all.
3. To what extent can parents influence their children’s future?
Candidats LVA: Traiter les deux sujets proposés ci-dessous.
1. David answers Sue. Write his letter. (250 mots ±10%)
2. “Now that the doors are open, why aren’t more women rushing in to gain entrance?” (ll. 23-24) Has the situation changed? (200 mots ±10%)

Text 1: Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table, 2011
His name was Mr Fonseka and he was travelling to England to be a teacher, I would visit him every few days. He knew passages from all kinds of books he could recite by heart, and he sat at his desk all day wondering about them, thinking what he could say about them.

Text 2: Elif Shafak, Honour, 2012
Together they focused on the film.
Pembe watched The Kid with wide-open eyes, the look of surprise on her countenance deepening with each scene.

Expression:
Tous les candidats : Pembe writes in her diary about her special relationship with Elias. (150 mots au moins)
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : How can differences between people enrich their relationships? (150 mots au moins)
Candidats LVA uniquement : Art brings people together. Discuss. (150 mots au moins)

Text 1: Maureen Sherry, Walls Within Walls, 2012
Only one year ago the Smithforks were like families in East New York, Brooklyn. They lived in a brownstone house, built in 1880, that, except for plumbing and electricity, had not had much done to it since then.

Text 2: Paul Auster, Sunset Park, 2010
He is twenty-eight years old, and to the best of his knowledge he has no ambitions. No burning ambitions, in any case, no clear idea of what building a plausible future might entail for him.

Expression:
Tous les candidats : One evening the Smithforks and their children talk about their new life and how they feel about it. Write their conversation. (150 mots au moins)
Tous les candidats sauf LVA : To what extent can material possessions contribute to happiness? (150 mots au moins)
Candidats LVA uniquement : To what extent do you believe the “ability to live in the present” (document B, l. 6-7) can be a key to a happy life? (150 mots au moins)

Text 1: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending, 2011
One weekend in the vacation, I was invited to meet her family. They lived in Kent, out on the Orpington line, in one of those suburbs which had stopped concreting over nature at the very last minute, and ever since smugly claimed rural status.

Text 2: Sophie Kinsella, I’ve got your Number, 2012
Every time I imagine myself and Magnus in front of the altar, hands joined, saying those words to each other in clear, resonant voices, it seems like nothing else matters.

Expression: sujet A ou B. 400 mots pour les LVA, 300 mots pour tous les autres.
a) In both texts people are judged by their appearance and where they live. In your opinion, do appearances really give a true picture of a person? Discuss and illustrate your arguments with examples.
b) At the end of text B Antony is waiting for Poppy to reply to his question (l. 43-45). At that moment Magnus comes back into the room. Continue Poppy’s narrative of the scene. You have to include both dialogue and narrative passages in your text.

Text 1: Harlan COBEN, Hold Tight (2008)
“You understand how this works, right?”
Tia nodded in perfect unison to Mike’s shaking his head.
“The software will record every keystroke your son makes,” Brett said.

Text 2: Los Angeles Times (2011)
For chronic truants, a GPS program can help them make the grade.
Ryan Ramos’ 6 a.m. routine used to consist of the usual: a shower, breakfast, then a walk to the bus stop.

Expression:
Les candidats des séries ES et S traiteront UN des deux sujets ci-dessous. (150 mots au moins)
Les candidats de série L traiteront les DEUX sujets. (total pour les deux sujets : 250 mots au moins)
1. Adam discovers that LIVE SPY has been installed on his computer and decides to talk about it with his parents. Imagine their conversation.
2. Do you think parents have a right to invade their children’s privacy in order to protect them?

Text 1: First among equals (Jeffrey Archer, 1984)
From the first day he could walk Simon had always wanted to outdistance his rivals. The Americans would have described him as ‘an achiever’, while many of his contemporaries thought of him as pushy, or even arrogant according to their aptitude for jealousy.

Text 2: Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom, 1997)
What happened to me?
The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never realized I was doing it.

Expression: Les candidats traiteront au choix UN des deux sujets n° 1 et UN des deux sujets n° 2. (150 mots au moins pour chaque sujet).
Sujets 1 : a) After meeting Alan Brown, Simon writes to his mother in order to keep her informed. Write his letter. b) Simon has decided to run for President of the University’s Student Union. Write his first campaign speech.
Sujets 2 : a) Is it possible to reconcile your dreams with a professional life? b) « I once promised myself I would never workfor money,  » (Document B, 1.12). How easy is it to sück to such a decision?

Text 1: Never Judge a Book by its Cover (Givonte Latimore, 2008)
I stepped off the Marta rail at Five Points Station a little past eight o’clock on a Saturday evening. I had noticed previously on the train an older woman, perhaps in her mid sixties, staring at me with a look that suggested she was anything but content with my presence in the seat across from hers.

Text 2: The Man Who Liked Music, Eric Otto Schlunke, 1965
Alex Denholm was a pleasant enough man who could have been popular with his neighbours if it had not been for his queer streak. Alex had no sense of proportion. Until the neighbours got to know him they would hurry across to his farm to help him fix his tractor or his combine, only to find that there was nothing wrong with them;

Expression: Les candidats traiteront les DEUX sujets. (150 mots au moins pour chaque sujet)
1. Can one give too much importance to physical appearance?
2. Six months later, the Control Centre has to decide whether Mario should stay with Alex and his wife or not. They send the Sergeant-Major to meet Alex’s wife and ask her questions. Imagine their conversation.

Text 1: The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim (Jonathan Coe, 2010)
As I pushed open the front door of my house, I expected to feel the dead weight of piles of junk mail behind it. But there wasn’t that much. Maybe a dozen envelopes.

Text 2: Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer, 1996)
« I was interested in knowing if it was possible to be independent of modern technology, » [Gene Rosellini] told an Anchorage Daily News reporter, Debra McKinney, a decade after arriving in Cordova.

Expression: Write two essays (one for each of the following subjects).
1. « I was interested in knowing if it was possible to be independent of modern technology » (Text B, lines 1-2). Using this definition of technology, say what « artifact(s) of modern civilization » (Text B, line 6) you could not live without and why. (+/- 100 words).
2. Would you envisage cutting yourself off from civilization or retreating to a quiet place for a month? Why or why not? If you answered yes, say what you would use this time for. (+/- 200 words).