Epreuve d’anglais - Bac blanc R. J. ELLORY, A Quiet Belief in Angels (2007)

“You pick a word,” Miss Webber said. “You pick a word and then you think of as many words that mean the same or similar thing. They are called synonyms, words that mean the same or similar thing. You write them in your notebook, Joseph, and when you wish to make a sentence you look in your notebook and use the most interesting or suitable words you can find.”

I nodded.

She stepped around the desk and eased into the table-arm chair beside mine. The classroom was empty. I had waited behind on her instruction. It was two weeks before Christmas and the final days of school.

“You have heard of the Monkey Trial?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Some years ago, 1925 I think, there was a biology teacher called John T. Scopes. He came from a town called Dayton in Tennessee, and he taught his pupils about something called evolution. You know what evolution is, Joseph?”

“Yes, Miss Webber… like the idea that we were all monkeys in the trees a long time ago, and before that we were fish or something.”

She smiled. “Mr Scopes taught his pupils about the theory of evolution instead of the theory of Creation as it is taught in the Bible. He was taken to court by the State of Tennessee, and the prosecuting lawyer was a man called William Jennings Bryan, a very widely known orator and three-time presidential candidate. The man who defended Mr. John Scopes was Clarence Darrow, a very famous American criminal lawyer. Mr. Scopes lost his battle and he was fined one hundred dollars, but at no time did he relinquish his position.” Miss Webber leaned a little closer to me. “At no time, Joseph Vaughan, did he say what he believed people wanted to hear.

He said what he thought was right.”

She leaned back. “You’re wondering why I’m telling you this?”

I said nothing, merely looked back at her and waited for her to speak further.

“I’m telling you this because we have a Constitution and the Constitution says we should say what we feel, and maintain our right to speak the truth as we see it. That, Joseph Vaughan, is what you should do with your writing. If you want to write, then you should write, but always remember to write the truth as you see it, not as other people wish it to be seen. You understand?”

“Yes,” I said, believing I did.

“Then, during your Christmas vacation, I want you to write me a story.”

“About what?”

She smiled. “That is something you have to decide. Choose something that has some meaning for you, something that you feel provokes an emotion, a feeling… something that makes you angry or hateful, or something that makes you feel excited perhaps. Write a real story, Joseph.

It doesn’t have to be long, but it has to be about something you believe in.”

Miss Webber rose and stood over me. Once again she touched my cheek with the flat of her hand. “Have a good Christmas, Joseph, and I will see you at the start of 1940.”

R. J. ELLORY, A Quiet Belief in Angels (2007)