The history behind the current war

The history behind the current war (Part 1) - Questions

Read the text and answer the following questions.

1.Highlight the personalities in the text and write down what you know about them.

2.Find out all the electrical devices in the text: what do you know about them?

3.List the names of the companies.

4.Write in your notebook the figures which are in the text: what do they represent?

The history behind the current war (Part 1): Edison - Let's play!

The history behind the current war (Part 1): Vocabulary - Let's play!

The history behind the current war (Part 2) - Questions

Read the text and answer the following questions.

1.Highlight the personalities in the text and write down what you know about them.

2.Find out all the electrical devices in the text: what do you know about them?

3.List the names of the companies.

4.Write in your notebook the figures which are in the text: what do they represent?

The history behind the current war (Part 2): Tesla - Let's play!

The history behind the current war (Part 2): Vocabulary - Let's play!

Why Tesla died poor while Edison was rich & famous - Vidéo

Extrait étudié: de 10:21 à 12:04 .

Tesla's latest days - Questions

Watch the video from 10:21 to 10:57 and from 11:21 until 12:12.

1.Here are possible two titles:Tesla'sdepression andTesla's rehabilitation. In the extract, find 6 keywords that characterise them.

2. What happened to Tesla?

3.Write the quotation he pronounced during this terrible moment of his life.

4.What was the strange thing he wanted when he lived in a hotel?

5.Why did the Westinghouse Corporation accept to pay for his hotel room?

6.When did the U.S. Court award the patents for the radio to Tesla?

Edison's latest days - Questions

Watch the video from 10:57 until 11:21.

1.There are two titles for Edison's latest days:A still wealthy inventor and businessmanandA brillant social recognition. Find 6 keywords in the extract that characterise those phrases.

2.How were Edison's latest days different from Tesla's? Give one example.

3.When did he die?

4.How many patents did he record when he died?

Why Tesla died poor while Edison was rich & famous - Activité

1.There are twoTimemagazine covers at the end of the extract: one for Edison at 11:16 and one for Tesla at 11:20. Describe and compare them, focusing on the photos and the facial expressions (min. 100 words).

2.Why in your opinion do some inventors earn a lot of money while others don't? (min. 100 words)

Debating about Edison, Tesla, & Westinghouse - Activité

Join your team: you will either be pro-Edison, pro-Tesla, or pro-Westinghouse.

Have a look at the quotation pronounced by your inventor and defend his point of view. To do so, you comment on the quotation, refer to the previous documents we studied... and be imaginative!

"I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent. My main purpose in life is to make money so that I can afford to go on creating more inventions." — Thomas Edison
“Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.” — Nikola Tesla
"The alternating current will kill people, of course. So will gunpowder, and dynamite, and whisky, and lots other things; but we have a system whereby the deadly electricity of the alternating current can do no harm unless a man is fool enough to swallow a whole dynamo." — George Westinghouse

Debating about Edison, Tesla, & Westinghouse - Coup de pouce

Here a few questions you may ask yourself to help you structure your arguments.

What is the perception closer to our society today?
What does it show about each inventor’s personality?

Here are six sentence starters with examples for a debate activity.

I believe that
"I believe that Tesla did not have the success he deserved."
In my opinion
"In my opinion, Westinghouse was nothing but a very wealthy man who wanted to be richer."
I agree with you because
"I agree with you because electricity is one of the best invention ever."
I disagree with that because
"I disagree with that because he was not as intelligent as Tesla was."
On the one hand… On the other hand
"On the one hand, Edison gave Tesla a chance. On the other hand, he lied to him."
That’s a good point, but
"That’s a good point, but I also think being an inventor is not a bed of roses."

The history behind the current war

Before the war began

The history behind the current war (Part 1) - Questions

The history behind the current war (Part 1): Edison - Let's play!

The history behind the current war (Part 1): Vocabulary - Let's play!

How the current war was triggered

The history behind the current war (Part 2) - Questions

The history behind the current war (Part 2): Tesla - Let's play!

The history behind the current war (Part 2): Vocabulary - Let's play!

The current war: how it all ended

Why Tesla died poor while Edison was rich & famous - Vidéo

Tesla's latest days - Questions

Edison's latest days - Questions

Why Tesla died poor while Edison was rich & famous - Activité

Debate about Edison, Tesla, and Westinghouse

Debating about Edison, Tesla, & Westinghouse - Activité

Debating about Edison, Tesla, & Westinghouse - Coup de pouce