English · Première générale · LVA · B1 towards B1+ · adapted version

Session 1: Reading a painting: The Verdict of the People

Read one step, do it, then move on. Answers are hidden: click to check.
Step one

Recap check

  1. Name the two main political parties in the United States.
  2. How often is the American president elected?
  3. What is Congress, and what are its two chambers?
  4. When did Americans vote in the midterms this year?
Answer key
  1. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
  2. Every four years; the next presidential election is in November 2028.
  3. The legislative branch, which makes the laws: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
  4. On Tuesday 3 November 2026.
Step two

Look at the painting

A crowd gathers in front of a courthouse on a sunny day under a large flag; some men cheer, one lies on the ground, others look dejected; women watch from a balcony.
George Caleb Bingham, The Verdict of the People, 1854-1855, oil on canvas, 116.8 x 139.7 cm. Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Bank of America, 45:2001. Public domain. Museum record
Step three

Words to know

WordMeaning
to depict, to portrayto show in a picture
in the foreground / backgroundat the front / at the back of the picture
symbolic ofthat represents an idea
to convey a messageto communicate an idea
iconicvery famous and representative
Step four

Read, one sentence per line

  1. George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) was a painter and a politician: he sat in the Missouri legislature.
  2. Between 1853 and 1855, in Philadelphia, he painted three scenes of American democracy, known as the Election Series: Stump Speaking (the campaign), The County Election (the vote) and The Verdict of the People (the results).
  3. In The Verdict of the People, a crowd gathers around a courthouse to hear the results of the vote. Farmers, labourers, merchants, children, politicians, immigrants and veterans are there.
  4. Their reactions vary: some men are overjoyed, others are confused, argumentative or dejected.
  5. According to the Saint Louis Art Museum, the women on the balcony and the African American man in the left foreground represent two groups who had no voice in government at the time.
  6. Bingham exhibited the three paintings in 1860 and hoped to sell them to the Library Committee of Congress.

Source: Saint Louis Art Museum, The Verdict of the People

Step five

Answer

  1. Who painted The Verdict of the People, and when?
  2. What do the three paintings of the Election Series show, in order?
  3. What is the crowd waiting for?
Answer key
  1. George Caleb Bingham, in 1854-1855, in Philadelphia.
  2. The campaign (Stump Speaking), the vote (The County Election), the results (The Verdict of the People).
  3. The results of the election, read on the steps of the courthouse.
Step six

Grammar

To describe a picture, use the present simple or the present be+ing with a place marker: In the foreground, a man is waving a handkerchief. To make deductions, use a modal: must (almost certain), might / may / could (possible), can't (almost impossible): The man on the steps must be reading the results. The man with the banner might be a supporter of the winner.

  1. The man on the ground (be) very tired: he is lying down. (almost certain)
  2. The women on the balcony (be) voters. (almost impossible)
  3. The man on the steps with a paper (be) a local official. (possible)
Answer key
  1. must be
  2. can't be (women could not vote in Missouri in the 1850s)
  3. might be / may be / could be
Step seven

Your turn

Describe the painting for one minute. Say where things are (in the foreground, in the background, on the left, in the top right-hand corner), what people are doing, and what the painter wants to say about democracy.

Key points

Key points: in the foreground, men react to the results: one waves a handkerchief, one lies on the ground; on the left, men gather on the courthouse steps, where the results are read; in the background, a large flag; on the balcony, women watch. Message: the people decide, but not all the people could vote in the 1850s.

Step eight

Homework

Learn the words of the grid. Find one other painting or photo of an election (any country) and prepare three sentences to describe it, with a place marker and a modal of deduction.
Key points

Check: a full reference (title, author, date), one place marker (in the foreground...), one modal (must, might, can't).