Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Margaret Thatcher's election in 1979

The idea for this exercise came from my colleague, Mrs. Katrin Ojaveer, who also is responsible for the pre-watching activity and part of the while- / after-watching activity. Used by permission.
Follow the instructions to complete the following exercise.

Let's start with Pink Floyd's song from the rock opera "The Wall" (1979) and then have a look at what was going on in Britain at the end of the 1970s.

Watch the music video. While watching or after that, fill in the missing words in the lyrics.

While watching the video or after that, try to fill in the missing words.

We don't need no .
We don't need no control.
No dark in the classroom.
Teacher, leave those kids alone.
Hey, Teacher, leave those kids alone!
All in all it's just another in the wall.
All in all you're just another in the wall.

We don't need no .
We don't need no control.
No dark in the classroom.
Teachers, leave those kids alone.
Hey, Teacher, leave those kids alone!
All in all you're just another in the wall.
All in all you're just another in the wall.

You may wonder what was going at the end of the 1970s that Pink Floyd depicted school education so negatively. The end of that decade was marked by a great deal of unrest in Britain and the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in May 1979. This what we want to have a closer look at now.

1. PRE-WATCHING ACTIVITY
Fill in the gap with a missing word.

Margaret Thatcher - (1925- ) a British politician in the Conservative , now officially called Baroness Thatcher, and sometimes called Maggie in the newspapers. She became leader of her party in 1975, and in 1979 became the UK's first woman Prime Minister, a position she held 1990. She won three General Elections one after the other, and she had a great on British politics and on British life. Her ideas, which have become known as Thatcherism, have also influenced politicians in other countries. She reduced taxes, took away power from trade unions, and started a programme of privatization (=selling state-owned services as electricity, gas, and the telephone service, so that they became private companies). She was strong and determined leader who would not change her mind easily and would not disagreement among her ministers. For this reason, she was sometimes called "the Lady".

Now think about the following words and phrases. If you do not understand them, consult the Internet. If this doesn't help, try to explain those after watching the next video clip.

1. a Tory
2. to oust
3. Labour Party
4. terminal decline
5. industrial unrest
6. inflation
7. to run riot
8. national despair
9. punk
10. discredited establishment
11. James Callaghan
12. winter of discontent (you can check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent )
13. to hit a new low
14. gravediggers came out on strike
15. crack-up moment
16. the bereaved
17. the sick man of Europe
18. city council
19. to dispose of
20. mortally ill
21. a saviour
22. her convictions had been forged
23. grocer’s shop
24. austere (adj)
25. staunch (adj)
26. a frippery
27. self-indulgence
28. a loo
29. Victorian values
30. imbibe
31. self-reliance
32. the Iron Lady
33. right-wing politics
34. shackle
35. slash taxes
36. power dressing
37. adversarial
38. matron at a public school
39. guard at a concentration camp
40. European Community Summit
41. annual subsidy
42. bang on about
43. to tear up the the diplomatic code
44. to rev the engines
45. a rebate
46. the Cabinet
47. reluctantly (adv)
48. steel-tipped, armour-plated handbag

Now watch a clip on events that led to Margaret Thatcher's election in May 1979. After watching the clip you will have to answer some questions.

While or after watching try to answer the following questions.

1. What was the difference between the conventional Margaret Thatcher and the new one?

2. What were her reasons for change?

3. How did music react?

4. What did the Labour Prime Minister admit?

5. What happened in Liverpool in January 1979?

6. What did the Liverpool City Council actually consider?

7. How did Margaret Thatcher grow up? Describe in detail.

8. What did the Russians call her and how did she react to that?

9. At 4:50 in the video, a song starts playing. What’s the title of that song and who performs it?

10. What were Margaret Thatcher’s plans?

11. What happened to Margaret Thatcher after her election in 1979?

12. What did she accomplish at the European Community Summit?

13. Was Margaret Thatcher really satisfied with the result?

Thank you. If you want to, you can actually send your answers to your email address.

Finally, here are three newspaper articles from that winter.

1. 14 December 1978: Labour faces vote of confidence

2. 10 January 1979: 'No chaos here' declares Callaghan

3. 22 January 1979: Public sector strike paralyses country