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What’s in a Name?

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Le Littéraire dans le quotidien: Resources for a transdisciplinary approach to reading/writing

at the first and second year levels of college French  ~Joanna Gay Luks • 2013 • CC BY

 

Lecture 

Préparation

In French, the word, nom, translates as either name or noun. Juliet famously asks Romeo the rhetorical question: “What’s in a name?”  For language learners, the more relevant question is – What’s in a noun?

A noun is a word that is used to name things, places, people, and ideas that exist in the world or in our minds. In order for a noun to function as a noun in French, it must have an article (un/une/des ; le/la/l’/les ; du/de la/ de l’) or another determiner – words like ce/cet/cette/ces (this/that/these) and ma/son/leurs (my/his/their) – that identifies the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun in context.

There are cases where base nouns (nouns with no article/determiner) can be used as nouns, as for example in titles or lists of nouns, in order to streamline the text. In such instances, the articles are omitted but understood.

So, what’s in a base noun? Because base nouns cannot express form and number, they express a sense of character or of an attribute that is derived from the noun idea. Base nouns in standard French function as adjectives, most typically following the verb être. An example is when naming someone’s profession:

Hélène est musicienne, Stéphane est ingénieur.

Je suis professeur(e).

Ils sont médecins.

This differs from English, where the indefinite, singular noun form must be used:

Helen is a musician; Steven is an engineer.

I am a teacher.

(They are doctors.)

In informal or spoken French, base nouns can be used as adjectives to characterize someone in relationship to something that they like or use or do or resemble. It is a way of creating metaphorical meaning, and, in order to be understood, the attribute must be clear from the context. This function exists in English as well, but usage is more restricted.

Look at the following chart. Note the additional adverbial intensifiers (so, totally, really // très, vraiment, plutôt).

NOUNS AS ADJECTIVES

Metaphorical usage; informal/spoken register

ENGLISH

FRENCH

-Sarah is so country.  
[e.g. she really likes that type of music or the life-style associated with the music or she is not urban]

-He’s totally nuts/crackers/bananas. [crazy]

-Ted and John have become really fast food.
[e.g. they eat a lot of fast food; they have adopted the position that eating fast food is fine]

Two students arrive in a room to study for an exam. This is their exchange:

–Tu es plutôt table ou bureau?  [Do you prefer studying at a table or a desk?]

–Moi, je suis très table. [I’m more of a table person; I’m more into studying at a table.]

-Il est très ordinateur.  [He’s a real computer freak.]

-Ils sont vraiment café.  [They’re coffee-crazy.]

-Elles sont plutôt cafés.  [e.g. They like going to cafés  rather than to restaurants.]

You can expand the use of the vocabulary that you are studying in French by employing nouns as adjectives. This can create an informal, idiomatic tone to your speaking or writing, or add a touch of the poetic!

For this first reading, I set myself the challenge of writing a simple poem. I am not a poet, but being willing to play with words gives poetic license. First-year college textbooks typically begin with the language of greetings and introductions, and the vocabulary of the classroom. I wrote this poem primarily using vocabulary and expressions from the first chapter of a first-semester textbook.

Première lecture

The poem is entitled, “C’est tout un poème,” which literally means It’s a whole poem. However, when the noun, “un poème” takes on metaphorical meaning (yes, all words, regardless of their grammar, can take on metaphorical meaning!), it expresses the idea of something that is inexplicable. This sentence, then, constitutes an idiom used for making a commentary about a person or a situation, and, in this sense, translates as He/She is quite something  / It’s quite something. In English we have the expression – It’s a whole story – to mean something similar.

As you read the poem the first time, try to understand the relationship between the content and the title. When done, note your ideas here in English:  

 le texte

« C’est tout un poème »  par Joanna Gay Luks

Je vous présente Aaron

Il est étudiant en

Sciences politiques

Mais en linguistique

Il est plutôt1 escargot.        

Dans la salle de classe

Il y a un tableau, un morceau de craie

Et un exercice avec le verbe être

Mais Aaron est très fenêtre.

Aujourd’hui, on est lundi.

Après2, il y a la semaine, et puis3

Samedi, dimanche… mais oh ?

Le week-end, Aaron est très labo !

Comment ? Qu’est-ce qu’il fait?

Ben4, Aaron apprend5 le français.

Sa nouvelle petite amie6 s’appelle Marie

Elle est de Paris !






1rather/pretty (adverb)





2after

3then


4the sound of hesitating/thinking out loud

5learns

6his new girlfriend

Regardez de plus près

  1. Read the poem again and circle all of the instances of base nouns used as adjectives for standard and metaphorical meanings. (There are 4!)

  1. In the first column of the chart below, write each sentence that includes a noun as adjective.

In the second, write attributes in English that you can associate with the base noun being used as an adjective.

In the third, write possible English translations for the sentence.

       S + V +(adv) +base noun                Word associations in English        Possible English translations




Allons plus loin

  1. Listen to the poem read out loud by your instructor. Follow the rhyme scheme and underline the words that rhyme or nearly rhyme.

  1. Avec un partenaire:  

a. In the columns below, write the rhymed pairs of words from the poem and underline the sounds that are the same or nearly the same. (The first pair is given as an example.) Sound out the words and note any differences in spellings for same/similar sounds.

1.     Aaron

en

2.

3.

4.

5.  

6.  

7.

8.

b. Comparez vos réponses avec la classe.

  1. Listen to the poem again, this time repeating line by line after your instructor.

  1. En groupe:

a. Comparez vos réponses dans les sections Première lecture et Regardez de plus près.
Discutez les questions suivantes:

  • What explanation best describes the relationship between the title and the content of the poem?
  • Which translations do you think work best and why?

b. Choose three nouns that you are currently studying that could be used as adjectives to characterize someone. For each, write a translation in English of your intended meaning.

Nom

Traduction

c. Comparez vos réponses avec la classe.

 Be prepared to provide some context for supporting your meaning!

Écriture

Type de texte

A poem / un poème

Votre écrit

Write a simple poem on the theme of introducing a fellow student (real or imagined) to the class by characterizing an aspect of his/her interests, activities or personality. Use the vocabulary of this chapter in your textbook to incorporate rhyming and the use of base nouns as adjectives for standard and metaphorical meanings. You may use any format for the poem that you wish. Include a title (un titre).

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

Préparation

1. Rhyming

Go through the vocabulary in your textbook and note down words/phrases/sentences or questions that you would like to incorporate. Listen to the pronunciation of words that you think should rhyme, keeping in mind that spelling alone may not be a sufficient clue.

If you would like to find a French first name to fit your rhyme scheme, look at an online resource for choosing a name for a baby boy or girl (key words = prénoms français), for example, “Meilleurs Prénoms”:

http://www.meilleursprenoms.com/

If there is vocabulary you wish to use but that is not included in your textbook, you can listen to the pronunciation in the online Larousse French–English dictionary. Enter a French word that you are seeking and click on it to hear how it is pronounced:

http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french-english/plut%C3%B4t

If you wish to find a word that rhymes with one you would like to use, here is a resource – a French Rhyming Dictionary (Dictionnaire français des rimes):

http://www.alcor.com.au/french_rhyming_dictionary.asp

Note your findings in the table below:

Words/phrases/sentences from book

Words that rhyme




2. Base nouns as adjectives

Now, select some base nouns that you think could be used as adjectives and brainstorm associations.

   Note your findings:

Base nouns as adjectives

Associations



 


3. Write a first draft (un brouillon) of your poem.

4. Practice reading the draft out loud.

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Exchange drafts with a partner.

a. Read your partner’s text once. If you have difficulty understanding something, ask for

clarification.

b. Read the text again and provide feedback on the following:

  • Topic development

Is the theme of the poem – introducing someone to your reader and characterizing an aspect of the person’s interests, activites or personality, successfully developed? Is there a sufficient amount of information for you to have a clear picture in your mind of the person being described? If not, what further information could be provided?

 

  • Choice and use of base nouns as adjectives

Circle all of the instances of base nouns used as adjectives. Tell your partner what you think the meanings are and see if these correspond with what your partner meant.

If you cannot understand some of the intended meanings, what suggestions can you offer for either modifying the context or for choosing a different noun to use?

  • Incorporation of a rhyme scheme

Read your partner’s poem out loud and underline the words that would seem to rhyme. If you do not know the pronunciation of a word, ask your partner to say it out loud.

Is the rhyme scheme successful to your ear? If not, indicate where you think there are problems. You can make suggestions for word substitution by looking over the vocabulary listed in your textbook chapter or by consulting a French Rhyming Dictionary:

http://www.alcor.com.au/french_rhyming_dictionary.asp

2. In response to your partner’s feedback, revise your draft accordingly and prepare your

final version.

1A

 

Comment?!

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Le Littéraire dans le quotidien: Resources for a transdisciplinary approach to reading/writing

at the first and second year levels of college French  ~Joanna Gay Luks • 2013 • CC BY

Lecture 

Source: CC-BY-SA Catherine Prévert -  Vector image by COERLL after a photo found on Wikimediaprevert.jpg

Préparation

Jacques Prévert (1900-77). French poet. Set to music by Kosma, interpreted by Yves Montand, learnt by heart in schools, dissected by academics, Prévert's poems have a uniquely important place in 20th-c. French culture. His is a poetry of the man in the street—essentially oral, often sentimental, disdainful of the high and mighty, respectful towards the underdog. Anarchic and playful, his spirit is pre-political, although the sketches he wrote during his participation in the agit-prop Groupe Octobre, some performed in factories in 1936, and his delightful script for Renoir's film Le Crime de Monsieur Lange, are quintessential expressions of the Popular Front ethos. A fringe member of the Surrealist group from 1925, he soon joined the dissidents along with his friends from the ‘Groupe de la rue du Château’ (Tanguy, Marcel Duhamel, Queneau).


Prévert began writing poems in the early 1930s. However, long before the publication of his first collection (Paroles, 1946) he had made his name as a writer of film-scripts: Drôle de drame (1937), Quai des brumes (1938), Les Visiteurs du soir (1942), Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), all directed by Marcel Carné and displaying a mixture of realism and poetry allied with a strong sense of character. The great success of Paroles after the war led Prévert to write more poetry […] mostly of a similar kind, dominated by clever punning, a sense of the marvellous, and an unerring feel for the quality of everyday life.

[Michael Sheringham]

Source: French Literature Companion: www.answers.com/topic/jacques-pr-vert

The text that you will read is from Prévert’s famed first collection, Paroles. It involves a play on words and is written in the format of a playscript, a dialogue between two characters. It is a “word play”!

  1. The poem is entitled “L’accent grave.” Based on the information provided above about Prévert and his style of writing, what do you think the text will be about? What do you think it will be like to read it?

 Première lecture

Because this is a copy-righted poem, you will need to access the text online. (See the link that follows.) As you read for general comprehension, use the following decoding strategies for word meanings based on their forms, grammar and context. Do not use a dictionary!

  1.  Underline all of the cognates (les mots apparentés) – all of the words that you can recognize English equivalents for, including in the title. Use these words as anchors for decoding.

  1.  Look at the word, élève (line 2). Given the context, what can you guess is the meaning?

  1.  What verb is at the core of the word, sursautant (line 3)? Hint: It is a verb used in cooking. What translation could you provide for sursautant in this context using the core meaning?

  1.  Look at the prefix “mé-” in the word, mécontent (line 5). What would be an appropiate translation of this word in the given context?

  1.  Look at the phrase, être ou ne pas être, in line 8. Think about Shakespeare’s Hamlet. What can you guess is the translation for the structure: ne pas être? Do you know the name of this grammar structure?

  1.  Look at the word, excessivement (line 22). What do you think the suffix is? What does it mean? Is this word a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a verb?

 Le texte

 

The name of this poem is “L’accent grave,” (Paroles, Gallimard, 1949), and it is by Jacques Prévert.

To access the text, go to this ClicNet web address:

http://clicnet.swarthmore.edu/rire/textes/prevert.html

(If this link should no longer work, google the title and author as key words.)

Here are some further glosses to vocabulary and expressions in the text:

Hein? (line 4):  an interjection, "Huh?"

dans les nuages (line 8):  in the clouds

Pas tant de manières. (line 10):  Don’t be so pompous.

c'est vous qui n'y êtes pas (line 23):  you’re the one who’s not in the picture/who isn’t with it

mon pauvre ami (line 23):  Lit = my poor friend; I’m sorry to say

dans le fond (line 27):  after all

à la réflexion (line 27):  upon reflection

Regardez de plus près

Travaillez avec un partenaire et répondez aux questions suivantes:

Le professeur

1. What phrase does the teacher repeat three times in the text?

  1. The teacher makes an error of capitalization in French that a reader can see but that would not be heard if spoken. What is the error?

Note culturelle – Platonic Forms

From the Chicago Manual of Style:
“Words for transcendent ideas in the Platonic sense, especially when used in a religious context, are often capitalized. Good; Beauty; Truth; the One.”

http://www.prdaily.eu/PRDailyEU/Articles/Capital_ideas_capital_offenses_When_to_uppercase_4035.aspx#

Here are some words in French expressing the idea of Platonic forms:  

pur, idéal, parfait, suprême, archétype, absolu, perfection, modèle

  1. What do these instances of repetition and capitalization tell us about the teacher’s way of thinking? How would you characterize him?

L’élève Hamlet

4. Write the typical conjugation paradigm for the verb être:

5. Compare this with what l’élève Hamlet recites: Je suis ou je ne suis pas.

Translate Hamlet’s version:

6. Translate Hamlet’s responses, which replace ou with its homophone, où:

Je suis « où » je ne suis pas  (line 26)

être « où » ne pas être  (line 28)

7. Look at Hamlet’s behavior and language throughout the text.

What is your impression of him?

How would you characterize him?

Allons plus loin

  1. The main theme of this word play is to contrast personal philosophies of conformism and individualism. Did you use either of these words or ideas in describing the teacher or Hamlet?

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

Be careful! As it turns out, the word individualisme carries different connotations in French than it does in English. In order to help students better understand certain cultural differences, in 1997, MIT’s French program created Cultura…

“a Web-based, intercultural project situated in a language class, that connects American students with other students in different countries. […]

The objective of Cultura is to help our students develop understanding of the values, attitudes, beliefs and concepts inherent in another culture; to understand how people in the other culture interact, look at the world and frame their thoughts and ideas. Those goals are epitomized by a phrase from Marcel Proust, which serves as a beacon to our project:

« La seule véritable exploration, la seule vraie fontaine de Jouvence, ne serait pas de visiter des terres étrangères mais de posséder d'autres yeux, de regarder l'univers à travers les yeux des autres. »

(Translation: "The only true exploration, the only true fountain of youth would not be to visit foreign lands, but to possess other eyes, to look at the universe through the eyes of others").

Source: http://cultura.mit.edu/community/index/cid/1

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

1b, 3, 10 DSC_5436 Am flag-edited.jpg

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

On the following linked page, you will see two columns. One, under the heading individualisme, has a listing of associations generated by students in France, and the other, under the heading individualism, has a listing of word associations generated by students in the United States. Compare their responses! :

Source: http://cultura.mit.edu/1999-fall-mit-int-21/

[Note: If you have difficulty accessing this page, google Cultura Exchanges MIT. Once on the home page, go to Archived Exchanges, find 1999-Fall-MIT and click on Answers & Discussions. Then in Questionnaire type: Word Association, click on individualism /individualisme]

As you can see, trying to directly translate a culturally influenced value is difficult. Here are some further thoughts on Prévert’s writing that may help. See if you can get the gist:

« Son hostilité à toutes les forces d’oppression sociale se traduit dans ses attaques pleines d’humour autant que de vigueur contre les hommes de pouvoir et les institutions en général. Son sens de l’image insolite et sa gouaille [cheekiness] populaire lui inspirent une poésie sortie de sa tour d’ivoire, destinée à tous les publics et ancrée [anchored] dans les sentiments de la vie quotidienne. Elle invite le lecteur à se fier au pouvoir de [to trust in the power of] « la parole » [the word] pour accéder au bonheur, individuel et collectif. »

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12849038/Poesie-quel-engagement

As closure, Prévert’s writing is described as containing…

 « un ferment actif de liberté » – an active agent or enzyme of freedom.

Does this information alter your understanding of Hamlet or of the teacher or of the cultural context of the text? Discuss your reactions and note your ideas:

  1. Google the French movie, “L'école pour tous”, by Eric Rochant

(or go to Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2_W1pMB1QM 

a. Watch the first two and a half minutes, until you hear the utterance: “Oh, l'individualiste!”

b. Discuss with a partner why you think the character, Jahwad, says this.

  1. Listen to the pronunciation of words in the text, “L’accent grave” that you do not know: http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french-english

 

Practice reading Prevert’s mini play out loud and rotate the roles with your partner.

 

Écriture

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

Type de texte  

A dialogue in playscript form

Votre écrit

Imagine that you are studying French in France. Write a simple “word play” in the form of a dialogue, in which there is a misunderstanding between yourself and either your imagined teacher or a French student that you have just met. Look through the vocabulary and content of this chapter in your textbook to find a source for the confusion: a false cognate, a word that you find difficult to pronounce, a cultural practice that is different from what you are accustomed to. (Be careful to note any differences in capitalization between French and English, for example, for the days of the week or months.)

Include expressions of negotiation (see below) to ultimately clarify the faux pas.

Utilize the format of the playscript as modeled in the text, L’accent grave.

Include the title: « Comment ?! ».

Préparation

1. Negotiating Language

Informal

Formal



Informal

Formal


Informal

Formal


Informal /
Formal


Comment? (How’s that?)

Hein? / Quoi?

Qu'est-ce que tu dis?

Comment? / Pardon?

Qu'est-ce que vous dites?

Je ne comprends pas.  (I don’t understand)

Qu’est-ce que c’est?

Qu’est-ce ça veut dire?  (What does this mean?)

Tu peux expliquer?  

Est-ce que vous pouvez expliquer?  

Oh là là!

Zut! / Mince!  (Drat/Darn/Shoot/Holy cow!)

Excuse-moi.

Excusez-moi.

Pas de problème  (That’s alright. No problem)

Il n’y a pas de souci.

Aucun problème

Ce n’est pas grave.*

Hesitation techniques

Ben  (= a reduced form of the word “bien,” used for hesitating)

Euh  (the French equivalent of “um”)

Elongating vowel sounds in words–

Watch the following tourist information video about a goat cheese farm in the Rhone-Alpes region in France. The presenter often elongates the vowels in words as a way of hesitating: cabris (young goat) =  cabriiis; on (one, the subject pronoun) = ooon;  samedi =  samediii;  pré (meadow) = préee.


Even if you do not understand much of what is said, listen for these hesitation techniques:

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/fivideo/chapitre-01-culture-faites-en-un-fromage

2. *The word grave in French can have different meanings. Go back to the answer that you wrote for the very first activity in this chapter about predicting your reading experience based on the title of the poem, “L’accent grave.” What are two ways that you could interpret this title?

3. Write a first draft (brouillon) of your dialogue.

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Exchange drafts with a partner.

a. Read your partner’s text once. If you have difficulty understanding something, ask for

clarification.

b. Read the text again and provide feedback on the following:

  • Establishing an appropriate context

Identify the source of the misunderstanding and look at the given circumstances.

Is the faux pas realistically invoked?  If not, what recommendations can you make?

  • Use of negotiating language

Underline all of the negotiating language. Do both parties respond appropriately to the misunderstanding?

  • Maintaining appropriate register

Note the relationship between the two speakers in the dialogue. Should the register be formal or informal? Check to make sure that the register is consistent throughout.

  • Applying playscript conventions

Look at the formatting. Does your partner’s script follow the appropriate playscript conventions as modeled in Prevert’s poem? If you see a problem, point it out.

2.  In response to your partner’s feedback, revise your draft accordingly and prepare your final version.

Allons plus loin

Work with a new partner. Read each other’s final scripts out loud, with you playing the role of yourself in your text and the francophone interlocutor in your partner’s text.

1B

Un portrait chinois

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Le Littéraire dans le quotidien: Resources for a transdisciplinary approach to reading/writing

at the first and second year levels of college French  ~Joanna Gay Luks • 2013 • CC BY

Lecture 

Préparation

The Proust Questionnaire is a questionnaire about one's personality. Its name and modern popularity as a form of interview is owed to the responses given by the French writer Marcel Proust.

At the end of the nineteenth century, when Proust was still in his teens, he answered a questionnaire in an English-language confession album belonging to his friend Antoinette, daughter of future French President Félix Faure, entitled "An Album to Record Thoughts, Feelings, etc." At that time, it was popular among English families to answer such a list of questions that revealed the tastes and aspirations of the taker*.

[…]The [French] television host Bernard Pivot, seeing an opportunity for a writer to reveal at the same time aspects of his work and his personality, traditionally submitted his guests to the Proust questionnaire at the end of the French broadcast Apostrophes. [Bouillion de culture]

Inspired by Bernard Pivot, James Lipton, the host of the [American] TV program Inside the Actors Studio, gives an adapted version of the Proust Questionnaire to some of his guests.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proust_Questionnaire

*Such questionnaires are more generally referred to as Chinese portraits / portraits chinois.

Have you seen James Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio? If not, you can see his questionnaire in this Wikipedia link (or google separately): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio 

Do you think his interview questionnaire is an effective way of getting his guests to reveal their tastes and aspirations? Why/Why not?

For this unit you will read selections from the Proust questionnaire and the entire Pivot questionnaire, along with their respective personal responses. In order to maximize your comprehension of these texts, there are some aspects of French to consider:

  • One way to create a yes/no question is by using intonation, adding a rising pitch to the end of a spoken declarative statement or a question mark to the end of a written declarative statement:

Tu joues au tennis?          [You play tennis?]

Elle aime la musique classique?        [She likes classical music?]

Information questions incorporate the equivalents of words like who, what, when, where and why. The Proust and Pivot questionnaires are composed of information questions, but they use a simpler way of structuring them by turning noun phrases or clauses into questions:

Noun phrase:        Mes héros dans la fiction?  

[My heros in fiction?  vs. What are my heros in fiction?]

Noun clause:        La qualité que je désire chez un homme?

[The quality that I like in a man?  vs. What is the quality that I like in a man?]

  • While high frequency generalized adjectives (the equivalents of good, old, pretty, and big), come before the noun in French, just like adjectives in English, most adjectives in French come after the noun:

des charmes féminins        [femine charms]

  • Certain verbs in these texts are written in the conditional. You can recognize these by their verb endings:

je voudrais                 [I would want…]

vous aimeriez                 [you would like…]

Première lecture

Print the texts of the two questionnaires and accompanying activities on pp. 5-8

Work with a partner, each of you reading one of the texts and completing the

corresponding activities.

  1. Read your text twice: the first time quickly for gist, the second time with pencil in hand to annotate the text.

 "Annotating" means underlining or highlighting key words and  phrases—anything

that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions—as well as

making notes in the margins. When we respond to a text in this way, we not only

force ourselves to pay close attention, but we also begin to think with the author

about the evidence.

Patricia Kain, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Source: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html

  1. Along with highlighting any words/phrases that strike you as surprising or significiant and noting your reactions in the margins, here are some useful decoding strategies for improving interpretation:

a. Underline cognates (les mots apparentés) to use as anchors for comprehension.

b. Draw arrows to link keywords or key phrases in each question and answer.

c. If you need to look up a word in a French/English dictionary, a useful online resource is Word Reference: http://www.wordreference.com/

At the early stages of using a French/English dictionary, it will be sufficient to look at the first section of information, “Principal Translations.” This will provide you with the primary meanings of a word. As meanings are always situated in context and represent the writer’s conceptualization of the thing, event, idea, process, etc, pay close attention to the grammar of the word and to the context in the text that you are reading in order to choose what would seem to be an appropriate translation. Once you have chosen a meaning, write the English equivalent in the margin.

d. Make note of any aspects of grammar or language that you notice as being different from English.

Le texte nº 1 – Proust Marcel_Proust_1900-2.jpg

Source: Wikimedia

Version de Proust (sélections)                Réponses de Proust vers 1890

1. La qualité que je désire chez un homme ?

Des charmes féminins.

2. La qualité que je désire chez une femme ?

Des vertus d'homme et la franchise dans la camaraderie.

3. Ce que j'apprécie le plus chez mes amis ?

D'être tendre pour moi, si leur personne est assez exquise pour donner un grand prix à leur tendresse.

4. Mon principal défaut ?

Ne pas savoir, ne pas pouvoir « vouloir ».

5. Mon occupation préférée ?

Aimer.

6. Quel serait mon plus grand malheur ?

Ne pas avoir connu ma mère ni ma grand-mère.

7. La couleur que je préfère ?

La beauté n'est pas dans les couleurs, mais dans leur harmonie.

8. La fleur que j'aime ?

La sienne - et après, toutes.

9. L'oiseau que je préfère ?

L'hirondelle.

10. Mes héros dans la fiction ?

Hamlet.

11. Mes héroïnes dans l'histoire ?

Cléopâtre.

12. Ce que je déteste par-dessus tout ?

Ce qu'il y a de mal en moi.

13. Personnages historiques que je méprise le plus ?

Je ne suis pas assez instruit.

14. Le fait militaire que j'admire le plus ?

Mon volontariat !

15. Comment j'aimerais mourir ?

Meilleur - et aimé.

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questionnaire_de_Proust

Regardez de plus près

Pour le texte nº 1:

Read Proust’s answers to the questions a second time. What impressions do you have of Proust based on his answers to the questions?

1. Note key adjectives or descriptors that come to mind in English, and look for and note the French equivalents:

2. Note evidence from the text for formulating your opinions:

3. Conclude with some statements in French about your opinion using the structures:

Je pense qu’il est (un peu/assez/ très/vraiment/ plutôt) + adjectif

À mon avis (in my opinion), c’est un + noun/noun phrase

For a better understanding of the differences between Il est/C’est, see :

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/pro3.html

Le texte nº 2 – Pivot  Bernard_Pivot_20090315_Salon_du_livre_2.jpg

Source: Wikimedia  CC BY Okki

« Le 29 juin 2001, à sa 407e émission (le dernier Bouillon de culture), [Pivot] a accepté de répondre à son propre questionnaire » :

1. Votre mot préféré ?

Aujourd'hui (Avec une apostrophe au milieu).

2. Le mot que vous détestez ?

(Un mauvais sentiment, décrit par un mauvais mot) : Concupiscence.

3. Votre drogue favorite ?

La lecture des journaux en général, et de L'Équipe, en particulier.

4. Le son, le bruit que vous aimez ?

Le son très discret des pages que je tourne en lisant un livre, ou le son aussi discret du stylo sur la feuille.

5. Le son, le bruit que vous détestez ?

[Cette question a été oubliée pendant cette dernière émission]

6. Votre juron, gros mot ou blasphème favori ?

Oh ! Putain !, Oh ! Putain !, Oh ! Putain ! (Toujours trois fois).

7. Homme ou femme pour illustrer un nouveau

billet de banque ?

Michel Bouquet dans L'Avare de Molière.

8. Le métier que vous n'auriez pas aimé faire ?

Président de France Télévision ou directeur d'une chaîne du service public.

9. La plante, l'arbre ou l'animal dans lequel

vous aimeriez être réincarné ?

J'aimerais bien être réincarné dans un cep de la Romanée Conti.

10. Si Dieu existe, qu'aimeriez-vous, après

votre mort, l'entendre vous dire ?

« Alors Mr. Pivot, (Oui parce que Dieu a d'abord parlé latin, hébreux, arabe, puis après il a parlé français. Maintenant il parle anglais, évidemment. Donc) Alors Mr. Pivot, how do you do? Euh... Pas terrible... je... euh... I am sorry my God but I don't speak English. Ah ! Mais c'est vrai vous ne parlez pas anglais. […] Eh bien ! Vous avez toute l'éternité devant vous pour apprendre l'anglais. Et je vais vous donner un très bon professeur. S'il vous plait, allez me chercher Sir William. Shakespeare of course ! »

Source: http://www.philo5.com/Penser%20par%20soimeme/QuestionnaireBernardPivotReponsesBP.htm

Regardez de plus près

Pour le texte nº 2:  

Look at the questions that Pivot chose for his interview questionnaire. What impressions do you have of him based on his choice of questions?

1. Note key adjectives or descriptors that come to mind in English, and look for and note

the French equivalents:

2. Note evidence from the text for formulating your opinions:

3. Conclude with some statements in French  about your opinion using the structures:

Je pense qu’il est (un peu/assez/ très/vraiment/ plutôt) + adjectif

À mon avis (in my opinion), c’est un + noun/noun phrase

For a better understanding of the differences between Il est/C’est, see :

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/pro3.html

Allons plus loin

1. Présentez le texte du questionnaire et vos réponses à votre partenaire. Ensemble, notez des exemples de…

a. Mots apparentés (par ex. apprécie)

b. Mots et expressions clés dans les questions et réponses (par ex. qualité ➝vertus ;

défaut➝ ne pas + savoir)

c. Mots devinés (guessed) et traductions ou significations (par ex. militaire ➝ Mon

volontariat = my volunteering)

d. Mots cherchés dans un dictionnaire et traductions

e. Différences avec l’anglais (par ex. quotation marks use a different symbol)

2. Detecting key words in spoken French:

Now that you know the questions that are asked in Pivot’s version, listen to some clips of famous people responding to the questions on the website for INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel). Once on the home page, do a search with the key words– Pivot questionnaire, Bouillon de culture:

http://www.ina.fr/media/television/dossier/1930/questionnaire-deproust.20090331.fr.html

Can you understand enough key words to get the gist of any of the responses? Note the person’s name and any answers that you think you understand:

3. Noun Forms

One difference between the two questionnaires is that Pivot’s, designed for the literati, asks about preferences for words (Votre mot préféré ? Votre juron, gros mot ou blasphème favori ?), while the Chinese portrait that Proust responded to, designed for popular consumption, asks about preferences concerning qualities, activities and things or people:

Qualities : La qualité que je désire chez un homme ?  Mon principal défaut ?  

Activities : Mon occupation préférée ? Le fait militaire que j'admire le plus ?

People: Mes héros dans la fiction ?

Things : L'oiseau que je préfère ? Ce que je déteste par-dessus tout ?

Notice in Proust’s answers the different forms that nouns can take and their equivalents in English:

Des charmes féminins

feminine charms = indefinite plural noun

Ne pas pouvoir « vouloir »

to not be able/not being able to want something of someone = negative infinitive + infinitive, which equals two noun ideas !

Aimer

to love = infinitive

loving = the equivalent of the –ing noun (gerund)

Mon volontariat

my enlisting/my volunteering = possessive noun

Hamlet

name/proper noun

L'hirondelle

the swallow = definite noun as generic class

Ce qu'il y a de mal en moi

that which/what is bad in me = noun clause

To keep in mind : an infinitive verb does not function as a verb in a sentence! In order to function as a verb, it must be conjugated : located in time and accorded with its subject pronoun.

J’aime/Je déteste danser = I like/I hate to dance. // I like/I hate dancing.

Écriture

Source: CC BY COERLL

Type de texte 

A self-portrait (autoportrait) in the form of a Chinese portrait / portrait chinois (a questionnaire)

Votre écrit

Create a self-portrait in the form of a Chinese portrait (see table on next page) and include visualization of some sort (a photograph, drawing, chart) as symbolic representation of an aspect of who you are. It cannot be an actual picture of yourself!

Préparation

1. Creating the information questions and answers

a. Using the following website and vocabulary from the chapter you are studying, select 8 questions that reveal aspects of your personality, your “tastes and aspirations” :

http://www.portrait-chinois.com/

b. All of the questions on the site are written in the conditional: Si j’étais…?  (If I were…?)

Rewrite the questions that you choose in the form:  [Noun phrase/clause ?].

For example: Si j’étais une fleur ? –>  Ma fleur préférée ? / La fleur que j’aime ?

c. Write brief answers to the questions using a variety of noun forms, as outlined in number 3 of the section Allons plus loin.

d. For the final question from Pivot’s questionnaire, include the use of punctuation to link some of your ideas:

2. Punctuation (la ponctuation)

While the symbols for quotation marks and the spacing used with punctuation differ between English and French, the functions of punctuation are largely the same. There are, however, subtle differences. For example, while the comma (la virgule) cannot be used in English to separate clauses/sentences, it can be used for this purpose in French:

LA JUXTAPOSITION : On met une virgule pour séparer des noms, des verbes,   
des adjectifs, etc., ou même des propositions (clauses), qui sont juxtaposés.


    Ex. : Il aime la nature, la musique, sa motocyclette et ses amis.        (noms)
            Leur conversation fut longue, cordiale, profitable.        (adjectifs)
            J'ai acheté des pommes, j'en ferai une compote.”        (propositions)

Source: http://francite.net/education/cyberprof/page12.html

Notice that adjectives and sentences can be linked in this way without the use of and/et. In the case of linking two sentences with punctuation, English would require a semicolon:  

I bought apples; I’ll make apple sauce out of them.

Autoportrait de/d’_________

   1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9. Si Dieu existe, qu'aimeriez-vous, après votre mort, l'entendre vous dire ?


3. Write a first draft (brouillon).

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Exchange drafts with a partner.

a. Read your partner’s text once. If you have difficulty understanding something, ask for clarification.

b. Read the text again and provide feedback on the following:

  • Topic development

Is there sufficient descriptive information in the text for you to come away with a clear “picture” of the writer? Is there too much information, thus clouding the picture? Try to identify areas that need expanding or clarification or streamlining.

  • Accuracy of use of noun forms

Check the questions and answers to numbers 1-8 for accuracy of noun forms. Point out any errors you may see to your partner.

  • Techniques for linking ideas  

Underline all of the instances of the use of a comma to connect nouns, adjectives or clauses in the answer to question 9.

In cases where a comma is used to link clauses, do the sentences appropriately express a juxtaposition of information? In other words, is the use of a comma justified?

  • Avoiding literal translations from English

Is there any language in your partner’s text that you can recognize as a direct translation from English (or perhaps from your partner’s native language if it is not English)? Point out any such instances to your partner and together formulate a substitute using the language and stuctures that you are studying.

  • Use of symbolic visual representation

Look at the visualization that was chosen. What does it tell you about the author? Ask the author what the image represents to confirm your guesses. If the explanation doesn’t match your expectations, what suggestions might you make?

2. In response to your partner’s feedback, revise your draft accordingly and prepare your final version.

Allons plus loin

1. Interview your partner to find out his/her answers to your self-portrait questions. Write out your abbreviated questions in full information question form using the following structures:

Quel/Quelle est + [singular noun phrase/clause] ?

Exemples:

Quel est ton mot préféré ?

Quelle est ta fleur préférée ?

Quel est le métier que tu n’aimerais pas faire ?

Quelle est la qualité que tu n’aimes pas chez un homme ?

Quels/Quelles sont + [plural noun phrase/clause] ?

Exemples:

Quels sont tes héros dans la fiction ?

Quelles sont tes héroïnes dans l'histoire ?

Quels sont les personnages historiques que tu n’aimes pas ?

Quelles sont les héroïnes dans l’histoire que tu aimes ?

Quel/Quelle + noun + est-ce que tu aimerais être?

Exemples:

Quel oiseau est-ce que tu aimerais être?

Quel type de musique est-ce que tu aimerais être?

Quelle chanson est-ce que tu aimerais être?

Quelle sorte de musique est-ce que tu aimerais être?

A reference for other interrogative words you may need (where, when, how, why…):

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/int7.html

2. Interview your partner using your newly written questionnaire and have your partner

interview you using his/hers. If you do not understand something, ask for clarification!

a. Note your partner’s answers, including any key words in English that your partner did not know the French for.

b. Read over your partner’s responses and formulate some conclusions:

Je pense qu’il/elle est (un peu/assez/ très/vraiment/plutôt) + adjectif
Il/Elle aime____________ et _________________
À mon avis, c’est un + noun/noun phrase

3. As a class share your observations about partners.

2

Envie de voyager

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Le Littéraire dans le quotidien: Resources for a transdisciplinary approach to reading/writing

at the first and second year levels of college French  ~Joanna Gay Luks • 2013 • CC BY

Lecture 

Préparation

Used thoughtfully, figures of speech can enrich and enliven our writing. But when laid on too thick, stretched beyond recognition, bent out of shape, or mixed like a Mai Tai on skid row, figurative language may only confuse--or amuse--our readers.

Source: http://grammar.about.com/b/2008/10/20/block-those-metaphors.htm

For this unit, you are going to read passages from a blog post, The Wanderer (Voyages de rêve). The writing is rich in figurative language but carefully crafted so that the themes sustain and develop the author’s ideas on travel. Two motifs are prominent: traveling (metaphors related to movement) and the savouring of foods, and by extension, experiences.

  1. Read through the following expressions and their English translations:

Voyager

Traveling

aller jeter un oeil
vous y allez

tâchez d’éviter les écueils

échappées

pistes

à mi-chemin entre… et…

accompagner

Ce n'est pas vers … que je me dirige

de par le monde

première étape

un itinéraire sur mesure

le voyage d'une vie

dans l'action

sur les traces de

se dérouler

s'articuler autour de

à travers le monde

escale

lit: go throw an eye at = go take a look at

you go there

try to avoid the pitfalls
escapes/impulse trips

trails/paths

mid way between… and…

to accompany

It is not towards… that I direct myself

the world over

first step/leg (of a journey)

a customized/made to order itinerary

a life’s trip (focus on process) vs. the trip of a lifetime (focus on destination)

in action

in the footprints of

unroll, unfurl, reel out

revolve around

across the globe

layover, stop over, port of call

Savourer

 Savouring

un cocktail élégant

racé

bien frappé

à prendre bien frais

bel et bien

saveurs du monde

le goût des voyages
un monde de saveur

donner terriblement soif d'expériences

lit: an elegant cocktail = an elegant mix

pedigreed, classically elegant
lit: well-chilled ➝ invigorating

lit: to be drunk well chilled

lit: beautiful and well = well and truly

flavors of the world

a taste for traveling

a world of flavors

to give a terrific thirst for experiences

2. Can you think of other metaphors or idioms in English that relate to traveling or savouring?

Première lecture

As you read, find and underline the metaphorical language on page 1 about traveling and savouring.

Le texte

The Wanderer (Voyages de rêve)

Quand un site comme Alapage1 vous propose d'aller jeter un oeil à une sélection de livres autour du Voyage et que vous êtes une bibliophile à l'âme aventureuse, c'est avec les deux que vous y allez.

Vous tâchez d'éviter les écueils du guide touristique qui comme son nom l'indique n'est pas destiné aux échappées et ceux des beaux livres aux magnifiques photographies dont les mots sont eux aussi bourrés de2 clichés.

[…], ma référence3 est un cocktail élégant, simple, racé et bien frappé, publié par les éditions de la National Geographic Society, à mi-chemin entre le guide et le beau livre pour sa matière à rêver et les informations pleines de détails qui l'accompagnent, à prendre bien frais comme préliminaires au Voyage.

Ce n'est pas vers un pays que je me dirige, mais bel et bien de par le monde.

Première étape : 400 voyages de rêve, pour un itinéraire sur mesure, Keith Bellows.

Fermez les yeux un instant, imaginez le voyage d'une vie, de votre vie. A quoi ressemble-t-il ? Attention, je vous demande de réfléchir au voyage, pas à la destination.

Vous vous voyez :

- à pied ?

- à dos de chameau, de mulet, d'hippocampe (pourquoi pas ? :), emmené(e) par un attelage de huskies, sur un surf, en plongée, en rappel, danser un tango à Buenos Aires, bref dans l'action ?

- sur l'eau ?

- en voiture ?

- à deux-roues ?

- en train ?

- dans les airs ?

- sur les traces de l'Odyssée, Jack Kerouac, les plus grands explorateurs, Tolstoï ou d'autres ?

400 voyages incontournables à faire dans sa vie, c'est un peu tout ça à la fois, de nombreuses pistes à travers le monde en fonction du mode de transport, des goûts et des aspirations de chacun sur environ 336 pages. […]

Deuxième étape : 500 voyages de rêve, "Saveurs du monde"

Le goût des voyages...

Ouvrez les yeux. Vous êtes arrivé. Un monde de saveur, de couleurs et d'odeurs se déroule sous vos pupilles4, les papilles5 sont en émoi6 […]. Mais où ?

Tout le livre s'articule autour du Plaisir, de l'apprentissage du plaisir et de son dénouement pour explorer le monde et ses saveurs autrement.

[ Nota Bene : Pour les plus gourmets ET gourmands d'entre nous, son dernier chapitre est entièrement dédié aux "Desserts à foison", dont un top 10 des glaciers de rêve et un top 10 des "endroits pour accros au chocolat 7 ".] […]

De la cuisine de rue à travers le monde (l'aventure commence toujours au coin de la rue) aux tables de luxe, des spécialités aux villes gourmandes, des produits de saison aux fourneaux jusqu'aux boissons qui ne sont pas en reste et une sélection des plus beaux itinéraires gastronomiques pour VTT, ce livre vous donne terriblement soif d'expériences... […]

Prochaine escale, ce sera8 ?

Source:http://sexinoutthecity.canalblog.com/archives/plongee_au_coeur_de_la_ville_et_voyages/index.html


1a French website for cultural and technological products (books, DVDs)

2 filled with

3 reference book

4pupils

5tastebuds

6excited


7chocoholics

8will be

   

Regardez de plus près

Travaillez avec un partenaire. Lisez le blog une deuxième fois et répondez aux questions.

1. ¶1 : « C’est avec les deux que vous y allez » – What two things are being referred to?

2. ¶2 : What pitfalls (écueils) should be avoided?

3. ¶6 : The author asks the following parenthetical question:  (pourquoi pas ? 🙂 

 What do you think is the author’s intended meaning?

4. ¶11 : Quelle est la différence entre gourmet et gourmand?

5. ¶12 : Traduisez en anglais:  “De la cuisine de rue à travers le monde… aux tables de luxe”

Allons plus loin

  1. Discutez en groupe:
  1. What language and/or imagery stands out for you in the text and why? (Note your answers.)

  1. Do you think that you would like to take a trip organized by the blog author?

Why/Why not? Cite evidence from the text and/or images to support your opinions.

  1. What are your responses to the three questions posed in the text? :
  • Imaginez le voyage de votre vie. A quoi ressemble-t-il ?

  • Vous êtes arrivé. Mais où ?

  • La prochaine escale, ce sera ?

  1. With a partner, check the following Cultura websites for American and French students’ associations with the words: United States and France. Look at the Discussion section on the site to see if this adds any further insight.

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

1b, 3, 10 DSC_5436 Am flag-edited.jpg

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

United States: http://cultura.mit.edu/2009-fall-mituniversite-de-brest-1/

France: http://cultura.mit.edu/2009-fall-mituniversite-de-brest-4/

[Note: If you have difficulty accessing those pages, google Cultura Exchanges MIT. Once on the home page, go to Archived Exchanges, find 2009-Fall-MIT and click on Answers & Discussions. Then, click on United States/Etats-Unis and France/France]

  1. Discuss any differences that you see and what this might indicate in terms of differing worldviews.

Écriture

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

Type de texte

A blog post (un blog)

Votre écrit

Choose a place that you know or a place mentioned in a chapter of your textbook. Your goal is to both inform your reader about the place (e.g. it’s climate, geography, and activities that one can engage in) and to foster the desire in your reader to go there! To help motivate your reader, incorporate a metaphorical motif of movement and include an image or images that would serve as further enticement. At least part of the text must be in paragraph form, one or more. (See techniques for linking ideas below.) Otherwise, you can include bulleted information and sentence fragments (telegraphic style). You may utilize any other formatting that you think would make this blog post attactive.

Préparation

1. Incorporate a metaphorical motif

While the metaphorical language in the blog presented in this unit nicely parallels culturally appropriate metaphors in English, this is often NOT the case. In the early stages of writing, a typical mistake is to translate what one wishes to say in English, directly and literally into French. For example, if you wanted to express in French the idea of  “to go take a look at a selection of books” and you wrote: aller prendre un regard à une sélection de livres, this would be gibberish.

a. To avoid literal translations, three strategies can prove useful:

  • Recognize what is idiomatic or metaphorical in English.

  • Type in the English idiom/expression in WordReference.com to see if you can find an equivalent in French. If this doesn’t pan out, identify the key word in the expression and look it up for similar nuances in meaning.

  • If you cannot find a clear equivalent, drop the idea and change the content of what you wish to communicate.

b. For this assignment, here are the specific steps to follow:

  • Look through the vocabulary of the chapter that you are studying related to travel.

Note down all of the words you can find that encode a sense of movement.

  • Go to the Word Reference French/English dictionary:

http://www.wordreference.com/fr/

- Look up the word aller. You will find many meanings and uses along with their equivalents in English. (Note: The forum at the bottom of the screen is a useful tool for understanding nuances of words/expressions and possible cultural differences.)

- Note down the French expressions that you wish to use in your text.

  • Choose another key word or expression from the chapter vocabulary that you noted above. Look up the word/expression to see if you can find another metaphor to include in your text.

Note: Be careful to attend to the grammar of figurative expressions. If it is a verb structure, for example, are you using the verb as an infinitive or do you need to conjugate it?

2. Link ideas with coordinating conjunctions (conjonctions de coordination)

et

(and)

mais  

(but)

ou  

(or)

donc  

(so, thus)

parce que, car

(for, because)

puis

(then)

3. Écrivez un brouillon.

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Avec un partenaire, échangez vos brouillons.

a. Lisez le texte de votre partenaire une première fois. Si vous avez du mal à comprendre quelque chose, clarifiez le sens du mot ou de la signification du passage avec votre partenaire.

b. Lisez le texte une deuxième fois et préparez vos remarques sur les questions suivantes:

  • Topic development

Is there any important content information missing, something that you as a reader would need to know in order to have a clear enough understanding of the location and its attraction?

If so, make suggestions for what to add or to clarify. Indicate, too, if there are instances of redundancy of information.

  • Incorporating a metaphorical motif to motivate the reader

- Underline all instances of what you think are metaphorical uses of language.

- Confirm your choices with your partner.

- Ask if there are other metaphors that you have missed and if so, what their meanings are.

- Do you find that the figurative language is used effectively?

- If you think that too much metaphorical language is used, make suggestions for editing.

  • Techniques for linking ideas  

Underline all of the coordinating conjunctions to connect clauses.

Are there too many conjunctions, bogging down the flow of information? Are there instances where a conjunction is not used but could be in order to produce a greater sense of flow in the writing?

  •  Formatting

Look at the format chosen for your partner’s blog post. Does the choice of format work well for the content and purpose of the text? Provide any suggestions that you can for improvement.

  • Including persuasive imagery

Look at the imagery included. Does it succeed in helping to “sell” the trip? Would you like to go on this trip? Why/Why not?

2. Révisez donc votre brouillon et préparez votre version finale.

3

Respect et verité

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Le Littéraire dans le quotidien: Resources for a transdisciplinary approach to reading/writing

at the first and second year levels of college French  ~Joanna Gay Luks • 2013 • CC BY

Lecture 

Préparation

eTwinning projects :

 

As the building block of eTwinning in 2005, the idea of twinning schools together across borders aimed at getting young people to communicate with their European peers. eTwinning projects - between a minimum of two schools from two countries – are collaborative opportunities for classes to work together using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

eTwinning General Guidelines:  http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/index.htm 

 As of March 2013, there were 27,464 projects in Europe and a growing number in the U.S. 

Source : http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/index.htm

One French project involved having students from schools in France, Italy and Poland write self-portraits inspired by philosophies of the Enlightenment (le siècle des Lumières).

Source: Wikimedia

Sébastien_Leclerc_I,_Louis_XIV_Visiting_the_Royal_Academy_of_Sciences,_1671.jpg

Enlightenment

First published Aug 20, 2010

The Enlightenment is the period in the history of western thought and culture, stretching roughly from the mid-decades of the seventeenth century through the eighteenth century, characterized by dramatic revolutions in science, philosophy, society and politics; these revolutions swept away the medieval world-view and ushered in our modern western world. Enlightenment thought culminates historically in the political upheaval of the French Revolution, in which the traditional hierarchical political and social orders (the French monarchy, the privileges of the French nobility, the political power and authority of the Catholic Church) were violently destroyed and replaced by a political and social order informed by the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality for all, founded, ostensibly, upon principles of human reason. […] The Enlightenment is associated with the French thinkers of the mid-decades of the eighteenth century, the so-called “philosophes”, (Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, Montesquieu, et cetera). […] In addition to the French, there was a very significant Scottish Enlightenment (key figures were Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Thomas Reid) and a very significant German Enlightenment (die Aufklärung, key figures of which include Christian Wolff, Moses Mendelssohn, G.E. Lessing and Immanuel Kant).

[…] Kant defines “enlightenment” as humankind's release from its self-incurred immaturity; “immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another.” Enlightenment is the process of undertaking to think for oneself, to employ and rely on one's own intellectual capacities in determining what to believe and how to act. Enlightenment philosophers from across the geographical and temporal spectrum tend to have a great deal of confidence in humanity's intellectual powers, both to achieve systematic knowledge of nature and to serve as an authoritative guide in practical life.

Bristow, William, "Enlightenment", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 

Source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/enlightenment/

You are going to read draft versions of three self-portraits by high school students in France and Poland. The following framework was provided for the writing:

  L’exploration de soi (the self)

Je forme une entreprise [am undertaking a project] qui n’eut jamais d’exemple [has never been done] et dont l’exécution n’aura point d’imitateur [there will be no imitator]. Je veux montrer à mes semblables [my fellow humanity] un homme dans toute la vérité de sa nature ; et cet homme, ce sera moi [will be me]. Moi seul. Je sens mon coeur et je connais les hommes. […]

Ce préambule des Confessions de Rousseau est le manifeste d’une nouvelle sensibilité européenne qui nait [was born] à cette époque : l’homme occidental découvre la dimension intime de l’individu et son unicité. Dès lors [from then on] le regard retrospectif sur soi devient une composante de la conscience moderne.

Autoportraits

Source: Morguefile (free photo license)

Se pencher sur soi [introspection], c’est souvent commencer par se décrire. Peintres et écrivains se sont souvent livré à [have often carried out] cet exercice périlleux. C’est alors un combat entre l’amour propre [self respect] et le besoin de vérité [truth].

Source: http://www.texteimage.com/noceseurope/spip.php?rubrique9

1. If you were to write your own self-portrait in English based on the given criteria, what are

some of the descriptions that you would include?

Carry out a première lecture as social reading (Teacher’s Guide pp. 7-8, 13-14).

Le texte

Autoportrait : Pauline

Le 14 janvier 2007, par première L2 lycée Marguerite de Navarre, FRANCE

Je ne suis ni petite, ni grande, je suis de taille moyenne comme on dit. Pour ce qui est de ma corpulence, je ne suis pas maigre comme certain le pense, mais mince. Disons que mon poids est en accord avec ma taille. Mon visage est plus ou moins rond, j’ai le nez petit et en trompette, d’ailleurs, je ne l’aime pas du tout, mais je suis comme je suis alors je fais avec. Mes oreilles sont minuscules, mais je les apprécie tout comme mes yeux qui sont noisette. Puis j’ai les cheveux bruns. Pour résumer les formes de mon visage, on peut dire qu’elles oscillent entre les ronds et les ovales.

Autoportrait de Marlena

Le 14 janvier 2007, par II A lycée Batory de Lublin, POLOGNE

Je m’appelle Marlena et j’ai 18 ans. Je vais commencer à « peindre » mon autoportrait avec les détails que je préfère. Tout d’abord les yeux. Ils sont grands, marron. Maintenant, ils sont calmes, plutôt gais. Mais il y a des moments où ils peuvent montrer des émotions très fortes. D’habitude je sais cacher des sentiments négatifs. Même si mon visage paraît franc, je sais « tricher ». En revanche, quand je suis heureuse tout le monde peut lire dans mes yeux que je passe de bons moments. Les traits deviennent plus détendus, le visage s’épanouit. J’ai de longs cheveux marron. Ils sont tout raides. Je les laisse libres sur mes épaules. Ainsi, j’ai l’air d’une jeune femme naturelle et spontanée. A vrai dire, je suis trop sensible, parfois rêveuse. On peut me blesser facilement et alors je m’enferme dans mon monde à moi. J’aime bien cette capacité de cacher de vraies émotions. Sans cela, tout le monde pourrait découvrir tous nos secrets.

Autoportrait d’Alexandra

Le 14 janvier 2007, par II A lycée Batory de Lublin, POLOGNE

Je m’appelle Alexandra, j’ai 17 ans. Cet après-midi je suis assise dans ma chambre, j’installe un miroir devant moi et je me mets à vous présenter mon autoportrait. Comme d’habitude, j’entends1 la radio. En ce moment, une jeune chanteuse chante « Ma philosophie ». Quelle est la mienne ? En général, je suis [une] optimiste qui prend tout à la légère. Même dans les moments difficiles, je ne perds pas de courage. J’aime bien rire de tout, de mes problèmes aussi. Pourtant, mon caractère n’est pas idéal. Il m’arrive souvent d’être paresseuse et impatiente. Quant à mon aspect physique ...... je n’aurais aucune chance dans les concours de beauté. Ce n’est pas un très grand problème pour moi parce que je préfère passer pour une « intellectuelle ». Mon visage est ovale, le nez plutôt fin et petit, les yeux sont marron. J’ai les cheveux bruns, ni trop longs ni trop courts. Je ne me maquille pas parce que le matin il me manque de temps2 et le soir je n’en ai plus envie. Ce qu’il faut absolument mettre dans l’autoportrait ce sont mes boucles d’oreille. Je les porte toujours. C’est mon bijou préféré, j’en achète chaque fois quand je fais un voyage ou bien pour me faire plaisir. Ma mère trouve que c’est une dépense inutile mais moi, je ne pourrais pas me priver de ce petit plaisir brillant. Et peut-être, dans l’avenir, ce sera ma fille qui en voudra pour elle. La chanson a fini 3. Il me faut préparer pour mon cours d’anglais. Avant de cacher le miroir, le dernier coup d’oeil sur mon visage. Il est calme et reposé. Ce moment de réflexion sur soi-même m’a apporté une vraie détente et il4  m’a plu beaucoup.

Source: http://www.texteimage.com/noceseurope/spip.php?rubrique9



1 écoute

2  je n’ai pas le temps


3 s’est terminée

4 cela/ça

Regardez de plus près

  1. Read each text again and underline the words/phrases/sentences that are used to strike a balance between self respect and honesty and to soften the description, as in this sentence from Pauline’s portrait: Pour ce qui est de ma corpulence, je ne suis pas maigre comme certain le pense, mais mince.

  1. Note down any descriptive words or phrases that you feel would be emotionally charged and potentially negative or insulting if they were not in the context of a self-portrait:

  1. Make note of any words that you needed to look up in a dictionary.

Allons plus loin

  1. Avec un partenaire, comparez vos réponses.

a. Do you agree on descriptions that may seem negative? If not, are you surprised by any of your partner’s choices?

b. For words that you did not understand, are you able to give each other any insights for decoding or comprehension?

2. Discuss and note examples or techniques used in the texts to balance honesty with self respect and soften the descriptions.

3. Which self-portrait do you prefer and why? (Use language from the text to support your opinion.)

Écriture

Source: Wikimedia

Type de texte Allegory_of_Painting_by_Giovanni_Domenico_Cerrini_(detail).jpg

Portrait (portrait)

Votre écrit

Write a descriptive portrait of someone you know or someone famous (real or fictional) who is from a different ethnic background and culture than your own. The description should be of both physical characteristics and personality, but utilize the Enlightenment perspective of balancing accuracy with respect. Include an image of the person/character.

Préparation

1. Once you have chosen someone, note down all of the language from this chapter in your textbook that could be used in your description.

2. Check the following online resource (on the site of the Université de Franche-Comté for courses in French as a foreign language) in order to go further in the accuracy of your description:

http://ressources-cla.univ-fcomte.fr/motsculture/connaissances/descPhysique/descPhysique.htm

A language note: In the section “Pour les yeux,” you will find along with the expressions: des yeux bleus/noirs, etc, “des yeux marrons (chestnut).” A similar instance occurs in Pauline’s self-portrait with her use of “noisette” (hazelnut). In standard French, adjectives such as marron and noisette  should be invariable, thus written without an “s” in the plural.

3. Following are techniques for conveying respectful accuracy:

a.  Softening a description–

X me semble (+ adjectif).        [X seems to me to be…]

adjective agrees w/subject : …ennuyé(e) / très ambitieux/ambitieuse

Je (le/la) trouve (+ adjectif).        [I find him/her to be…]

adjective agrees w/direct object pronoun: …ennuyé(e) / très ambitieux/ambitieuse

X a l’air (+ adjectif invariable). [X seems to be/looks…]

              …ennuyé / très ambitieux

X a l’air d’un/une (nom + adjectif). [X seems to be/looks like a/an…]

adjective agrees w/noun :… homme ambitieux / femme ambitieuse

b. Softening a harsh adjective by negating the opposite characteristic–

désagréable ➝ pas facile

égoïste ➝ pas très sociable

prétentieux/prétentieuse ➝ trop sûr de soi (= lit: overly sure of oneself = overconfident)

c. Using conjunctions or juxtaposed sentences to balance characteristics –

“He/She is not x but y (nor y); He/She is neither x nor y, he/she is.

Il/Elle n’est pas [adj], mais [adj]

Il/Elle n’est ni [adj], ni [adj], il/elle est [adj]

d. Using adverbial qualifiers to soften adjectives:

plus ou moins                 (more or less)

plutôt                         (rather/more precisely, informal = pretty)

pourtant                         (yet/however)

à vrai dire                         (to tell the truth)

… En revanche, …                  (on the other hand)

Il lui arrive de [+ infinitive verb]          (He/She sometimes + conjugated verb)

C’est un homme/une femme plutôt/à vrai dire …

Il/elle est + adjectif  vs. C’est un/une + nom

Source : http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/pro3.html

4. Écrivez un brouillon.

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Avec un partenaire, échangez vos brouillons.

a. Lisez le texte de votre partenaire une première fois. Si vous avez du mal à comprendre quelque chose, clarifiez le sens du mot ou de la signification du passage avec votre partenaire.

b. Lisez le texte une deuxième fois et préparez vos remarques sur les questions suivantes:

  • Accuracy of description

Compare the written portrayal with the image and any knowledge of the person/character that you may have. Is the portrait accurate? Can you suggest aspects to develop further or to modify?

  • Use of softening techniques for communicating respect

Underline the techniques used for balancing honesty with respect. Is there an appropriate amount of softening? Is there too much softening, making the description sound insincere or awkward?

  • Avoiding repetitiveness

Make note of any instances of repeated words and check for synonyms with your partner to see what might work as substitution. Here is a link to Reverso, an online dictionary that includes a thesaurus (as well as a conjugator, grammar input, and an encylopedia !) :

http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-synonyms/gens

  • Length

"I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had time to make it shorter."

This quote is by the 17th-century French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal (1623-62), written in a letter to a friend. The original French version:

« Je n'ai fait cette lettre-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte » .

Source : http://www.twainquotes.com/Letters.html

Make note of any instances of redundancy of information/ideas and show your partner where s/he may streamline.

2. Révisez donc votre brouillon et préparez votre version finale.

4

Un peu de hareng fumé

05-Un-peu-de-hareng-fumé
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Le Littéraire dans le quotidien: Resources for a transdisciplinary approach to reading/writing

at the first and second year levels of college French  ~Joanna Gay Luks • 2013 • CC BY

Lecture 

Préparation

The readings for this unit consist of three prescriptive (or injunctive) texts:

Le texte prescriptif (ou injonctif)

Type de texte dans lequel l'auteur donne des consignes (instructions), des ordres, des conseils (recommendations, advice), des indications (directions)... pour aider ou inciter le lecteur à faire (ou ne pas faire) quelque chose

Des exemples de textes injonctifs :

- une recette de cuisine (recipe)
- un mode d'emploi (instructions for use, a user’s guide)
- une règle de jeu (rules of a game)
- des consignes en cas d'incendie (instructions in case of fire)
- une notice de montage (instructions for assembly, technical manual)
- des règlements (regulations)...

On remarquera :

- Texte parfois accompagné de schémas, de listes d'ingrédients ou de matériel...
- Utilisation de phrases nominales (Attention à la marche !)
- Chronologie (ordre précis) dans le déroulement (as it unfolds).
- Les phrases sont courtes, concises et précises (souvent des propositions indépendantes – independent clauses), sans superflu (without superfluous or redundant information).
- Forme négative pour les interdictions (prohibitions).
- Emploi de si (if).
- On y emploie souvent les verbes falloir (il faut: one has to, one must) et devoir (must, to have to) (présent ou futur, forme affirmative ou négative)

Les temps de conjugaison employés:

- l'impératif (versez le lait, beurrez le moule....)
ou l’infinitif (verser le lait, beurrer le moule...)

Il existe une unité de mode dans tout le texte (Impératif ou infinitif) 

Source: http://membres.multimania.fr/scoladoc/page_typtext.htm

  • The first text is a “prescriptive” prose poem, Petite lettre à la dérive, by Jean Cocteau.
  • The second reading involves two texts: a poem, Le Hareng saur (The Kippered/ Smoked Herring), by Charles Cros accompanied by excerpts from a humorous set of instructions for reciting the poem. These instructions are written in the French genre of monologue fumiste (a comic monologue) by Ernest Coquelin a.k.a Coquelin cadet (junior).
  • The third text is a recipe for marinated smoked herring.

Work in groups of three, each student reading one text and doing the accompanying  activities as well as reading the two other texts once for familiarity.

Le texte  nº 1

Source: WikimediaJean_Cocteau_b_Meurisse_1923.jpg

Première lecture

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)

“[…] was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, artist and filmmaker. Along with other avant-garde artists of his generation […] Cocteau grappled with the algebra of verbal codes old and new, mise en scène language and technologies of modernism to create a paradox: a classical avant-garde.

[…] Despite his achievements in virtually all literary and artistic fields, Cocteau insisted that he was primarily a poet and that all his work was poetry. […]

Cocteau is best known for his novel Les Enfants terribles (1929), and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946), and Orpheus (1949).”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau

  1. As you read Cocteau’s poem, underline in the text and then note below all the characteristics of a prescriptive text that apply from the table on page 1.

Le texte nº 1

Petite lettre à la dérive

Mange ta soupe. Tiens-toi droit. Mange lentement. Ne mange pas si vite. Bois en mangeant. Coupe ta viande en petits morceaux. Tu ne fais que tordre et avaler. Ne joue pas avec ton couteau. Ce n'est pas comme ça qu'on tient sa fourchette. On ne chante pas à table. Vide ton assiette. Ne te balance pas sur ta chaise. Finis ton pain. Pousse ton pain. Mâche. Ne parle pas la bouche pleine. Ne mets pas tes coudes sur la table. Ramasse ta serviette. Ne fais pas de bruit en mangeant. Tu sortiras de table quand on aura fini. Essuie ta bouche avant de m'embrasser. Cette petite liste réveille une foule de souvenirs, ceux de l'enfance. C'est très longtemps après qu'on arrive à comprendre qu'un dîner peut être un véritable chef-d'œuvre. 

Source: http://clubdelacultureculinaire.blogspot.com/2009/06/mange-ta-soupe.html

Regardez de plus près: le texte nº 1

The title of this poem requires interpretation.

une dérive (n.) nautical term = a drift or drifting

Figuratively = an intellectual or artistic drift or disturbing trend.

Source: http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/definition/derive-1/

à la dérive  (adj.) = adrift, off course

Raymond Radiguet, another well-known writer and close friend of Cocteau’s wrote in an article entitled, “Conseils aux grands poètes”:

« Efforcez-vous d’être [Strive to be] banal. »

An explanation for this advice is given on the following site:

« Cette injonction est surtout une mise en garde contre les dérives dadaïstes*, mais aussi la revendication d’un certain naturel, celui des classiques.

Source: http://www.alalettre.com/radiguet.php

*Dada – “An early twentieth century art movement which ridiculed contemporary

culture and traditional art forms. […] It was born as a consequence of the collapse during World War I of social and moral values which had developed to that time. Dada artists produced works which were nihilistic or reflected a cynical attitude toward social values, and, at the same time, irrational — absurd and playful, emotive and intuitive, and often cryptic. Less a style than a zeitgeist, Dadaists typically produced art objects in unconventional forms produced by unconventional methods. […] the word dada means several things in several languages: it's French for "hobbyhorse" and Slavic for "yes yes." Some authorities say that the name Dada is a nonsensical word chosen at random from a dictionary.

Many artists associated with this movement later became associated with Surrealism.”

Source: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/d/dada.html

  1. Look at Cocteau’s poem again. In what ways does he play with conventions in order to arrive at “a classical avant-garde”? 

Les textes  nº 2

Source: WikimediaCharles_Cros,_portrait.jpg

Première lecture

“Charles Cros (1842-1888) was a French poet, scientist and inventor. […]
In the 1870s, he conceived of a device that would mechanically record sound by tracing oscillations on a cylinder with a screw. He called his invention the Paleophone and submitted it to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, who scoffed at him. A year later, the better- funded Thomas Edison demonstrated a working model of the device, which came to be known as the phonograph. In the end, Cros had the last laugh at the French scientists who snubbed him: The French equivalent of our own National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (responsible for the Grammy Awards) is called L'Académie Charles Cros, and their annual award is named Le Prix Charles Cros.”

Source: http://eliptikon.blogspot.com/2007/11/charles-cros.html

“Le Hareng saur est un poème de Charles Cros. Déjà célèbre en son temps, ce poème humoristique composé en 1872 est encore aujourd'hui très connu en France pour avoir été appris par cœur (learned by heart) et récité par des générations d'écoliers.

Le poème a pour origine une histoire que Charles Cros raconta un soir à son fils pour le faire dormir. […] Le poème était dédié à son fils aîné, Guy Cros.”

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Hareng_saur

Hareng saur = kippered herring (herring that has been cured, salted and dried)

  1. As you read the poem by Charles Cros, underline the words that you cannot decode. Do not yet use a dictionary, though!

Le texte nº 2a

Le hareng saur

À Guy.

Il était un grand mur blanc - nu, nu, nu,
Contre le mur une échelle - haute, haute, haute,
Et, par terre, un hareng saur - sec, sec, sec.

Il vient, tenant dans ses mains - sales, sales, sales,
Un marteau lourd, un grand clou - pointu, pointu, pointu,
Un peloton de ficelle - gros, gros, gros.

Alors il monte à l'échelle - haute, haute, haute,
Et plante le clou pointu - toc, toc, toc,
Tout en haut du grand mur blanc - nu, nu, nu.

Il laisse aller le marteau - qui tombe, qui tombe, qui tombe,
Attache au clou la ficelle - longue, longue, longue,
Et, au bout, le hareng saur - sec, sec, sec.

Il redescend de l'échelle - haute, haute, haute,
L'emporte avec le marteau - lourd, lourd, lourd,
Et puis, il s'en va ailleurs - loin, loin, loin.

Et, depuis, le hareng saur - sec, sec, sec,
Au bout de cette ficelle - longue, longue, longue,
Très lentement se balance - toujours, toujours, toujours.

J'ai composé cette histoire - simple, simple, simple,
Pour mettre en fureur les gens - graves, graves, graves,
Et amuser les enfants - petits, petits, petits.

Source: http://poesie.webnet.fr/lesgrandsclassiques/poemes/charles_cros/le_hareng_saur.html

Regardez de plus près: le texte 2a

  1. Watch and listen to the animated version linked below to expand your comprehension of the text. Look for visual clues to make sense of the words you underlined, and note their meanings.

Afterwards, if there are still words you do not understand, look them up in a dictionary and note the most likely translations.

Links for animated video (different links to same video):  

Source = WAT tv:  http://www.wat.tv/video/charles-cros-hareng-saur-qas4_2fgqp_.html

Source = YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_0tqovYOk

[Note: If you have difficulty accessing this page, google Charles Cros hareng saur]

Le texte  nº 2b

 Première lecture

 Source: Wikimedia CC-BY-SA HdL85

Coquelin_Cadet.jpg

“[Charles Cros’] poem The Kippered Herring inspired Coquelin cadet to create what he called monologues” 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cros

Monologue fumiste*

“C'est au cours de l'une de ces lectures, […] que le comédien Coquelin cadet eut la révélation d'un genre nouveau, appelé « monologue fumiste » ou tout simplement « monologue », qui allait faire fureur [was to be all the rage] dans les années 1880 […]

En cette fin de XIXe siècle, le monologue peut donc être défini comme « une pièce en soi, toujours comique, courte, à un personnage » et « au rythme nécessairement rapide. » […] le genre s'inscrit dans une longue continuité, depuis les théâtres de foire au Moyen Âge, où un personnage faisait rire les badauds [onlookers/audience] en débitant de longues tirades aussi absurdes que cocasses [comical], jusqu'au XXe siècle avec le one-man-show, le stand-up et le sketch.”

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Hareng_saur

*Fumiste (n.)

“D'après un vaudeville de 1840, la Famille du fumiste [chimney sweeps], dont le héros, un fumiste enrichi, se vante de ses bons tours en répétant : «C'est une farce de fumiste» ; d'après Guiraud, l'évolution de sens réelle serait «celui qui produit de la fumée» [someone who blows smoke]”

Source: http://www.languefrancaise.net/bob/detail.php?id=3082

  1. As you read Coquelin’s monologue, underline in the text and then note below all the characteristics of a prescriptive text that apply from the table on page 1.

Le texte nº 2b

Le Hareng saur

Criez Le Hareng saur d’une voix forte. Ne bougez pas le corps, soyez d’une immobilité absolue. En disant ce titre, il faut que le public ait le sentiment d’une ligne noire se détachant sur un fond blanc. 

Il était un grand mur blanc —

nu, nu, nu,

Qu’on sente le mur droit, rigide, et comme il serait ennuyeux aussi monotone que cela, rompez la monotonie : allongez le son au troisième nu, cela agrandit le mur, et en donne presque la dimension à ceux qui vous écoutent. 

Contre le mur une échelle —

haute, haute, haute,

Même intention et même intonation que pour la première ligne, et pour donner l’idée d’une échelle bien haute, envoyez en voix de fausset (note absolument imprévue) le dernier mot haute, ceci fera rire et vous serez en règle avec la fantaisie.


Et, par terre, un hareng saur —

sec, sec, sec.

[…]

Indiquez du doigt la terre, et dites hareng saur sec avec une physionomie pauvre qui appelle l’intérêt sur ce malheureux hareng, la voix sera naturellement très sèche pour dire les trois adjectifs sec, sec, sec.

[…]

J’ai composé cette histoire — simple, simple, simple,

Appuyez sur simple, pour faire dire au public : « Oh ! oui ! simple ! »

Pour mettre en fureur les gens — graves, graves, graves,

Très compassé; qu’on sente les hautes cravates blanches officielles qui n’aiment pas ce genre de plaisanterie. Ouvrez démesurément la bouche au troisième grave, comme un M. Prudhomme* très offensé.

(*M. and Mme. Prudhomme were a pair of French caricature characters of the 19th century, created by Henry Monnier. They were a bourgeois couple.) 

Et amuser les enfants —

petits, petits, petits.

Très gentiment avec un sourire, baissez graduellement la main à chaque petits pour indiquer la hauteur et l’âge des enfants. Saluez et sortez vite.

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Hareng_saur

Le texte  nº 3

Première lecture

  1. As you read the recipe below, underline in the text and then note below all the characteristics of a prescriptive text that apply from the table on page 1.

Le texte nº 3

Harengs saur marinés

Ingrédients : pour 4 personnes

Filets de harengs 8 beaux

Lait 35 cl

Oignon  30 gr

Carotte 1

Feuille de laurier 1

Thym QS [QS = quantité suffisante/souhaitée]

Huile d’arachide QS

Préparation : placer les filets de harengs la veille dans le lait. Laisser dessaler une heure, puis passer les filets sous l’eau froide. Bien les éponger. Eplucher, laver l’oignon et la carotte. Couper-les en rondelles. Dans une terrine alterner des rondelles d’oignon, de carotte, le thym et les filets de harengs. Disposer votre feuille de laurier et couvrir d’huile. Recouvrir d’un film alimentaire et laisser mariner 24 heures dans un endroit frais.

Source: Wikimedia CC-BY-SA Rvalette

Présentation : servir dans sa terrine accompagné d’une salade de pommes à l’huile. Servir frais.

Vin conseillé par les caves du Ponant : Un Bandol blanc servi à 12°C

Source: http://www.philcad.com/hareng-saur.html

Regardez de plus près: le texte nº 3

Use the following site to convert the cooking measurements in the recipe into English equivalents. Write the equivalents in the recipe:

http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Gourmet/cooking_conversions.htm

Allons plus loin

En groupe:

  1. Comparez vos textes et vos réponses dans les activités de la section “Première lecture”.

  1. In the “Préparation” section of the recipe (Texte nº 3), replace the infinitive verbs with imperative-tu and imperative-vous forms. What can you infer about differences in register and/or function between the use of these three verb forms in prescriptive texts?

3. Discutez les différents textes: 

a. Texte nº 1 : Petite Lettre à la dérive –

What do you make of this poem? How might the structure and content of the poem fit   Cocteau’s philosophy?

b. Texte nº 2b: Le texte du Hareng saur avec des conseils sur l'art de le dire –

With your partners, recite the beginning and the end of the poem following Coquelin’s “stage instructions.”

Compare the effect with that of the reading in the animated video version.

WAT tv:  http://www.wat.tv/video/charles-cros-hareng-saur-qas4_2fgqp_.html

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_0tqovYOk

c. What similarities or differences do you find?

d. Even though Coquelin’s instructions are humorous, do they bring insight to the poem, and if so, in what way/s?

e. Texte nº 3: La recette –

Would you like to try this recipe? Why/why not?

4. Note culturelle: Food has played a very important role in French culture. To learn some food-based idioms look at one of the following websites and write down 3 expressions that you particularly like:

http://moderntroubadours.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-all-about-food-french-idioms.html

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/cat_french_idioms.php

Compare your choices with your partners and be ready to explain why you like the expressions you chose! 

5. Counting on Nouns

Unit 1a of Le Littéraire dans le quotidien entitled, What’s in a name”, provides an introduction to base nouns (nouns with no determiner) that act as adjectives. While nouns have prototypical meaning as either count or noncount concepts, most nouns can be used to express a range of noun meanings from countable to mass to abstract, depending on how the speaker is thinking about the noun idea and the form that the speaker then uses to express that idea. Think about the word café. Is its prototypical meaning countable or mass? Look at the following range of meanings and the forms used to express them:

Indefinite substance; partitive, noncount

Est-ce que tu veux du café?

= some coffee

One or more individual, indefinite portions/types; count

J’aimerais un café.  

Il y a des cafés que j’aime, mais d’autres que je n’aime pas.

= a coffee

= some coffees

One or more individual, definite portions/types; count

Le café que Jean achète est très bon,

mais les cafés vendus au supermarché  ne sont pas très bons.

= the coffee (that Jean buys)

= the coffees (sold at the supermarket)

Generic class; noncount

En général, j’aime le café.  

= coffee

Adjective; idiomatic/metaphorical

Il est très café.

= He’s so coffee/ He’s coffee-crazy / He’s really into coffee / He’s a coffee kind of guy.

Beaucoup de « de »

Noun phrase structures in French often utilize the invariable form of “de” to connect ideas. Just as in English we do NOT say: a lot of some chicken, in French there is a phonetic rule called la règle de cacophonie that prohibits combinations such as…

X  beaucoup de du poulet,  trop de de la tarte,  une bouteille de de l'eau,   beaucoup de des livres

The invariable “de” is a sort of fusion between the preposition “of” and the partitive article “some.”

Here are some key categories for using the invariable “de”:

Expressions of quantity

beaucoup de fromage ;  trop de fromage ;  un peu de fromage;  pas du tout de fromage

un verre de vin;   un kilo de riz;   une bouteille d'eau;  

une boîte de céréales (Note that cereal is a mass noun in English but a count noun in French.)

une salade de fruits

un cours de français;    deux cours d'histoire

The type/purpose of something/someone

une salle de jeux;   une salle de spectacle (= auditorium, concert hall, performance space)        

mes camarades de chambre;   les camarades de classe        

des articles de sport                (vs. Je fais du sport = partitive)

Origin/source of something

une université d’économie;   des problèmes de grammaire;   un stylo de luxe;  

les histoires de conquêtes

a. Look again at the recipe for smoked herring. Find all of the instances of noun phrases with “de/d’.” Look at the categories above with a partner and identify the function of each “de” in the recipe.

b. Compare your answers as a class.

 Écriture

Source: Wikimedia CC-BY-SA Nicolo

Type de texte  

a recipe (une recette) with a set of instructions (des instructions)

Votre écrit

1. Choose a recipe that has particular meaning for you: one from your childhood or current life, or a Francophone recipe that represents a dimension of culture that you would like to ingest. If the recipe is in English, include the original and translate it into French. If you find a French recipe online, do not copy and paste it into your draft; write it out in French. In either case, include measurements in both English and French so that you may better understand the equivalents.

Here is a site for converting cooking measurements:

http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Gourmet/cooking_conversions.htm

2. Write a prescriptive text in the form of a set of instructions on when and how to appreciate (déguster) your recipe, thereby turning it into un véritable chef-d'œuvre! Your text can be humorous, surreal or genuine.

Préparation

1. Choose your audience and brainstorm the various areas of instruction that would meet your audience’s needs and/or interests, using as much vocabulary and grammar from the chapter in your textbook as possible.

2. Include the following stylistic conventions as appropriate for your text and audience:

- Nominal phrases

- A clear chronology of steps

- Short concise sentences (independent clauses) and no extraneous information

- Use of infinitive or imperative -vous or -tu forms, depending on your audience

- Negative structures to express things to avoid:

Ne mange pas si vite.         = Don’t…

Ne bougez pas le corps        = Don’t/Do not…

For infinitive directives:        À ne pas manger vite. =  Not to be eaten quickly.

                                À ne pas savourer sans vin. =  Not to be enjoyed without wine.

À ne pas manquer! = Not to be missed!

3. Écrivez un brouillon.

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Avec un partenaire, échangez vos brouillons.

a. Lisez le texte de votre partenaire une première fois. Si vous avez du mal à comprendre quelque chose, clarifiez le sens du mot ou de la signification du passage avec votre partenaire.

b. Lisez le texte une deuxième fois et préparez vos remarques sur les questions suivantes:

  • Register

Identify the register of the recipe and the instructions, and a plausible intended audience. Is the style of writing consistently geared to that audience? If not, what suggestions might you make?

  • Clarity of instructions

Act out the instructions provided in the prescriptive text. Are there directives that are not clear? What suggestions could you give for greater clarity?

  • Literal Translations

Is there any language in your partner’s text that you can recognize as a direct translation from English? Point out any such instances to your partner and either omit the expression or simplify the idea using the language and stuctures that you are studying.

  • Style

Identify the style: humorous, surreal or genuine. Depending on the style, can you make suggestions for strengthening the effect?

3. Révisez votre brouillon et préparez votre version finale.

5

La Ville et le graffiti

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