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

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

2. 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

Source: Wikimedia

Version de Proust (sélections)                Réponses de Proust vers 1890

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  

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 » :

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:

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’_________

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.