Harriet J. Bauman
The fifth objective of this unit is to introduce the students to literary analysis in French. The standard procedure is called
explication de texte
. The selection that is being analyzed is first presented to the audience by reading it aloud. Then they are given facts and information about the author and his/her time. The selection is then situated within the body of the work—what happens right before and right after, and what it is: character description, setting, a certain point in the action which is crucial to the story, etc. Vocabulary and verb tenses are then analyzed for usefulness to the plot or author’s meaning. This is rather difficult for students to accomplish at first, so I would recommend that it be done as a group exercise, taking each part of the
explication de texte
separately and doing several exercises with each part before attempting to do it as a whole.
In addition to the
explication de texte
, the students should be able to pick out the theme(s) in a reading selection, and describe the theme(s) in one or two sentences either orally or in written form. Choosing a title for a selection is a good exercise.
The students should be taught about point of view—who is telling the story? An exercise for teaching this is for the student to rewrite the passage from another character’s point of view.
The students should recognize the role of description in the story. Is it important? Is all of it necessary? They can determine the answers to these questions by figuring out if the story would be different without it. They should be encouraged to get the sense or flavor of the story and then decide what devices of the author make it what it is. This could be done in small discussion groups.
As for plot, the students should be able to describe the unfolding of the story if it is chronological from beginning to end; if there are flashbacks; when the story occurs. They could be given an assignment to represent the plot visually using pictures, cartoons, collage, montage, three-dimensional structures, etc.