Edexcel A2 French (6FR04) - 14th June 2013

what do you mean by setting??? to explain the society at the time the story takes place?? isn't that similar to the societe question???

Oh, I was thinking places rather than historical context, but I'm not sure if that's what sts123 was thinking!

Reply 101

sts123

2

Original post by Morgasm19

Oh, I was thinking places rather than historical context, but I'm not sure if that's what sts123 was thinking!

Yep I was thinking the place- I'm studying Amelie and Paris is a pretty important feature of the film... It would be a nice essay to come up! On verra...

Reply 102

FrenchNerd

Original post by confusedgirl22

Guys, i'm really bad at translation and verbs in general.
PLEASE give me a way to do well in the translation part :frown:

For the translation and discursive essay I'm doing the same thing. I'm just focusing on grammar, especially things like the passif, and prepositions like commencer à/refuser de and demander à quelqu'un de faire quelque chose and generally going through specialised vocab for different topic areas. Hopefully that's enough!

Reply 103

AmelieT

Original post by sts123

Yep I was thinking the place- I'm studying Amelie and Paris is a pretty important feature of the film... It would be a nice essay to come up! On verra...

my whole play (tartuffe) takes place in the house of Orgon and the only thing mentioned about it is a table he hides under...so i don't think it's relevant to all books/films!!!

Reply 104

||...Bubbles...||

Original post by youreacactus

Hi, I haven't seen a thread for Edexcel French yet so I thought I'd make one :smile:

How is everyone revising? I'm doing Molière's Tartuffe for the research-based essay.

Good luck, everyone!

Hi, phew, so glad I finally found this thread. I'm doing Les Liaisons Dangereuses for my RBE, and I'm the only one in my class doing it so have felt like a bit of a lone ranger all year. I read it all in English, bought the french book and picked out all the relevant and most memorable quotes from it, as well as themes etc. The part of the exam I know I'm going to mess up on is the discursive essay though :s-smilie:

Reply 105

faon

Original post by sts123

I've had a brainwave! I know a technique question hasn't come up but I did wonder how that would apply to a book- I'm wondering if instead it'll be a question on setting? That hasn't come up on the new spec and is pretty vital to most pieces of literature/art. Thoughts? :smile:

I hadn't actually thought of a setting question coming up, but that could work quite well for me, thanks for the idea!

Although, a techniques question can apply to books (I just wrote one :smile:

), so that could still be a possibility :biggrin:

Best of luck to everyone!

Reply 106

kbonbon

6

Guys I feel so sick and I'm shaking just thinking about the exam tomorrow :frown:

does anyone have any tips on how to get at least 35 in the discursive? :'(

Reply 107

qwertyuiop1993

16

Original post by AmelieT

my whole play (tartuffe) takes place in the house of Orgon and the only thing mentioned about it is a table he hides under...so i don't think it's relevant to all books/films!!!

There's probably still quite a lot to say by the very fact that the setting doesn't change (this is not the case with all Molière plays). Why do you think the focus is on one household?
Dramatically it intensifies the action because there's this underlying sense of claustrophobia - they are all 'trapped' in this place, under the dominion of Tartuffe and the significance of each person's action is also greater when it's just a small network of people in a limited space.

This could also be relate to the idea that the house is a microcosm, distilling the many types of people in society into a few characters: the hypocrite, the faux dévot, the credulous fools, those who are more sceptical etc.

Also, with the table scene you could perhaps comment on the symbolism of the setting - Orgon is crouching under a table while Tartuffe tries to seduce his wife, which is a perfect visual/spatial representation of the imbalance of power - the 'master' of the house is reduced to crouching down like an idiot. Indeed, on a more general level - the very fact that it is set in Orgon's house is significant - Tartuffe has wriggled his way into a personal space and usurped Orgon's world ('a man's home is his castle' etc.)

You could also explore the significance of the way the play is resolved - it is only an external force that can save them, which serves to highlight Tartuffe's pernicious power on the household.

These are just ideas to think about just in case a question on setting does come up, though as you say it's not the most universal of all questions.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 108

FrenchNerd

Original post by katebonnie

Guys I feel so sick and I'm shaking just thinking about the exam tomorrow :frown:

does anyone have any tips on how to get at least 35 in the discursive? :'(

Don't be so nervous! All we can do is try our best :smile:

In terms of getting over 35 in the discursive essay I would probably say you should start off with a concise introduction that doesn't just repeat the question but also isn't a conclusion, if you get what I mean? Taking both sides of the argument into account is also important but our teacher also told how important it is not to list too many points. For example, when I consider one point for each side and develop them with some evidence to back it up (nothing serious, just maybe something like "I read a study/article about individuality leading to bullying blah blah blah)" is when I've gotten my highest marks. Other than that all we can do is include some complex structures and appropriate vocab and pray for each other lol !

Reply 109

Harv99

Original post by confusedgirl22

thanks!

what do you mean by specialist vocab?

What I mean is vocab that is relevant to the topic in question.

How is everyone feeling about this exam?

Reply 110

kbonbon

6

Original post by FrenchNerd

Don't be so nervous! All we can do is try our best :smile:

In terms of getting over 35 in the discursive essay I would probably say you should start off with a concise introduction that doesn't just repeat the question but also isn't a conclusion, if you get what I mean? Taking both sides of the argument into account is also important but our teacher also told how important it is not to list too many points. For example, when I consider one point for each side and develop them with some evidence to back it up (nothing serious, just maybe something like "I read a study/article about individuality leading to bullying blah blah blah)" is when I've gotten my highest marks. Other than that all we can do is include some complex structures and appropriate vocab and pray for each other lol !

I'm trying not to but am literally having a meltdown haha I'm supposed to be going to uni to study french and italian and I've really screwed up my other exams and so this is my like last chance and that is just instantly bad news :frown:

I just find the questions so difficult and get so anxious that my brain just shuts down! D'you think it'll be ok if I avoid too much complex stuff and just focus on getting good marks in accuracy, understanding+response and organisation+development? So I'll sacrifice the mark in range? Ohhhhh helphelphelp! fingers crossed for you haha!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 111

sts123

2

Original post by AmelieT

my whole play (tartuffe) takes place in the house of Orgon and the only thing mentioned about it is a table he hides under...so i don't think it's relevant to all books/films!!!

I will blame you entirely if this essay doesn't come up as I decided it's my favourite to write about :wink:

I'd best get preparing some others then hehe :smile:

Reply 112

FrenchNerd

Original post by katebonnie

I'm trying not to but am literally having a meltdown haha I'm supposed to be going to uni to study french and italian and I've really screwed up my other exams and so this is my like last chance and that is just instantly bad news :frown:

I just find the questions so difficult and get so anxious that my brain just shuts down! D'you think it'll be ok if I avoid too much complex stuff and just focus on getting good marks in accuracy, understanding+response and organisation+development? So I'll sacrifice the mark in range? Ohhhhh helphelphelp! fingers crossed for you haha!

I know how you feel lol. If you don't feel confident using certain structures then probably best not to use them but it's always helpful to add maybe a bit of subjunctive in there lol. Pre-planned phrases like "Pourvu qu'il y ait..." are always helpful :tongue:

I'm really nervous about the translation though lol, have a feeling I'm just gonna sit there and write like two sentences haha but yeah Good Luck to you too! Just keep calm and try your best :wink:

What grade are you aiming for? How did the oral exam go?

Reply 113

kbonbon

6

Original post by FrenchNerd

I know how you feel lol. If you don't feel confident using certain structures then probably best not to use them but it's always helpful to add maybe a bit of subjunctive in there lol. Pre-planned phrases like "Pourvu qu'il y ait..." are always helpful :tongue:

I'm really nervous about the translation though lol, have a feeling I'm just gonna sit there and write like two sentences haha but yeah Good Luck to you too! Just keep calm and try your best :wink:

What grade are you aiming for? How did the oral exam go?

Yeah I have a couple of pre-planned ones... :/ Every translation I do I always sit there swearing at edexcel haha :tongue:

I know, I have to take like a billion calm pills :') I was aiming for an A but god knows whether I'll get it... I was meant to get an A* in eng lit and then I put in a ton of work to try and get an A in philosophy and ethics but those exams were all on the same day and I'm genuinely concerned I've got Us. Whoever decided 6 hours in one day was a good idea is an idiot. I really have no idea how my oral went? I did it on les langues en voie de disparition and argued that we shouldn't save them and I think that went ok but on the unprepared section my teacher just started asking me these really deep, political questions and so I reckon I've probably f-ed that up as well... oh goddd why am I doing this?? Maybe I should just get married and have kids. That's my plan B. :')

Reply 114

exclusive110

Can someone please help me please! Ive studied the film Entre les murs but I was wondering what exactly does stylistic technique mean for a film? For example can I write about the use of non professional actors and Improvisation or do I have to comment on things such as camera angles and champ contre champ?

Reply 115

exclusive110

Original post by FrenchNerd

Hey everyone, I'm doing this exam on Friday too. We studied Entre Les Murs for the RBE and dreading that question as I'm pretty sure it's gonna be on techniques :/

Omg do you go St Doms?

Reply 116

Rovey

9

How are essays supposed to be laid out is it 1 intro 3 paragraphs 1 conclusion or 4 paragraphs?

Reply 117

kbonbon

6

Original post by Rovey

How are essays supposed to be laid out is it 1 intro 3 paragraphs 1 conclusion or 4 paragraphs?

I always lay it out like this I'm assuming you're talking about discursive, others may vary):

intro (30-35 words)
para 1 arguing for the question (100 words)
para 2 arguing against the question (100 words)
conclusion (30-35 words)

And I was told never to include an opinion until the conclusion and even then avoid things like 'je pense/crois/trouve que' and go more along the lines of 'Il est évident que' or 'il est indiscutable que'. Hope that helps :smile:

Reply 118

Rovey

9

Original post by katebonnie

I always lay it out like this I'm assuming you're talking about discursive, others may vary):

intro (30-35 words)
para 1 arguing for the question (100 words)
para 2 arguing against the question (100 words)
conclusion (30-35 words)

And I was told never to include an opinion until the conclusion and even then avoid things like 'je pense/crois/trouve que' and go more along the lines of 'Il est évident que' or 'il est indiscutable que'. Hope that helps :smile:

I usually tend to do 2 paragraphs for and one against is that not recommended?

Yes really useful thanks. :smile:

Reply 119

Nostromo

5

Original post by exclusive110

Can someone please help me please! Ive studied the film Entre les murs but I was wondering what exactly does stylistic technique mean for a film? For example can I write about the use of non professional actors and Improvisation or do I have to comment on things such as camera angles and champ contre champ?

I'm pretty sure you could include all of that, it's basically how the film is constructed and what you see. So you could write about the naturalistic and 'invisible' camera, and how it is often positioned amongst the students, and therefore places the spectator in their position too. You could also write about how the style contributes to the characters, like when Souleymane and Francois are arguing they are each at the centre of the frame and eye level with the camera, which implies that neither one has more power over the other. The quick cuts between them also emphasises their argument. The use of voice over (voix-off, I think) when Francois is reading the girl's letter allows the reader to sympathise with her and see her perspective indirectly though the cinematic technique.

It's kinda hard to write about stylistic techniques for Entre les Murs, because everything is so naturalistic and a bit dull! But I suppose that in itself is a point, to make it look like unmediated reality for the viewer, and you could also mention the very limited space of the class room, which creates an intensity and restricted view of their lives.

Hope that helps somehow, but you can talk about it pretty broadly :smile:

Edexcel A2 French (6FR04) - 14th June 2013

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