french A2 maupassant short stories - help!

i've started revising my maupassant for edexcel unit 5 (A2) properly, and i've got pretty good notes/knowlege for the first three stories - boule de suif, deux amis and l'aventure de walter schnaffs. but i'm finding the last three harder, i have no notes and there's nothing about them on the internet! so does anyone have anything useful for un duel, la mere sauvage and un coup d'etat? summaries, notes on themes - any kind of help would really be appreciated!

Reply 1

lucy_locket88

i'm doing that paper as well.. i hate Un Coup D'etat, i've done a few past papers and have got an A without mentioning it.. i don't really have any notes though.. if possible do you think you could post them here please?

Reply 2

anna_e

i really would but they're hand written! i'm living in the dark ages. for those three i managed to find some websites that had useful stuff though, for those first three. google 'boule de suif maupassant sommaire' or 'walter schnaffs maupassant resume' - variations on things like that and stuff does come up. i also read all the stories in english on the internet, which helped me understand them better...

Reply 3

lucy_locket88

ok thanks! i think the exam should be ok, i've seen all the question from 1997-2005 and they've all been fine.. so fingers crossed! i think i'll chose for the question that asks you to write about a variety of the stories rather than the 1 which focuses just on one? how about you?

Reply 4

anna_e

oh i'd definitely rather write about just one or two - i have nothing to say about in coup d'etat and un duel!

Reply 5

lucy_locket88

see i've got a bad feeling one of the questions will be just on Un Coup d'etat. As in the past couple of years, one out of the 2 questions has been 'describe blah blah in les deux amis/walter schnaffs' etc. Then its the second question which makes a statement ot a quote and asks you to make reference to 2 or more stories. I prefer that, as you can chose what stories you want.

I pray for no question specifically on Un Voup D'etat! I also see no relevance between that story compared to the others!

Good Luck! x

Reply 6

doogleboy

Dans le conte, un Coup d'etat, Maupassant montre l'absurdite de la guerre. On voit aussi dans "Deux Amis" l'absurdite lorsque Morrisot et Sauvage sont tues par les Prussiens en pratiquant leur passe-temps prefere, la peche.

Reply 7

Elle2006

Is anyone else studying for Candide as well?? I've never seen a past paper for this exam so im a bit stuck on which themes to focus on!

Reply 8

anna_e

your hunch was right, and coup d'etat did indeed rear its ugly head. but the boule de suif question was ok, at least!

Reply 9

lucy_locket88

what did i say lol.. flipping Un Coup D'etat came up! hehe.. at least the other question was pretty decent.. basically they didn't really deserve to be called honnest people with principles did they?

Reply 10

anna_e

non non. there were l'inverse in fact. it was maupassant mocking society and the cruelty of the bourgeoisie etc etc etc zzzzzzz

over now! and i only have two more exams to go.

Reply 11

The-Lottiery

heyhey just discovered this world of maupassant...ahh i did that exam too today...meh what pains, but at least yea, it was ok! lol. tho i didn't revise the characters of BdeS, so when it said to descirbe them...i talked about how they reject her then accept her...hehe talk about "twisting" the question!

Reply 12

AAJ1

You've done EDEXCEL Unit 5 french, I see.

We've got AQA or I have, at least, on Tuesday. And ye I have to do Maupassant and Voltaire.... what is the theme behind "la mere sauvage"? Is it just war is bad and it can turn normally well seeming people into vile awful monsters?

Or is it something deeper?

Reply 13

lucy_locket88

i'd say there are a few themes. yeah you can say how war is bad etc, but also that this story shows that not all soldiers are typically cruel, arrogant, nasty etc, i.e these are like ''quatre bons filles autour de leur mere'' i'd also say how this story shows how war can bring out courage/heroism etc i.e la mere sauvage's actions. obviously you can also argue that this shows the bad/savage side of war but her actions aren't really cos of the war are they. it's for personal reasons, so i'd so this story shows strength of character unlike other stories where characters are weak

Reply 14

AAJ1

Ah right...those are useful. Thanks lucy_lockett

Reply 15

lucy_locket88

thats ok, i just wish that story had come up for us.. oh and don't forget to mention how it's a histoire dans une histoire, so different from all the other stories. good luck!

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