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Session 1 · The Necklace (La Parure)
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Recap check · marked · starts as you come in
Sit down, take your notebook and answer on paper at once. 2 students are drawn at random and marked.
- Give the title of a story, film or series with a surprise ending.
- In French class, what is « la chute » of a story?
| Marking scale | Points |
|---|---|
| Each correct answer | 1 |
| Full sentence in English | bonus 1 |
| Total | 2 + 1 |
Corrigé
- Any relevant title.
- The unexpected ending.
From La Parure to The Necklace
You know this story from French class (semaine 10). Next session: Comparative literature.
Describe and interpret the picture
Look at the illustration at the top of the page. You can see: a young woman in a ball gown, a velvet jewel case, a diamond necklace, candles, gold ornaments.
- Describe the picture in three sentences.
- Which moment of the story does the picture show? What do her eyes and the jewel case suggest about her desire?
Useful phrases: It shows… · In the foreground / background… · The colours suggest… · This reminds me of the moment when… · It reveals that… · I think the artist wants us to feel…
Corrigé
Probably the moment she chooses the necklace at Madame Forestier's: she looks at it as at a dream. The luxury around her is the life she believes she deserves.
Simplified summary
- Mathilde was pretty, but she was poor. Her husband was a clerk.
- One day, she borrowed a beautiful necklace from her rich friend, Madame Forestier.
- After the ball, she lost the necklace.
- For ten years, Mathilde and her husband worked very hard to pay for a new one.
- Then Madame Forestier said: “My necklace was not real. It was worth only five hundred francs!”
Short extract (original translation)
Maupassant, “The Diamond Necklace”, transl. Project Gutenberg #3090
| Word | Meaning | En français |
|---|---|---|
| gowns | dresses | robes, toilettes |
| jewels | precious objects | bijoux |
| made for | born for | faite pour |
Vocabulary
| Word | En français |
|---|---|
| dowry | dot |
| clerk | commis, employé |
| to borrow | emprunter |
| ball | bal |
| jewel | bijou |
| to replace | remplacer |
Characters
| Character | Who? | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Mathilde Loisel | young wife of a clerk | ten years of hard work, poverty |
| Monsieur Loisel | her husband, a modest clerk | sacrifices his savings and his youth |
| Madame Forestier | a rich school friend | learns the truth at the end |
Gap-fill worksheet
Words: poor · borrowed · lost · worked · real
- Mathilde was pretty, but she was ……. Her husband was a clerk.
- One day, she …… a beautiful necklace from her rich friend, Madame Forestier.
- After the ball, she …… the necklace.
- For ten years, Mathilde and her husband …… very hard to pay for a new one.
- Then Madame Forestier said: “My necklace was not ……. It was worth only five hundred francs!”
Corrigé
poor · borrowed · lost · worked · realSpeaking
Say in two sentences what you prefer: a modest life, or a rich life with debts? “I prefer… because…”Homework · required
To do for next lesson. It is checked at the start of the lesson in the Recap check.
- Exercise 1 · Gap-fill: Mathilde …… a necklace from her friend. She …… it after the ball. The Loisels pay their …… for ten years. In the end, the necklace was …… . (borrows, loses, debt, paste)
Corrigé of the homework
- borrows · loses · debt · paste
Reminder, the sequence online: https://short-stories-anglais.netlify.app