Our 11th graders will soon take their É.A.F, a mysterious acronym that stands for Épreuves Anticipées de Français, the first tests of the French Baccalaureate (Bac), which are completed in 12th grade, or Terminale. The renowned diploma closes out high school for some 800,000 French-speaking students worldwide, according to the French Ministry of Education, and opens the door to their life as university students.
The Bac is a rite of passage, and high school students are generally very anxious before their first tests. The EAF includes two four-hour written tests. Students must choose between a text “commentary” or an essay on one of the works they studied during the year. Preparing for them helps students to reinforce their mastery of written expression, to learn to organize their thoughts in a rigorous manner, to develop their capacity to analyze texts and think critically, essential skills for professional life.
Students who choose “commentary” write about what the author was looking to convey and the writing style or techniques the author used to do it. In the “essay,” students are invited to assess the essential thesis of a complete work studied during the past year.
Preparing for them helps students to learn to organize their thoughts in a rigorous manner, to develop their capacity to analyze texts and think critically – essential skills for professional life.
Students have ample opportunity to prepare throughout the year, including two Bac blancs, or “mock” exams. For the Bac blanc this year, we asked students to discuss a statement about the Marguerite Yourcenar novel they had just studied, Mémoires d’Hadrien. They had to show, using their knowledge of the novel, how Youcenar made her point. At the same time, they had to challenge the novel’s premise and show its limitations.
A path to culture générale
Marguerite Yourcenar’s work was not selected at random. It is part of the French literature curriculum for all eleventh graders, which asks us to study each of the four major literary genres over the course of the history of French literature:
- Poetry from the 19th to the 21st century
- Literature of ideas from the 16th to the 18th century
- The novel from the Middle Ages to the 20th century
- Theater from the 18th to the 21st century.
It serves as a basis for students to acquire a culture générale, an essential tenet of the French curriculum. In planning for the year, teachers choose between three works of French-language literary heritage designated by the official programs of the French national education system.
For the 2020-2021 school year, our five teachers of the 1ère chose three works–one of poetry, one on the literature of ideas and one novel, with a theme to explore for each one:
- Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire, on the theme poetic alchemy, turning mud into gold.
- The Fables of Jean de La Fontaine, Books 7 to 11, on the theme imagination and thought in the 17th century
- Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar on the theme “Soi-même comme un autre” (Myself as another)
We close the year with a study of theater, including a single work chosen by each teacher for their class. This year, three classes are studying Les Fausses Confidences by Marivaux. The other two are studying Juste la fin du monde by Jean-Luc Lagarce, a 20th century playwright.
Bac orals
A particular feature of the French Bac is the oral exam. For the EAF, students take an oral based on a short passage from one of the selected works. They are asked to present the work and then engage in a conversation about it. The orals evaluate their ability to understand the text, to place it in context, to analyze and consider the authors’ language choices. At a higher level, it assesses the students’ ability to express themselves clearly and to engage in a spontaneous dialogue about the topic they have chosen.
A little insight into one of the works on the syllabus for our classes, Mémoires d’Hadrien, by Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar is a French writer who was born in Belgium, raised in Nice, and emigrated to the United States, where she settled permanently after World War II. In this demanding and highly erudite novel, she takes us on a journey through time and space, portraying a statesman and a thinker after her own heart. Through Hadrian, Roman emperor of the 2nd century AD, we discover the history of the Roman Empire at that time. We also enter into the rich and deep thoughts of a man who appears as a great emperor, erudite and enlightened, concerned with his own happiness but also with the well-being of his people.
To learn more about the author, her work and the link she has with her character, check out this exhibition created by my 1ères to prepare for their mock oral. It may inspire you to read her novel!
Thank you in advance for your interest and happy reading.
About the Author :
Isabelle Milkoff-Radigan holds an agrégation and a Ph.D in French Literature. She has taught both in Paris and nearby cities, at the junior high school, high school and university levels. At the Parisian lycée where Isabelle taught for twelve years, she created and taught theater workshops. She also led theater and literature workshops for the Académie de Paris’ teacher training programs. Isabelle likes her classes to be open to the world and enriched by an active engagement in literature. In September 2010, she joined the Lycée Français de New York as the head of the French and Philosophy Department.