Key Idea: In your 20 minutes of prep, you plan how to present the extract in under a minute, then how to link it outward: to a theme, to the whole work, and to the French-speaking world.
Presenting the extract
- Name — The work and its genre: «Cet extrait est tiré de la pièce…»
- Place — Where it comes in the work: «Il se situe au milieu de la pièce.»
- Tell — What happens, in two sentences, in the present tense: «Maude annonce qu'elle part.»
- Describe — The characters and the setting, each with a short quotation.
From the extract to themes & culture
- Theme — A precise theme, proved with a quotation: «Cet extrait illustre le thème de…»
- Whole work — One echo elsewhere in the book: «On retrouve cette idée plus loin, quand…»
- The world — One real place or situation: «Dans le monde francophone,…», then a question that opens Part 3.
The «je» in a text is the narrator or a character, never the author.
The book is written in the past. Which tense tells the story? The present, even so.
Is «le thème, c'est la vie» precise enough? No. It is too vague: name one exact idea, such as identity.
How long should the four opening steps take? Under a minute.
How should a quotation sit in your talk? Short, and placed inside your own sentence.