Studying a Text
Presentation and global comprehension questions and answers.
These are just a few indications to get you started...
A. Presentation, using peripheral information (the information around the text)
I. Main types of texts - consider the source/origin of the text:
1) Main forms of literature - works of fiction:
- a play / drama
- a novel (a detective or crime novel, an adventure novel, a comic novel, a heroic fantasy novel, etc...)
- a collection of short stories or novellas (the same as short story, but a little longer)
- a collection of poems / a book of poetry
2) Nonfiction:
- a biography, an autobiography / an (auto)biographical novel
- an essay
- a textbook
- a reference book
- a speech
3) The press and new media:
- a (daily, weekly, monthly) newspaper or magazine
- a website
.
II. Extract and title:
The source usually has a title: it is entitled. The text can have a title too: it is entitled too.
The text is taken from the source. It is an extract / an excerpt / a passage (taken) from the source.
.
III. The author:
The sort of author depends on the type of text:
- a play: a playwright
- a novel: a novelist
- a poem/poetry: a poet
- a short story: a (short story) writer
- a newspaper or magazine: a journalist or an editorialist
- a speech: a speaker
If you don't know which to use, you will not make a mistake if you say "the author" or "the writer"!
.
IV. The date of publication:
The date which you usually find under the text, with the name of the author, is the date of publication of the source. It hardly ever (= practically never) corresponds to when the author wrote the book!!
This can be the case, especially in daily publications, but don't forget that a novel or play - any piece of literature or even an essay, for example - can take years to write!!
An example:
"The chair"
This happened in 1932, when the state penitentiary was still at Cold Mountain. And the electric chair was there, too, of course.
The inmates made jokes about the chair, the way people always make jokes about things that frighten them but can't be gotten away from. They called it Old Sparky, or the Big Juicy. They made cracks about the power bill, and how Warden Moores would cook his Thanksgiving dinner that fall, with his wife, Melinda, too sick to cook.
Stephen King, The Green Mile (1996)
The text entitled "The chair" is an extract from the novel The Green Mile, written by Stephen King and published in 1996.
= The text entitled "The chair" is an extract from Stephen King's novel The Green Mile, (which was) published in 1996.
Notice how the title of the novel takes a capital letter for each significant word, contrary to the title of the extract.
Also note the title of the source will usually be underlined, whereas the title of the text/poem/article will be in quotation marks.
B. Global comprehension questions and example answers:
1) Who are the main characters?
Who are the characters present? Who are the characters mentioned?
+ How are they related?
ex: The characters are... The main character is also the narrator.
2) Where and when does the scene take place?
= What is the setting?
ex: The scene takes place in New York City, USA, in April, 1899.
= The setting is _New York City, USA, in April, 2009.
3) What does the text deal with?
What is the text/story/poem/article about?
ex: The text deals with a man who meets a woman while visiting New York. They fall in love and live happily ever after.
= The text is about a man who meets a woman while visiting New York. They fall in love and live happily ever after.
These are just a few indications to get you started...
A. Presentation, using peripheral information (the information around the text)
I. Main types of texts - consider the source/origin of the text:
1) Main forms of literature - works of fiction:
- a play / drama
- a novel (a detective or crime novel, an adventure novel, a comic novel, a heroic fantasy novel, etc...)
- a collection of short stories or novellas (the same as short story, but a little longer)
- a collection of poems / a book of poetry
2) Nonfiction:
- a biography, an autobiography / an (auto)biographical novel
- an essay
- a textbook
- a reference book
- a speech
3) The press and new media:
- a (daily, weekly, monthly) newspaper or magazine
- a website
.
II. Extract and title:
The source usually has a title: it is entitled. The text can have a title too: it is entitled too.
The text is taken from the source. It is an extract / an excerpt / a passage (taken) from the source.
.
III. The author:
The sort of author depends on the type of text:
- a play: a playwright
- a novel: a novelist
- a poem/poetry: a poet
- a short story: a (short story) writer
- a newspaper or magazine: a journalist or an editorialist
- a speech: a speaker
If you don't know which to use, you will not make a mistake if you say "the author" or "the writer"!
.
IV. The date of publication:
The date which you usually find under the text, with the name of the author, is the date of publication of the source. It hardly ever (= practically never) corresponds to when the author wrote the book!!
This can be the case, especially in daily publications, but don't forget that a novel or play - any piece of literature or even an essay, for example - can take years to write!!
An example:
"The chair"
This happened in 1932, when the state penitentiary was still at Cold Mountain. And the electric chair was there, too, of course.
The inmates made jokes about the chair, the way people always make jokes about things that frighten them but can't be gotten away from. They called it Old Sparky, or the Big Juicy. They made cracks about the power bill, and how Warden Moores would cook his Thanksgiving dinner that fall, with his wife, Melinda, too sick to cook.
Stephen King, The Green Mile (1996)
The text entitled "The chair" is an extract from the novel The Green Mile, written by Stephen King and published in 1996.
= The text entitled "The chair" is an extract from Stephen King's novel The Green Mile, (which was) published in 1996.
Notice how the title of the novel takes a capital letter for each significant word, contrary to the title of the extract.
Also note the title of the source will usually be underlined, whereas the title of the text/poem/article will be in quotation marks.
B. Global comprehension questions and example answers:
1) Who are the main characters?
Who are the characters present? Who are the characters mentioned?
+ How are they related?
ex: The characters are... The main character is also the narrator.
2) Where and when does the scene take place?
= What is the setting?
ex: The scene takes place in New York City, USA, in April, 1899.
= The setting is _New York City, USA, in April, 2009.
3) What does the text deal with?
What is the text/story/poem/article about?
ex: The text deals with a man who meets a woman while visiting New York. They fall in love and live happily ever after.
= The text is about a man who meets a woman while visiting New York. They fall in love and live happily ever after.
Entraînement à la compréhension de texte, pour les lycéens dès la seconde (textes assez courts) - Vous pouvez répondre aux questions sur feuille, en m'indiquant simplement le nom du texte, si vous ne pouvez pas imprimer et que vous souhaitez que je vous le corrige :