👋🏽 Hi, I'm Saf! I teach French at Arc School: live classes each week, lesson resources, exam practice and personalised coaching for your final exams. Or maybe you're not studying for an exam at all and just want to learn French — you're welcome here too! ☺️ In this lesson, we're looking at one of the most important skills in essay writing: understanding exactly what a question is asking before you begin writing. Whether you're preparing for CAPE French Unit 1 or Unit 2, this is a skill you'll need throughout your exam preparation. And it's one we'll keep building on in future lessons.
Bonjour mes amis 👋🏽
Today we're going to tackle a French essay together. We'll start where every good essay starts: understanding the question before we plan or write a single word of French.
One of the biggest mistakes a student can make in these essays is writing about the general topic instead of answering the specific question. For instance, you might know plenty about unemployment, technology or social media. You might even have a well-prepared essay on the topic. But if the question asks you to examine a particular claim, explain a relationship or consider a specific problem, that's what your answer needs to address.
It's not just about understanding the question. You also need to develop your arguments, support them with relevant examples and organise your ideas clearly in French.
A good essay isn't simply about how much you know. It's about how well you use what you know to answer the question.
That's why, before we start planning paragraphs or writing an introduction, we're going to learn how to break down an essay question and work out exactly what it requires.
Essay questions are not always structured the same way. Some give you a statement to evaluate, while others ask you to examine an issue, explain a relationship or propose solutions. What they have in common is an instruction that tells you what to do, and key words that determine the scope of your answer. Two questions on the same topic can require very different essays.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
identify and interpret common task words or exam instructions, including Discutez, Commentez, Donnez votre opinion, Justifiez and Montrez;
recognise key words and expressions, such as jamais, seul and donc, that influence the meaning of a question;
identify the central issue or argument you are being asked to examine;
distinguish between questions that require you to evaluate different perspectives, defend a position, explain a relationship or propose solutions;
explain, in French, exactly what your essay needs to address before you begin writing.
In the full lesson, we'll examine CAPE essay questions, word by word. I'll also show you how changing just the task word can change what an essay needs to do. Then, it's your turn to practise. We'll touch on essay planning here, but we'll explore how to build a complete essay plan in a separate lesson.
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Grab a pen. Allons-y! ✍🏽