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REDIGER UN RECIT

- déterminer les lieux, les temps, les sujets correspondant à chaque paragraphe;

- dégager les caractéristiques des personnages;

- distinguer l' essentiel de l' accessoire;

- repérer les mots-clés de la construction d' un récit

READ

THE STOLEN WATCH

When I was at university, I did not have much money. I could not afford expensive things like a camera. But I did have one thing which was valuable. It was a gold watch, which was a gift from my parents for my twenty-fifth birthday.

At the end of the first year, I was wondering what I was going to do during the summer holidays. Then I received a letter from Peter. Peter was a friend who was working for the British Council in Germany. In his letter, Peter asked me if I would come and stay with him for the summer. I decided to accept his invitation. I travelled cheaply to Germany from London by train and boat.

I did not have anything of value except my watch which was on my wrist. During the long journey, I often wondered what the time was and I kept looking at my watch.

When I arrived in Bonn, where Peter worked, he was waiting for me at the bus station. He took me in his car to his small flat, which was in a quiet street. At the front, the flat was high off the ground. But at the back, the bedroom windows were at ground level. It was the month of July and the flat was very hot. I wondered if I would be able to sleep in such heat. I asked Peter if I should keep the bedroom windows open. Peter advised me to keep the windows closed. He said that a stranger had been seen in the neighbourhood at night. The neighbours wondered if the stranger was a thief.

In the evening, we had a wonderful meal in a little restaurant. When we got back to the flat, I felt very hot and tired. I went to bed and soon fell asleep. But before long I was wide awake. It was too hot and I could not sleep. I asked myself what I could do. Then I had an idea. I put my clothes and everything in my bag, including my precious watch, tied the top tightly and laid it at the foot of my bed. I was sure that a thief could not reach it because it was so far away from the windows. Then I opened the windows and fell fast asleep.

Later in the night, I suddenly woke up. Something was moving in the bedroom. I looked round and realised what was happening. There was a thief outside the window. He was holding a long piece of metal with a hook on one end. He had caught my bag with his hook and he was lifting it off the bed and was pulling it towards the window. I jumped up quickly and shouted loudly. But it was too late. The thief had run off with my canvas bag. And my precious watch was inside it. I realised what a fool I had been.

Jupp and Milne, Guided Course in English Composition.

OBSERVE

1. Briefly note down the places and times referred to in each paragraph :

A ....................................................................................................

B ....................................................................................................

C ....................................................................................................

D ....................................................................................................

E ....................................................................................................

2. Sum up the topic of each paragraph :

A ....................................................................................................

B ....................................................................................................

C ....................................................................................................

D ....................................................................................................

E ....................................................................................................

3. What do we know about the narrator ? Fill in the blanks and tick the right answer.

Age .....................................................................................................................

Job .....................................................................................................................

Properties .........................................................................................................

Friends ..............................................................................................................

Rich ?			Not rich ?

Prudent ?			Imprudent ?

4. Write down the time-indications at the beginning of each paragraph :

A ....................................................................................................

B ....................................................................................................

C ....................................................................................................

D ....................................................................................................

E ....................................................................................................

5. Deduce : The story is built up : (Tick the right answer)

In a logical way

In a chronological way

in a sequential way

6. Write the last sentence of each paragraph and underline the keyword:

A ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

B ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

C ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

D ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

E ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

7. Here is some information given in the text : gift from parents - Peter' s job - bedroom windows - place of the bag - hot weather

Classify them in the two following columns.

Essential to the story

Arousing interest

DRAW YOUR CONCLUSIONS

Un récit suit généralement un ordre ----------------------- . De ce fait les ---------------------------------------------- sont très importantes.

Chaque paragraphe représente une ----------------------- du récit.

L' action se passe dans des ----------------------- précis et les personnages doivent avoir un minimum de ----------------------.

8. Write a story in 4 paragraphs following these guide-lines :

A- Went I first went to secondary school, ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

I had to take the bus there and back everyday

B- After I had been at school for three weeks, ___________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Luckily the boy agreed not to sell the bicycle for two months.

C- I thought about it for a few days. __________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

I could earn the money I needed.

D- My father was very pleased ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

bicycle

jealous

far

_______________

$ 60

$ 30 (father's gift)

$ 30 (part-time job)

_______________

wash cars

Saturday

$ 3

_______________

happy

ride

school

Now find a title for this story : _________________________________________________________

8. Write a story in 4 paragraphs following these guide-lines :

A- Went I first went to secondary school, ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

I had to take the bus there and back everyday

B- After I had been at school for three weeks, ___________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Luckily the boy agreed not to sell the bicycle for two months.

C- I thought about it for a few days. __________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

I could earn the money I needed.

D- My father was very pleased ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

bicycle

jealous

far

_______________

$ 60

$ 30 (father's gift)

$ 30 (part-time job)

_______________

wash cars

Saturday

$ 3

_______________

happy

ride

school

Now find a title for this story : _________________________________________________________