My assignment for my weekly French lesson is to write something on a subject of my teacher's choosing. This week's subject, for example, is les étoiles - stars. I've interpreted the assignment to mean that the page and a half I write has to have that subject mentioned, from being a subject to be addressed en passant.
When I started I wrote an essay each week, because essays are what I could write. Then I deviated and started writing a police procedural, called in French un polar. After 60 or so chapters - each week was another page and a half chapter - I wrapped it up in a final scene and someone in jail, but then I still had my weekly assignments, I had my characters, and what to do?
It seems that my polar has turned into more of a light-hearted somewhat romantic novel, darting here and there, seeking to interest Claude, my teacher, and to make her laugh. So far I've been successful - she looks forward to each week's installment! I love having someone to write for! The errors I make in French composition? They are many, but what does one expect from an intermediate French student? I think I'm getting a little better with my French. I think.
At the same time I've been reading the 19th and early 20th century French novelists, realists and modernists and post-modernists. Candide, Madame Bovary, The Red and the Black, Maupassant, The Immoralist, modern short stories, and of course L'Étranger. I've loved reading all of them, and I've loved writing my pseudo-novel.
My conclusion: who wants real life? You get enough of that in real life.
Budd Shenkin
When I started I wrote an essay each week, because essays are what I could write. Then I deviated and started writing a police procedural, called in French un polar. After 60 or so chapters - each week was another page and a half chapter - I wrapped it up in a final scene and someone in jail, but then I still had my weekly assignments, I had my characters, and what to do?
It seems that my polar has turned into more of a light-hearted somewhat romantic novel, darting here and there, seeking to interest Claude, my teacher, and to make her laugh. So far I've been successful - she looks forward to each week's installment! I love having someone to write for! The errors I make in French composition? They are many, but what does one expect from an intermediate French student? I think I'm getting a little better with my French. I think.
At the same time I've been reading the 19th and early 20th century French novelists, realists and modernists and post-modernists. Candide, Madame Bovary, The Red and the Black, Maupassant, The Immoralist, modern short stories, and of course L'Étranger. I've loved reading all of them, and I've loved writing my pseudo-novel.
My conclusion: who wants real life? You get enough of that in real life.
Budd Shenkin
No comments:
Post a Comment