Candidates for the bac pass their French specialty test this Thursday, June 15. Discover the topics.
Topics just came out. This Thursday, June 15, the 550,000 young people registered in first general and technological have worked on the written test of the French baccalaureate. For 4 hours, from 8 am to noon, they had to compose on a text commentary or one of the three proposed essay topics. This year, candidates in the general stream therefore had the choice between:
• The text comment:
Object of study: The literature of ideas from the 16th century to the 18th century
You will comment on the following text: Denis Diderot, Salon of 1767 .
Diderot is not only the man of L’Encyclopédie; he is also an art critic. From 1759 to 1781, he reports on the Paris painting exhibition, which is held every two years and is called Salon. In 1767, he commented on a painting by Hubert Robert, Grande Galerie antique, lit from the back, and expressed the feelings inspired by his contemplation. The ideas that the ruins awaken in me are great. Everything is annihilated, everything perishes, everything passes away. Only the world remains. Only time lasts. How old is this world! I walk between two eternities. From wherever I cast my eyes, the objects that surround me announce an end to me, and resign me to the one that awaits me. What is my ephemeral existence, compared to that of this sinking rock, of this hollowing valley, of this tottering forest, of these masses suspended above my head, and which shake? I see the marble of the tombs crumble into dust; and I don’t want to die! and I envy a weak tissue of fibers and flesh to a general law that runs on bronze! A torrent carries the nations one over the other, to the bottom of a common abyss; me, me alone, I pretend to stop on the edge, and cleave the tide which flows by my side! If the place of a ruin is perilous, I shudder. If I promise myself secrecy and security there, I am freer, more alone, more my own, closer to myself. This is where I call my friend. This is where I miss my friend. It is there that we will enjoy ourselves without trouble, without witnesses, without importuning, without jealousy. This is where I search my heart. It is there that I question his, that I am alarmed and reassured. From this bond, to the inhabitants of the cities, to the dwellings of the tumult, to the residence of the interest of the passions, of the vices, of the crimes, of the prejudices, of the errors, there is a long way. If my soul is warned of a tender feeling, I will give myself up to it without embarrassment. If my heart is calm, I will taste all the sweetness of his rest. In this deserted asylum, solitary and vast, I hear nothing, I have broken with all the embarrassments of life. No one rushes me and listens to me. I can talk to myself aloud, grieve, shed tears without constraint.
Salon of 1767
• Essay – Subject A:
Work: Father Prevost, Manon Lescaut
Journey: marginal characters, romantic pleasures.
Question: Is the pleasure of reading Manon Lescaut only due to the story of a loving passion?
You will answer this question in an organized development based on Manon Lescaut, on the texts you have studied as part of the associated course, and on your personal culture.
• Essay – Subject B:
Work: Balzac, The Skin of Sorrow
Journey: the energy novels: creation and destruction.
Question: Can we read The Skin of Sorrow like the painting of an exhausted world?
You will answer this question in an organized development based on La Peau de chagrin, on the texts you have studied as part of the associated course, and on your personal culture.
• Dissertation – Subject C:
Work: Colette, Sido followed by The Tendrils of the Vine
Journey: celebrating the world.
Question: Can we consider Sido and The Tendrils of the Vine as works of wonder?