LESSON PROPER

What do you think is the

talent that was specially
given to you by God?
• Born in Paris (1844-1924)
• Pseudonym Jacques Anatole Thibault 
• Chiefly known as a novelist and storyteller
• France is a writer in the mainstream of French
classicism. His style, modeled on Voltaire and
Fénélon
• Achieved his first great success with Le Crime de
Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)
• In 1893 France published his most celebrated
novel, La Rôtisserie de la Reine Pédauque [At the
Sign of the Reine Pédauque]
• Anatole France died on October 12, 1924.
ORAL RECITATION
 The class will be divided into 5 groups.
The teacher will randomly call members from
each group. Each group must be able to
answer the question of the teacher. All
questions will be based from the story. If the
member is unable to answer the question, the
group will get zero for that question but if the
member was able to answer with a correct
answer, the group will get 10 points. The class
has 15 minutes to brainstorm.
READY?
 Give the Main
Characters in the
story.
Barnabas – A juggler who has a strong faith
and a devotee of the Holy Virgin.
Static
The Prior – The head of the monastery and
invited Barnabas to enter the monastic life.
Static
 What is the
Setting of the
story?
 The story was set in European
Middle Ages, in the days of King
Loius in France.
 Give the
Plot-Exposition of
the story.
 The story opened when Barnabas was
introduced as a juggler who is struggling
making ends meet especially during the times
when he cannot do his job which is juggling.
One day he was given an opportunity to enter
the monastic life through the invitation of the
Prior. He grabbed the opportunity to live his
life devoted in adoring the Holy Virgin.
 Give the
Plot-Complication
of the story.
 When he had already entered the monastic
life, he thought he will be able to do
something special for the Holy Virgin as the
other monks were able to share their great
talents in literature and arts in devotion.
 Give the
Plot-Crisis
of the story.
 As time goes by, Barnabas had observed he
seemed to be the only one who was unable to
do something significant in the monastery that
for he has no special talent to share for all he
can do is juggle. Barnabas became sad and
felt lost. Until he heard the monks talk about
the monk who can only recite the Ave Maria
and he realized that there is something special
he can share.
 Give the
Plot-Climax
of the story.
 The other monks and the Prior noticed the
current habit of Barnabas of retiring early.
They sneaked on him and saw him went to the
chapel. They were scandalized when they saw
him before the image of the Holy Virgin
doing his juggling trick. They were about to
scold him when they saw the statue of the
Holy Virgin descend from the altar and wiped
the sweat from Barnabas‘ forehead.
 Give the
Plot-Resolution
of the story.
 The Prior and the monks realized the
purity of the intention of Barnabas and how
it was greatly appreciated by the Holy
Virgin. And Barnabas was able to find a way
to glorify the Holy Virgin with his special
talent.
 What is the
Point-of-view
used in the story?
Third Person
Omniscient
What is the
Theme
of the story?
 The theme of the story is
anchored on the last words shared
by the Prior, “Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God."
 What is the
Tone
used in the story?
 The narrator was sad as you an
feel the struggles of Barnabas as a
juggler living a difficult life and as
monk who cannot contribute
anything significant.
 What are the
Symbols
used in the story?
Pewter Plate
The simplicity of the life of Barnabas
Six Copper Balls and Twelve Knives
The special talent that Barnabas has
Five Roses
The devotion of the monk
Holy Virgin descending from the altar
The purity of Barnabas‘ devotion
What lesson can we get
from the story?
 The story teaches us that we do not
need to do extravagant things to show
our devotion to the Lord. The simplest
things which is done wholeheartedly
is more than enough.
 What do you think is
the intention of Anatole
France in writing the
story?
 Perhaps France is trying to remind us
that we must never be hasty in judging
others. Additionally, he reminded us that
we must never doubt our capacities for we
were all endowed with special gifts as we
were all created lovingly by our Lord.
Why do you think the Holy
Virgin descended from the
altar to wipe the sweat off
the face of Barnabas?
 The Holy Virgin descended from
the altar to show her appreciation
for the great devotion of Barnabas.
 What do you think is the
meaning of this line, “…the
life of a monk is a perpetual
hymn to the Lord."
 The line means that dedicating
your life in serving the Lord is
likened to an everlasting life of
praising the Lord.
Questions?
 Vocabulary Building
A story is composed of paragraphs. Paragraphs
are composed of sentences. Sentences are composed
of words. And words are sometimes composed of
root words and affixes.
Affixes are dependent words that need to be
attached to root words to form a new word. Affixes
has two major types:
Prefix – added before the root word
Suffix – added after the root word
 Example of a suffix is –ment. Some verbs
can be formed into nouns by adding this
suffix.
DiscernMENT ArrangeMENT
AlignMENT AgreeMENT
CommitMENT AssessMENT
 Writing Dialogues
Dialogues are a great way to liven up a
story because they enable the writer to
show rather than just tell. With dialogues,
we learn much more about the character,
their age, background, opinion and
personality.
 Guide in Writing Dialogues
1. Start in a new line for each new speaker
2. Use the correct voice
1st Person
3rd Person
3. Use double quotation marks around their actual words
when you use dialogue tags such as “he/she said"
“Do not leave me," she said.
He said to her, “I must go."
4. Place punctuation marks inside the quotation marks.
ACTIVITY
 Form a team with 3 members. As a
team, make your own dialogue following
the guidelines based on the 3 different
picture the teacher will be showing later.
Make sure to apply the usage of the
suffix –ment in each dialogue per
picture. The words must be underlined.
Write your answer in a ½ sheet of paper.
Questions?