On Tuesday, Year 12 and 13 French students attended a French literature masterclass at Oxford University, along with A-level French students from other schools in Oxfordshire.

Students attended a lecture on various ways to analyse literary texts including lexis, imagery, narrative perspective and use of different tenses. They were then split into smaller groups to look at a particular text in more detail. Wallingford students worked on Un sac de billes by Joseph Joffo, with the help of Simon Kemp, Associate Professor of French at Somerville College. We looked at three extracts from the novel and in particular the significance of the "bag of marbles" in the title.

We also got to eat lunch in the very impressive dining hall at Somerville. It was a really interesting day and our students rose to the challenge of discussing works of literature in French and shared their ideas thoughtfully.

Students and parents might be interested to read Adventures on the Bookshelf - the French Outreach blog written by students and staff at Oxford University.