Sequence

TE X T E S C L A
S S I Q U E S

The Found Friend Fred

Uhlman
Sequence made by
Hélène Bernard, teacher at
Albert Camus high school in the Hauts-
of Seine. She has published several
educational sheets on the site of
circle of teachers.
She is the author of works
extracurricular.

Introduction: The Educational Interest

As part of the French programs in the third year of secondary school, the instructions
officials of the National Education prescribe, among others, the reading of The Repaired Friend
from Fred Uhlman under the title of 'Forms of Narrative of thee 20th Century'.
e The choice of this title,
published in the collection 'Folio Junior Classic Texts', is justified in many ways:
It is primarily a coming-of-age story that students could not remain indifferent to.
insensitive; this is also an opportunity to work on the different genres of
biographical, from autobiography to personal narrative, including memoirs;
Moreover, the work bears witness not only to a unique existence but also to
a broader view of History, thereby initiating a questioning of humanity.

SUMMARY

Session 1 › Meeting the Work p. 2

Session 2 › On the threshold p. 4

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 Session
Session 3: The Birth of a Friendship p. 5
Session 4 › Narrative techniques p. 6
The expression of feelings p. 7
p. 8
Session 7›The explicit p. 10

1
Meeting the work

objectives
Check the full reading
Contextualize fiction
Connect the history to the biography of
the author

I. Ensure that the text has been read properly

Respond to the following multiple choice questionnaire:

Who is the narrator of The Restored Friend? The story begins:
❏ a. Fred Uhlman ❏ in 1932.
❏ b. Hans Schwarz ❏ b. in 1939.
❏ c. Conrad of Hohenfels ❏ c. in 1950.

What drives him to tell this story?❏ a. He What is the framework of fiction?
seeks to find a friend he lost track of at the age ❏ a. The United States of America.
adult. ❏ b. The province of Württemberg.
❏ b. He received a letter from his former high school ❏ c. The city of Stuttgart.
announcing the death of the one who was, as a teenager, his friend.
❏ c. He wants to testify to a friendship beyond the
separation caused by war.

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 Session
What binds the two in friendship? 8) Exiled, Hans makes a career:
characters?❏ They exchange coins ❏ of lawyer.
of currency from their respective collection. ❏ b. of a writer.
❏ b. They are both the subjects of ridicule from their ❏ c. of the politician.
classmates.
❏ They share the same passion for literature. What happens to his parents?❏ They are
What separates them? deported and die in concentration camps.
❏ Their religion. ❏ b. They commit suicide.
❏ b. Their social environment.❏ c. ❏ They join their son.
The History.
What happened to Conrad?
7) Why does Conrad place his trust in Hitler? ❏ He fell on the Russian front.
❏ He sees it as a bulwark against Bolshevism. ❏ He fled Germany.
❏ He admires her will and her insight.❏ c. He ❏ c. He was executed for his involvement in a
make his parents' choice his own. assassination attempt against Hitler.

1
Meeting the work (continuation)

II. Scanning the text for temporal clues

1) Identify throughout the work the elements that anchor 2) Identify the temporal markers that allow for the
fiction in History. to date the narrative.

III. Distinguish the major genres of biography

1) Read the first section of the Notebook carefully. 3) By identifying with the author, tell about his existence.
of reading. as he would have communicated it to an audience of
Fred Uhlman was a German-born author and painter, known for his poignant novels exploring themes of identity,
middle exile, and the impact
school of political upheaval.
students cameHe towas born on
meet January
him. 24, 1901,
such asinshe
Stuttgart,
could Germany, into a Jewish family. Uhlman studied law and later moved to the United Kingdom in 1933 due to the rise of the Nazi regime. Throughout his life, he wrote several notable works, including 'The Making of a German', which reflects his experiences and observations during the turbulent times of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. Uhlman's writing often draws from his own life, providing deep insights into the human condition. In addition to his literary contributions, he was also a talented painter. He passed away on November 18, 1985, leaving a legacy of thought-provoking literature.

to be included in a manual 4) Compare the narratives produced and the one you learned in school. have read.
What do you observe?

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 Session
2
On the threshold

objectives
Understand the title
Study the opening
Weaving an intertextual link

I. Extract the meaning of the title

What is the title formed of grammatically?

the nature of its constituents. What does it suggest about Is it polysemous? How does it apply?
the story to follow? How do you interpret it in the light of to the story?
of your reading? For each chapter of the work, propose a title
which accounts for its narrative unity.

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 Session
II. Analyze the first pages of the narrative (chapter 1)

1) Identify the spatio-temporal indicators contained in this What elements give the narrative a form?
first chapter. Do they all refer to the same moment retrospective?
and at the same place? 5) Analyze the elements of the teacher's portrait.
2) Identify the verb tenses used and their value What is the function of description?
respective in the first three paragraphs. What relates the arrival of a new to
To which person is the narrative led? Can we an apparition? What feelings does it evoke?
Determine the identity of the narrator? among the different protagonists of the scene?
III. Working in intertextuality
Among the many literary references present Stay in the corner, behind the door, so that one
In the found friend, find Flaubert's novel he barely noticed it, the newcomer was a country guy,
titled Madame Bovary, of which here is the beginning: about fifteen years old, and taller in height
that none of us at all. He had his hair cut straight on the
front, like a village cantor, the reasonable and strong air
We were studying when the Principal entered, followed by a
embarrassed. Although he was not broad-shouldered, his suit-
newly dressed in bourgeois style and a class boy who
green woolen coat with black buttons must have bothered him at the
He wore a large lectern. Those who were sleeping woke up,
curtains and revealed, through the slit of the coverings, some
and everyone got up as if surprised in their work.
red wrists accustomed to being bare. His legs, in blue below,
The principal signaled us to sit down again; then, he...
were coming out of a yellowish pair of pants very pulled by the suspenders. He
turning to the study master:
was wearing sturdy shoes, poorly polished, studded with nails.
- Mr. Roger, he said to him in a low voice, here is a student who
We began the recitation of the lessons. He listened to them from
I recommend him, he is entering the fifth grade. If his work and his
conduct is commendable, he will pass into the great ones, where
all his ears, attentive as to the sermon, not daring even
cross the thighs, nor lean on the elbow, and, together
he calls his age.

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 Session
hours, when the bell rang, the study master Repeat!
had to warn him, so that he would join us The same mumbling of syllables was heard,
in the ranks. covered by the boos of the class.
We used to, upon entering the classroom, throw our Higher! shouted the master, higher!
hats on the ground, so that we can have our hands freer afterwards Lenouveau, then making an extreme resolution, opened
it was necessary, right at the threshold of the door, to throw them under the bench, an oversized mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs, like
way to strike against the wall, making a lot of to call someone, this word: Charbovari.
dust; that was the kind.
But either he did not notice this maneuver or
that he would not have dared to submit to it, the prayer was finished when the Identify the common points between the text of Flaubert
the new one still held his cap on his two knees. [...] and that of Fred Uhlman.
3) Show that the registers of these two excerpts are
Get up, the professor said again, and tell us your name.
The newcomer mumbles a name.
however very different.
inintelligible.

3
The birth of a friendship

objectives
Identify the temporal values of the conjugated verbs
Distinguish and manipulate the different types of speech
reported
Measuring the effects of discourse free indirect

Work support: chapter 5.

I. Review the values of tenses and moods

In the following excerpt, identify the verb forms. hesitation. When I almost caught up with him, he turned around and
conjugated: identify the tense, the mood and the value of smiles at me. Then, with a strangely clumsy gesture and still
each. Indecis, he will grip my trembling hand. "It's you, Hans!" said-
he, and suddenly, I realized, to my joy, to my
Three days later, on March 15 – I will never forget. relief and to my astonishment, that he was as shy as
this date -, I was coming home from school on a nice and cool me and, as much as I, needed a friend.
I can hardly remember what Conrad told me this
Spring evening. The almond trees were in bloom, the crocuses
that day nor what I told him. All I know is that,
had appeared, the sky was pastel blue and green
for an hour, we walked back and forth
of water, a Nordic sky with a hint of Italian sky.
I caught sight of Hohenfels in front of me. He seemed to hesitate and wait. like two young lovers, still shy, but I
knew somehow that this was just a
someone. I slow down – I was afraid of overtaking him –
commencement and that, from then on, my life would no longer be dull.
but I had to continue on my way, because not doing so would have
and lifegiving, but full of hope and richness for both.
was ridiculous and he could have misunderstood my

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 Session
II. Identify the forms of discourse

There are several ways to report the words of - Free indirect speech appears as a
characters in a story: mixed system: like indirect speech, it integrates the
propositions related to the statement, without quotation marks, and
Direct speech reproduces the remarks that have been made. transform the markers of the enunciation situation and
as they were actually pronounced. It preserves verb tenses; like direct speech, it does not
thus the markers of enunciation related to the person, to the does not involve any subordination and retains the marks
time and place, the forms of sentences and the level of of expressiveness (exclamatory, interrogative... ).
- The narrated discourse does not report the statements.
language. - Indirect speech reports the statements by
but in summary, the main idea in the form of a
inserting into the narrative in the form of a proposition
verb of speech, thought or judgment.
subordinate clause introduced by a speech or ...
thought. As a result, the quotation marks that surrounded it at For each type of recorded speech, look for
direct speech disappears; the spatio-temporal indices an example in chapter 5. Then transpose it into
are cut off from the situation of enunciation; the interrogation the other possible categories.
direct becomes an indirect interrogative subordinate.
III. Produce the inner speech of a character

In the manner of Fred Uhlman, transcribe into speech

indirectly free the thoughts of Conrad Hohenfels after that
his friendship with Hans has been sealed.

4
The narrative techniques

Objectives:
Study the rhythm of the narration
Understanding the mise en abyme
Analyze a description

Work supports: chapters 6, 7, and 9.

I. Compare the speed of the story and that of the narration

The narrator cannot tell everything. That is why he the scene that develops a key moment of the story and
quickly passes over certain minor events gives the impression that it is taking place in real time
real. -the
of importance, they are either suppressed, or conversely, they develop pause that temporarily suspends the action
those
which appear to him as capital. Thus, we distinguish: for the benefit, for example, of a description.
the ellipse that omits a part of the story. Find within chapter 6 an example of each.
the summary that summarizes part of the story. time management.

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 Session
II. Create an effect of embedding

What is meant by a mise en abyme in visual arts? 2) Why can we talk about a narrative within a narrative in
Look for reproductions that illustrate the definition. the case of chapter 7 of The Rediscovered Friend?

proposed. What is the point of such a process?

III. Identify the grammatical and stylistic characteristics of descriptive discourse

Refer to the description that Hans gives of 2) Classify the different expansions according to their nature
her room in chapter 9 (from "My room, at the name included in the excerpt.
second floor..." to "...would last forever". 3) Name the main figure of style on which
1) Identify the spatio-temporal markers of the discourse repose this description.
description. 4) Identify the function of the passage within the narrative.

5
The expression of feelings

Objectives:
Unravel the psychological springs of the story
Identify the mechanism of character identification
Evoke an emotion in the reader

Working support: chapters 12 and 15.

I. Transform a narrative sequence into a theatrical scene

Refer to the account of the meeting between Conrad and III. Tell a childhood experience
the father of Hans in chapter 12 (from 'When Conrad
enter… » to « … his smile through my tears. ») Like Hans, you have the memory of an episode of your
childhood during which you felt a strong
happy or unhappy emotion. Tell the story of it
II. Evaluate the lexical fields way to communicate your emotions of that time to the reader.
Rewrite the scene according to the rules and codes of the genre.
Re-read the account of the entry of the Hohenfels at the Opera at
dramatic.
chapter 15 (from 'All eyes turned...' to '
... I was going straight to bed." 1) Identify the
terms from the lexical field of light.
2) Identify the lexical field to which the words belong salut », « procession royale », « solennité », « l’invisible
suivants : « diadème », « supérieurs », « hommage que sarcophagus of porphyry of one of the Princes of the Earth
"conferred upon them nine centuries of history", "the haughty air and bless the crowd.
dédaigneux », « majestueusement », « profond 3) Show through a study of the lexicon that the emergence of
Hohenfels is understood as an entrance on stage.

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 Session

6
The account at trial

Objectives:
Practice for the national diploma exam certificate of secondary education

Reinvest the gains from the session

4) According to your study of the different lexical networks, For a while, we seemed to be in
name the emotions and feelings through which a complete darkness. Then, my eyes getting used to it
pass the narrator. little by little, I discerned a large entrance hall with walls
Work support: chapter 13. were covered with hunting trophies: enormous
antlers, the head of a European bison, the white tusks
ivory of an elephant whose foot, mounted on silver, served
SUBJECT of umbrella stand.
Hans has been waiting a long time for Conrad to invite him over. I got rid of my coat and left my
him. The invitation finally arrives... bookbag on a chair. A servant entered and
bowed before Conrad. "The coffee is served, Sir
I was terrified, caught off guard like that. The accomplishment "Graph," he said. Conrad nodded and, pointing to me,
of my dreams happened so suddenly that, for a the path, went up the dark oak stairs to the
instantly, I felt the urge to run away. How could I possibly first floor, where I glimpsed closed doors and
to stand in front of my parents with my unpolished shoes and a walls with oak paneling adorned with paintings: a
with dubious cleanliness? How could I bear hunt, a portrait of the late king and a view of a
confronting my mother, whom I had once seen from afar, silhouettecastle that looked like a mixture of castles
black standing out against the pink magnolias? She did not have Hohenzollern and Neuschwanstein. From there, we went.
the skin white like my mother's, but a complexion the second floor and walked down a corridor where there was
olive-colored, almond-shaped eyes, and with her right hand, she other paintings: "Luther before Charles V", "
was spinning a white parasol like a sun. But Les croisés entrant à Jérusalem » et « Barberousse
I could only follow him trembling now. asleep in the mountain of Kyffhäuser, with its
Exactly as I had seen it happen before, and beard growing through a marble table.
in reality and in my dreams, he raised his right hand and struck an open door, I glimpsed a bedroom,
gently at the door, which, obeying his command, opened which was supposed to be that of a woman, with a hairdresser
silently to let us in. covered with small bottles of perfumes and brushes

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 Session

6
The narrative put to the test (continued)

FIRST PART
A. Questions (15 points)
tortoiseshell mount set in silver. There were some 1) Identify two passages that suggest that
photographs in silver frames, especially some the event is not real.
officers, and one of them resembled Adolf almost Conrad nodded and, showing me the
Hitler, what amazed me. But I did not have the time path, up the dark oak staircase to the
to examine it further and, in any case, I was sure of first floor, where I caught sight of closed doors and
to deceive me: what would a photograph of Hitler have done walls with oak paneling adorned with paintings: a
in the room of a Hohenfels? bear hunting, a deer fight, a portrait of fire
I. A childhood memory (5 points) king and a view of a castle that looked like a mix
1) A. Who is the narrator of the episode? (1 point) of Hohenzollern castles and
B. Based on the previous answer, say Neuschwanstein.
What is the narrative point of view of the text? (1 point) A. What do we call the sequence of underlined words?
2) "How could I stand in front of her parents with (0.5 point)
my unpolished shoes and a collar of questionable cleanliness B. What common points do these tables share?
? » Give the mode, tense, and value of the verb of (0, 5 points)
this sentence. (1 point) C.Show through quotes that the description is
3) Highlight three expressions that show that the narrator made from a child's perspective. (1 point)
was seized by fear. But I didn't have time to examine it further.
4) Is the use of the first person enough to make a text? And, in any case, I was sure I was wrong: what would have been
an autobiography ? (0.5 points) take a photograph of Hitler in the room of a
Hohenfels? » How is the sentence constructed?
II. Like in a fairy tale (5 points) Identify the three propositions that compose it,

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0
 Session

indicate their shape and how they are connected Doubtful? How could I confront her mother?
among them. By what conjunction could one that I had seen from afar, the black silhouette standing out
replace the two points? (2 points) about the pink magnolias? " Identify the type of
phrases used here. In service of what feeling is
III. Conflicting feelings (5 points) does he put?
What image does the narrator give of himself as a child? (1, 5 points).
in the first paragraph of the text? (2 points) What is the basis of Hans's admiration for Conrad?
How could I stand in front of his parents? ? Highlight two passages that justify it.
with my unpolished shoes and a collar of cleanliness (1.5 points).
B. Rewriting (4 points)
How could I face his mother, whom I had seen one day, a black silhouette standing out against the pink magnolias?
? » Rewrite this passage by replacing 'her mother' with 'her parents'. You will make all necessary modifications.

C. Dictation (6 points)
From the beginning of chapter 13 to '... tear my heart out.'

SECOND PART Topic

writing (15 points)

You will address the following topic. The use of a French language dictionary is permitted.
Reconsidering the episode of the visit to Conrad, adult Hans makes a distanced comment about it.

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 Session
The explicit

Objectives:
Finding your way in the narrative scheme
Study the fall
Continue the story

Working document: chapters 16 to 19.

I. Restore the sequence of events

Chapter 15 marks what can be considered as Conrad] and [their] childhood." After which, the narrative continues
the climax of the story, that is to say its highest point. It is, unraveled in four chapters. From chapter 16 to chapter
indeed, an intense moment of crisis in which the narrator 19, reconstruct the chain of events that
see "the beginning of the end of [his] friendship [with lead to the final situation by specifying the element of
resolution.
II. Analyze the last page

Reread the excerpt from 'I put the list down...' at the end. Where does certainty come from, before the final revelation,
1) Identify the clues that attest on this page that the that the two friends will never see each other again?
The narrator is an adult. What meaning can be given to Conrad's death?
2) For what reasons, in your opinion, is Hans delaying the What is surprising about it in light of history?
time to go through the names starting with 'H' 6) How does this ultimate revelation shed light on a
in the list he received? new day the whole book?
3) Identify the elements that assimilate the end of the narration
to a scene.

III. Continue the story

Imagine the letter left by Conrad to ask for forgiveness.

to his friend. You will take care to respect the codes of the
letter writing and building a reasoned argument
both on reason and emotions.

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2