CATHEDRAL
by David Macauley
Choose 6 items including #9. Everyone must do #9 with an oral
presentation about your stained glass window. #9 is your final
exam. You must answer all items en français.
1. All the hand tools shown on pages 10-11 can still be found in
use today, but many hand tools common now were unavailable
in the 1300’s; in fact, many were not even invented. List 5 or
more contemporary hand tools to be found on any modern
construction site, but unavailable when cathedrals were being
built. By using an infinitive, explain the purpose of the hand
tool. Summarize your information in a short paragraph (5
sentences).
Exemple: une règle – pour mesurer
2. On page 30 the author explains the use of and reasons for
flying buttresses (les arcs-boutants). Explain them in your own
words. Write ½ page (125 mots) en français and make a
diagram or drawing to go with the explanation.
3. On the basis of the information given in the book, estimate the
total number of workers employed in building the cathedral.
Give evidence by specific information and page numbers to
support your estimate. Summarize your information in a short
paragraph (5 sentences).
Exemple: 1 architecte – p. 7
4. Where were the women? There is hardly a female in the whole
book. (See page 23.) Try to find out what role women played,
if any, in the making of a cathedral. Report your findings by
specific page numbers. (Write ½ page-125 mots)
5. Try to imagine living in Chutreaux in 1340 and having the
cathedral as your neighborhood church. Note especially the
pictures on pages 76, 78-79. Consider also that many of your
relatives probably would have worked on the cathedral for two
or three generations. After thinking about all this, write a ½
page (125 mots) on how you might feel about the Cathedral of
Chutreaux.
6. The time-period of the construction of this cathedral is
important. Look up the following items in the history of France
and write a one sentence definition for each.




L’Architecture Gothique
Louis IX – Le Roi de la France
La Guerre de Cent Ans
La Mort Noire
On the basis of this information, write ½ page (125 mots) and
explain why, in your opinion, the author chose the time-span
he did for the book.
7. What changes can you observe in the buildings and areas
around the cathedral as the book proceeds? By using specific
examples and page numbers, write a ½ page (125 mots)
explanation of these changes.
8. Page 63 shows a maze pattern built into the floor. Such mazes
were built into the floors of a number of actual cathedrals,
including Amiens and Chartres. One explanation is that walking
the maze was like a symbolic pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
“Solve” the maze yourself by tracing its path to the center.
Write ½ page (125 mots) explaining what you think was to be
learned by the Christian who walked this path.
9. Design your own rose window and turn in a drawing or a model
of it. Use color, cut-paper, or something similar to simulate
stained glass. Prepare a 2 minute presentation explaining your
drawing. This is your final exam.
LES CATHÉDRALES
“The cathedral of a medieval city is the center of its religious
activity, the repository of the most sacred items, and the locus of
social life.”
Les cathédrales étaient construites à la gloire du Dieu chrétien. La
cathédrale est l’église d’un évêque. C’est pourquoi elle est située,
le plus souvent, dans une grande ville.
Les pierres carrées représentent les quatre vertues des saints: la
tempérance, la justice, le courage et la prudence.
un apprentis
le Catholicisme
le couvreur
le chantier
un carrier
une carrière
un charpentier
chrétien, chrétienne
le Dieu
l’Islam
le Judaïsme
un labyrinthe
un maître
le mortier
un maçon
le mur
un outil
le Protestantisme
le plombier
une rose
un tailleur de pierre
le verrier
le vitrail, les vitraux
LES CATHÉDRALES CÉLÈBRES
(1100 – 1400)
1. St. Patrick’s – New York (gothic revival)
2. St. Mark’s – Venice, Italy (byzantine)
3. Salisbury – England (early English)
4. Westminster Abby – London, England
5. Winchester – England
6. St. Paul’s – London, England (baroque and classical)
7. Cologne – Germany (gothic)
8. Charlemagne’s Palace Chapel – Aachen, Germany (gothic)
9. Santiago de Compostela – Spain (baroque)
10.
St. Peter’s – Rome, Italy (renaissance)
11.
Chartres – France (gothic) “The architect undertook, once
and for all, to show how a great cathedral should be
lighted.” Henry Adams
12.
Reims – France (gothic)
13.
Notre-Dame – Paris, France (gothic) “Crowding upward
before the eye... a vast symphony in stone.” Victor Hugo
Français III – Examen Final
Nom ______________________________ Date _________________
1. présent
2. passé composé
3. imparfait
4. futur
5. conditionnel
6. subjonctif
7. passé du subjonctif
8. noms géographiques
9. plus-que-parfait
10. passé du conditionnel
11. si clause (présent et futur)
12. si clause (imparfait et conditionnel)
13. si clause (plus-que-parfait et passé du conditionnel)
14. faire faire
15. verbe reflexif au présent
16. verbe reflexif au passé composé