Describing a picture
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 Décrire un document iconographique (image)

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Method  I-D-A- (H)-O / méthode IDA(H)O
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1/ IDENTIFY : Introducing the document

-The document is (a colour / a black and white  photograph, a painting, a drawing etc.)

  It’s …. (c’est)

-     It is taken from …

OR it comes from …

OR it is from … (il est extrait de)


  -It was published/ written on/in ……(il est paru/il a été publié)

            =>>IN + année, mois

ex : in 2011, in June, in June 2011

            =>>ON + date précise

Ex : on the fourth of April (2011)


  -     The title is … (le titre est)

OR it is entitled … (intitulé)

 
-     The main topic is …(le sujet principal est)

OR it deals with …

OR the document  is about …

OR it portrays…

      It refers to …

 
2/ DESCRIBE: Describing the document

-Where?

  Prepositions

The scene takes place …

The scene is set  … (la scène se déroule…)

The photo was taken before, during, after, in …

 
-When?
 

-Who are the people portrayed?

  =>>Talk about their age,physical appearance, the expression on their faces, their posture, their clothes, their feelings (they look/ they seem (ils semblent )…

=>>Talk about the things which surround them etc.

 
(In the picture) I can see…

The picture shows (montre)

There is + sg  (il y a + singulier)

There are + pl  (il y a + pluriel)

 

 -What are the characters doing?

  Utiliser le present BE+ING  

  -Why?

Because /since … parce que

 
3/ ANALYSE  :  Interpreting the document

-Maybe/ perhaps … peut être

-It must be  … cela doit être

-Symbolize ,emphasize/ highlight /ai/ (mettre en valeur)

-Positive and negative aspects

-Advantages,  drawbacks  (inconvénients) etc.

 
4/ OPINION:  Giving your opinion

In my opinion, to me, to my mind, from my point of view, … ( à mon avis)

I think….

 I like the photo because…

I don’t like the document because…

I agree with … (je suis d’accord avec)

I don’t agree with/I disagree with… ( je ne suis pas d’accord avec)


  For example …, e. g. (example given)

  In a word, in short, … ( en bref)

To conclude, … (en conclusion)

 
5/ USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

=>>>A photograph, a front cover, a back cover …

A title, a subtitle, a caption (une légende)

A photographer, an artist, a reporter/ a journalist …

To start with/ first, (tout d’abord)… to continue…

First… second… third… finally…

On the one hand,  … (d’une part)

On the other hand,  … (d’autre part)

What’s more/ moreover: de plus, en outre

So that, in order to: afin de …

So: donc

In the background: au premier plan

In the foreground: à l’arrière plan

In the middle: au milieu, au centre

On the right: à droite

On the left: à gauche

At the top: en haut

At the bottom: en bas


  6/ REMEMBER!

• Talk in sentences – don’t produce lists of items you can see

• Organize your description – don’t describe the same thing more than once

• Start with a general idea of the subject of the picture before going into details

• Give reasons (related to the picture) for your ideas

• Talk about the situation as well as the physical things you can see in the picture.

• Give some personal reaction to the picture

 



 
 

 

PUBLISHED BY ISABELLE MORELLEC-TREMEL © IMT