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C. Reading / D. Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Media, Stories and Communities

Les textes médiatiques : Reading a Campaign Poster and Giving Commands with Pronouns

C1 C2 D1About 50 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can identify the techniques a campaign poster uses to persuade (slogan, image, statistic, call to action, contest).
  • I can ask critical questions about a media text: Who made it? For whom? Why? What is missing?
  • I can give positive and negative commands with a pronoun: Remplis-la ! Ne la laisse pas !
  • I can use il faut + infinitive to say what must be done.
  • I can create my own campaign poster in French.

Words to know

une campagne de sensibilisation
An awareness campaign: messages that try to change people's habits.
une affiche
A poster.
un slogan
A short, catchy sentence that is easy to remember.
un appel à l'action
A call to action: the part that tells the reader what to do.
le public cible
The target audience: the people the message is for.
il faut + infinitif
It is necessary to, we must: Il faut recycler.

Can a poster change a habit?

Posters in school hallways try to make you do something: join a club, eat breakfast, recycle. These are media texts, and each word and picture is chosen on purpose.

Remember from Grade 7: you read an infographic and asked critical questions (Qui l'a fait ? Pourquoi ? Pour qui ? Qu'est-ce qui manque ?), and you used the imperative to write instructions (Remplis le fond du carton de graines). Today you will analyze a campaign poster and learn to put pronouns in commands: Remplis-la ! Ne la laisse pas !

A stainless steel water bottle being filled at a school hallway bottle-filling station, with blue lockers behind.
Ta gourde ? Remplis-la ! A campaign like Opération Gourde asks students to fill reusable bottles instead of buying plastic ones. AI-generated image
Worked example

Let's analyze a campaign poster

OPÉRATION GOURDE Le conseil des élèves de l'école Riverain présente... (a campaign poster written for this lesson; École Riverain is a made-up school)

« Une gourde, c'est pour toujours ! »

Le saviez-vous ? En une semaine, nous avons compté 312 bouteilles en plastique dans les poubelles de notre école.

  • Ta gourde ? Remplis-la à la fontaine. Ne la laisse pas dans ton casier : apporte-la partout !
  • Des bouteilles jetables ? N'en achète plus !
  • La nouvelle station de remplissage près du gymnase ? Vas-y !
  • Tes amis ? Parle-leur de la campagne.

Il faut réduire nos déchets. Ensemble, on peut faire une différence !

Concours : la classe qui a le plus de gourdes en mai gagne une sortie à la cabane à sucre !

Glossaire: une gourde = a reusable water bottle · Le saviez-vous ? = Did you know? · une poubelle = a garbage can · remplir = to fill · laisser = to leave · un casier = a locker · jetable = disposable · une station de remplissage = a refill station · il faut + infinitive = we must, it is necessary to · réduire = to reduce · les déchets = waste, garbage · un concours = a contest · une cabane à sucre = a sugar shack, where maple syrup is made (used in Québec and other parts of Canada)

  1. Who made it? The student council of École Riverain. For whom (le public cible)? Students at the school (it uses tu: Ta gourde, tes amis).
  2. Why (purpose)? To persuade students to use reusable bottles and reduce plastic waste.
  3. Techniques: a slogan (Une gourde, c'est pour toujours !), a question to grab attention (Le saviez-vous ?), a statistic from the school (312 bottles in one week), short commands (Remplis-la, Vas-y, Parle-leur), a feeling of togetherness (Ensemble, on peut...) and a reward (a contest).
  4. Pronouns in the commands: Remplis-la (la = ta gourde) · Ne la laisse pas · Apporte-la · N'en achète plus (en = des bouteilles jetables) · Vas-y (y = à la station de remplissage) · Parle-leur (leur = à tes amis).
  5. What is missing? (critical question): the poster doesn't say whether students who don't have a reusable bottle can get one, or what happens to the plastic bottles already in the school. A reader could ask the council about this.
  6. Is the statistic believable? It comes from the students' own count in their school, so it is local and specific. It would be stronger with the date of the count.

The poster persuades students to use reusable bottles with a slogan, a local statistic, commands with pronouns, a togetherness message and a contest. A critical reader notices what is missing (access to bottles for everyone).

OPÉRATION GOURDE« Une gourde, c'estpour toujours ! »312 bouteilles !Remplis-la ! Vas-y !Conseil des élèvesle sloganl'imageun chiffre(statistique)le titrel'appel à l'actionqui l'a fait ?
The parts of a campaign poster. When you read one, find each part, then ask: Who made it, for whom, and why?

Commands with a pronoun

When you give a positive command, the pronoun goes after the verb, joined with a hyphen:

  • Remplis ta gourde ! → Remplis-la !
  • Parle à tes amis ! → Parle-leur !
  • Mange des fruits ! → Manges-en !

When the command is negative, the pronoun goes back to its usual place, before the verb:

  • Ne la laisse pas ! Ne leur parle pas ! N'en achète plus !

Spelling trick: in the tu command, -er verbs (and aller) drop their -s: Parle ! Va ! But the s comes back before y and en, so it is easier to say: Vas-y ! Manges-en !

me and te become moi and toi after the verb: Aide-moi ! Lève-toi !

Commande positiveverbe - pronomRemplis-la !Parle-leur !Vas-y !(va + s devant y)Commande négativene + pronom + verbe + pasNe la laisse pas !Ne leur parle pas !N'en achète plus !
Positive command: verb first, then a hyphen and the pronoun. Negative command: ne + pronoun + verb + pas (or plus, jamais).

Il faut + infinitive

Il faut means it is necessary to / we must. It never changes: il faut + a verb in the infinitive.

  • Il faut réduire nos déchets. (We must reduce our waste.)
  • Il ne faut pas gaspiller l'eau. (We must not waste water.)
  • In the past: Il fallait ... (It was necessary to...)

Campaigns use it to sound serious, and commands to sound personal. A good poster often has both.

Worked example

Let's write a campaign poster

Create a poster for a campaign called Opération Lumière to save electricity at home or at school. Include a title, a slogan, one fact you are sure of, three commands with pronouns, il faut, and who made it.

  1. Title and slogan: OPÉRATION LUMIÈRE · « Une pièce vide ? Une lumière éteinte ! »
  2. A true, simple fact: Une lumière allumée dans une pièce vide utilise de l'électricité pour rien. (Don't invent numbers: use a fact you know or one you counted yourself.)
  3. Commands with pronouns: La lumière ? Éteins-la en sortant ! · Ton chargeur ? Ne le laisse pas dans la prise ! · Ta famille ? Parle-lui de la campagne ! (famille is singular, so lui.)
  4. Il faut: Il faut économiser l'énergie.
  5. Who and for whom: La famille Tremblay — for everyone in the house.
  6. Check: hyphens in positive commands; ne ... pas around pronoun + verb in negative ones.

OPÉRATION LUMIÈRE · « Une pièce vide ? Une lumière éteinte ! » · Une lumière allumée dans une pièce vide utilise de l'électricité pour rien. La lumière ? Éteins-la en sortant ! Ton chargeur ? Ne le laisse pas dans la prise ! Ta famille ? Parle-lui de la campagne ! Il faut économiser l'énergie. — La famille Tremblay

(éteindre = to turn off · un chargeur = a charger · une prise = an outlet · économiser = to save)

Just for fun

Why did the poster get promoted? Because it was great at giving orders: Recyclez-le ! Partagez-la ! Ne la jetez pas ! (Bossy, but for a good cause.)

Hands-on activity

Make a campaign for your home

You need: a sheet of paper or cardboard, markers, and a household problem (lights left on, dishes left in the sink, boots in the hallway, a messy shoe rack).

  1. Choose a target audience (your family) and a goal (Rangez vos bottes !).
  2. Count something real for 2 days (how many times lights were left on, how many pairs of boots in the hallway). That's your statistic.
  3. Make a poster with: a title, a slogan, your statistic, 3 commands with pronouns (Range-les ! Ne les laisse pas ici !), Il faut + infinitive, and your name as the author.
  4. Add a picture that matches your message.
  5. Put it up for one week. Did the habit change? Count again and report the result in one French sentence.

Look for: correct hyphens, a real statistic, and a clear call to action.

Your turn

1

Who made the poster, and who is the target audience?

2

What is the slogan?

3

What statistic does the poster use, and where does it come from?

4

Vas-y ! What does y refer to?

5

N'en achète plus ! What does en replace?

6

What reward does the poster offer?

7

Name one thing that is missing from the poster.

More practice: warm-up

1

Translate: Remplis-la !

2

Translate: Il faut recycler.

3

What is un slogan?

4

Positive command with a pronoun: (Prendre) ton manteau !

5

Replace ta gourde with a pronoun: N'oublie pas ta gourde !

More practice: on your own

1

Make it negative: Mange-les !

2

Make it positive: Ne lui téléphone pas !

3

Replace the words in bold with a pronoun: Va à la bibliothèque !

4

Replace with a pronoun: Prends des pommes !

5

Rewrite with il faut: Nous devons fermer les fenêtres.

Challenge

1

Translate: Help me! Don't leave me here!

2

A poster says: « 9 élèves sur 10 adorent notre nouveau jus ! » — Jus Super-Frais. Ask two critical questions about this claim and explain why they matter.

3

Write 3 lines for a campaign poster about reading (Opération Lecture) using y, en and les in commands.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Ta gourde ? ___ ! (remplir, positive command)

2.

Tes amis ? ___ ! (ne pas parler)

3.

Which is spelled correctly?

4.

The part of a poster that tells the reader what to do is...

5.

Il faut ___ l'eau.

6.

Which question is a critical question about a media text?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Your child reads a campaign poster critically (C1), identifies the persuasive techniques of a media text (C2), and creates a campaign poster (D1). The grammar focus is pronouns in commands (Remplis-la ! Ne la laisse pas !), using le/la/les (Grade 7), lui/leur (Lesson 3) and y/en (Lesson 1), plus il faut + infinitive.

How to help:

  • Look at an ad or flyer together and ask the four critical questions: Who made it? For whom? Why? What is missing?
  • Give each other French commands with pronouns during chores: Les assiettes ? Range-les !

Common difficulties:

  • Forgetting the hyphen, or putting the pronoun after the verb in a negative command (Ne laisse-la pas is wrong).
  • Va-y instead of Vas-y.
  • Inventing statistics. Encourage your child to count something real or use a fact they can check.

Canadian French used (used in Québec and other parts of Canada): une cabane à sucre.