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The feminist revolutionary Olympe de Gouges

"La révolutionnaire féministe Olympe de Gouges"
French C1 writing exercise

Bastien tells us about this extraordinary humanist writer from 18th century France.

Use Le Passé Simple when appropriate

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "essential", "women's right struggle", "long before", "to attend (salons)", "the Enlightenment", "to erupt (event)", "involved", "committed", "the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen", "to oppose [something]", "slavery", "to cause someone to [have problems]".

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE
Last updated: 2023-01-20

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise
How the test works
You’ll practise: Mode subjonctif, Le Subjonctif Présent, Le Passé Simple (Indicatif)

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

Though you might have never heard her name before, Olympe de Gouges played an essential part in the women's rights struggle, and that long before the term "feminist" made an appearance. She regularly attended the literary salons of the Enlightenment, until the French Revolution erupted in 1789. Very involved, she wanted the revolution to include women, for whom she demanded equality of rights. In 1791, she wrote a text as committed as famous: the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen. But her humanist commitment didn't stop there. She also strongly opposed slavery which she denounced in several plays, which caused her to receive many threats.

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