the relationship between hberty andrnequahty according to Tocqueville andrnLeroux, the latter’s eontribution was “torndesignate two symmetrical chasmsrnwhereas both the right and the left hadrncounted (for the previous two centuries)rnonly one social scourge.” Leroux’s descriptionrnof individualism and socialismrnas “two loaded pistols pointed in oppositerndirections” strikes me as one of thernmost vivid (and prophetic) images ofrnthe Cold War world.rnMore than any image or idea, however,rnwhat has stuck with me in the twornyears since I completed ProfesseurrnViard’s course is an appreciation of thernsheer amount of time we spent dissectingrna mere portion of Leroux’s work.rnFrom the middle of November to thernbeginning of February, we concentratedrnsolely on “De rindividualisme” and “DernI’egalite,” a long essay on the evolution ofrnthe principle of equality. Never, in anvrnof the history, literature, or Great Booksrnclasses I have taken in the United States,rnhas a professor devoted so many classrnperiods to such a small amount of reading,rnlet alone by such an unknown figurernas Pierre Leroux, Leroux is not even inrnthe French history books, yet we spentrnhours scrutinizing four or five pages ofrnhis essays at a time.rnMy amazement stems not from arnsense of being let off easy. On the contrary,rnthis class was one of the most challengingrnI have yet taken. For, in requiringrnus to spend months searching outrnclues to Leroux’s system of thinking andrnevidence for his theses rather than allowingrnus to skim quickly for his overallrnmeaning, Professeur Viard made usrnthink—something most of the Americansrnin his class had neyer mastered duringrnthe “learning” by rote that is our undergraduaterneducation these days.rnHis method was not that of a madrn/'()r bnmediiife SaviccrnCHRONICLESrnNEW SUBSCRlBt.KSrnTOI.LFRKE NUMBERrn1-800-877-5459rnscholar impassioned about somernmarginal worker-philosopher, but ratherrnthat of the French professorate as arnwhole. For his was not by any means thernonly course in which I was required tornprobe passages of text. Time and again,rnon works of both fiction and nonfiction,rnfor an oral presentation or for a writtenrnexam, I was asked to perform an explicationrnde texte. The French center so muchrnof their education upon this methodrnthat college-age students have the routinerndown pat: whether or not they havernstudied for an exam, they know how torngo through an elaborate ritual of “drawingrnnear to the text” at hand, pickingrnout the main ideas and constructingrnparagraphs around them. The explicationrnconsists of concentrating on onernshort chapter or section of a work at arntime; plucking adjectives, adverbs, andrnmetaphors out of a passage for comment;rnexamining the diction, syntax, andrnverb tense of a section; and notingrnchanges in any of these elementsrnthroughout a text. All of these processesrnprovide hints to an author’s tone andrnmeaning, on which a student is preparedrnto comment only after extensive study.rnWith a line like “The principle of authority,rneven when disguised under thernfashionable name of devotion, is no betterrnthan the principle of egotism, hidingrnunder the fashionable name of liberty”rnfrom “De rindividualisme,” for example,rna perceptive reader would comment onrnthe parallel structure. Comparing “principle,”rn”disguised,” and “fashionablernname” in the first half of the sentencernwith “principle,” “hiding,” and “fashionablernname” in the second half, hernwould conclude that the two subjects,rnauthority and egotism (or devotion andrnliberty), are equal evils, hideed, our perceptivernreader would probably remarkrnthat this line is consistent with the imagesrnof Scylla and Charybdis and of twornloaded pistols that Leroux uses to showrnhow socialism and individualism are therntwo political perils to be avoided in thernmodern world. A single sentence thus illuminatesrnthe deeper meaning of thernwhole work.rnWhat is the goal of all this rigamarole?rnTo improve the analytical skills and honernthe thought processes of students. Studentsrntrained in this method can dornmore than regurgitate a professor’s predigestedrnpabulum or spout forth “opinions”;rnthey perform mental gymnastics,rndisplaying both discipline and grace, hirnAmerican university courses, studentsrnare coddled by professors who emphasizerndiscussion at the expense of instruction,rneven as they are required by these samernprofessors to ingest up to 500 pages perrncourse per week. This is especially truernof the so-called survey courses, wherernteaching assistants wander aimlessly withrnstudents through a maze of lecture notesrnand readings. Compare this with thernFrench system, where even in introductoryrnclasses like “The Roman EmpirernFrom Augustus to Trajan” the focus is onrnconfronting ancient inscriptions and primaryrnaccounts rather than on thumbingrnthrough chapter after chapter of textbooksrnand coursepacks. For me, anrnAmerican student transplanted abroadrnand then back again, this method madernme a better reader not only in French butrnalso in English.rnAs the year went along, I began to seernhow the pace of my courses merely reflectedrnthe pace of life in France, generally.rnThe French methode de texte is all ofrna piece with the French methode de vie:rnwhether in education, in cuisine, or inrnconversation, the French attitude is torntake one’s time. The haste that, inrnAmerica, yields Cliff Notes, fast food,rnand empty promises like “Let’s dornlunch” simply has no place in Frenchrnclassrooms, eateries, or relationships.rnWhile it takes longer to study a subject,rnprepare and consume a meal, or forge arnfrierrdship according to the French wayrnof doing things, the result is ultimatelyrnmore thorough, flavorful, and lasting.rnBut this fagon de vivre does not developrnout of nowhere: French boys and girlsrnimbibe their manners from the institutionsrnof their culture, including thernschools. The French educational systemrnforms the character of the Frenchman.rnTo be sure, there are significant problemsrnwith the French educational system.rnBecause students are started downrna certain educational path early on andrnexercise little choice in courses, theyrnsometimes lack drive or enthusiasm forrntheir field of study. They also tire, asrnanybody would, of the structure and regimentrnof their assignments. But comingrnfrom a system in which both course andrndegree requirements are increasingly relaxed,rna more rigorous academic routinernmade my year in Provence more thanrnjust a series of pleasures and amusements.rnIt was the real beginning of myrneducation.rnChristine Haynes is the assistant editorrnof Chronicles.rn42/CHRONICLESrnrnrn