Mme Diane Crowder, College Hall 310, ext 4345, e-mail dcrowder
Class Hours: 9-11:30 MWF, 9-11 & 1:30-3 TTH,
Office Hours: 11:30-12:30 MW, 3-4 TTh, or by appointment
Texts:
Recommended -- A reference grammar (one is available
at bookstore)
A good French dictionary (Petit Larousse, etc.) and/or
a good French/English Dictionary (Robert Collins,Oxford Hachette, or Harraps).
Goals of the course:
1. To improve writing skills and expression of ideas in French. We will work on composition skills throughout the course.
2. To improve fluency and vocabulary in spoken French.
3. To increase speed and comprehension in reading various types of texts.
4. Review of the trickier points of French grammar, as needed.
Requirements:
1. Daily attendance is required and classwork grades will be lowered for unexcused absences. See/call me if you have a real emergency.
2. There will be a composition (rédaction) due each Thursday, and some shorter writing assignments will be given at other times as well. Compositions are to be typed, double-spaced, and neat. I strongly encourage all of you to use the Word writing program in the HMC (CH 102) to write your composition, since these machines are equipped with French writing tools. Since the computer labs are heavily used, all of you can't use them on Thursday nights! Plan ahead!
3. Do the daily reading assignments. You can't contribute to the discussion if you haven't done the reading! There will be short quizzes over readings, grammar, vocabulary.
4. There will be a term paper due at the end of the course. This is a 6-8 page paper on a topic of your choice related to either the readings or to other aspects of French culture that interest you.
5. Each student will give oral presentations during the course. These will be assigned as we do various readings. In addition, you will do an oral presentation before the last Friday based upon (1) research you have done using scholarly materials from the library or interlibrary loan, and (2) research you have done using other sources, one of which should be quite current (L'Express, internet links, etc). This should be on a topic other than your term paper.
6. Every Friday we will have a "current events" discussion. You will have been reading a French-language news source on the Web and will bring to class a printout of a story you want to discuss. You must type up a brief list of vocabulary needed to understand the story and make enough copies to hand out to the class and one to turn in to me.
7. Part of your ongoing assignment will be to help us all construct a French 301 Web site. This will include the following kinds of materials (at least): (1) general megasites or other sites that you find useful to begin searching for French language materials; (2) sites that are especially appropriate for the various assignments in the course; (3) "fun" sites that you would like to keep returning to later; and (4) your personal favorite sites. For each site we will want your comments!
ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED LATE! If you have an excused absence (illness, family emergency, etc), turn in the assignment as soon as possible.
Approximate weighting of grades will be: classwork (including quizzes, informal oral presentations) -- 40%, compositions -- 30%, term paper -- 20%, oral presentation -- 10%.
The college drop policy will be enforced. This means you cannot drop the course the third Friday unless you have met all the above requirements. Plagiarism/academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Tentative Syllabus: Items should be prepared for the day on which they are
listed. The syllabus is "tentative" because (1) each group of students
has different skills and therefore different needs, so grammar and other assignments
may need to be adjusted accordingly, and (2) new readings become available on
the Web and elsewhere and may be substituted for listed readings. TBA= to be
announced
Week 1 — General topic= descriptions
Day 1 Introduction, Ch. 3 in Ecrivons. Reading: Halloween. Read
for Tues. Robitaille article.
Day 2 Reading: Robitaille article. Ecrivons, portraits pp. 44-54; p.m. Grammar--passé simple (review), present participle, past infinitive.
Day 3 Reading: "La Maison". Ecrivons, description d'un lieu pp. 54-62 . For Day 4: Web: Find a Web site that is devoted to one of the following:
food, fashion, a famous Francophone person, or a place you'd like to visit.
Your chosen material MUST include descriptions! Prepare to discuss it
in class, telling us what information it gives, and highlighting the descriptive
phrases/vocabulary.
Day 4 . Rédaction 1 due. Discussion of your Web research. grammar--adjectives, adverbs.
Reading for Friday:TBA
Day 5 Discussion of reading. Actualités
from a European (French, Belgian, Swiss) newspaper. Oral practice with descriptions
of people and places.
Part 2 — General topic= narrating stories
Day 6 Tentative term paper topic due. Ecrivons, Ch.4. Reading:
Bretecher comic strip.
Day 7 Reading: "Le crime au père Boniface." Grammar--review
of past tenses.Vocabulary of the media and literature. Web: For tomorrow
go to a French-language newspaper and find a story (we'll assign in class
what type of story) and print it out. Prepare to tell the story to the
class.
Day 8 Grammar--indirect discourse; Narration of newspaper stories.
Web assignment: find a site with a humorous story-- not a short joke, but something
with narration. Can be a BD, or a zine story, etc. Bring it in for Friday .
Day 9 Rédaction 2 due. Story-telling! You will
have prepared two stories you can tell the class orally. Grammar: relative pronouns
Day 10 Humorous story sharing. Be prepared with a narrative of your
favorite film.
Actualités from a non-European Francophone newspaper.
Part 3 — General topic= making arguments and developing ideas
Day 11 Ecrivons, ch.1, Reading: TBA. Web assignment: find
a web site that takes a position on a socio-political topic. (Ex., an
editorial in a newspaper/magazine, a site for a movement or political party,
etc.) Print out and highlight (a) major points in the argument, and (b) words/phrases
used to link arguments and make points
Day 12 am. Presentation of web materials. Pm: Ecrivons
Day 13 ., discussion
of current newsmagazine article TBA
Day 14 Rédaction 3 due. Debate. Grammar: object and disjunctive
pronouns
Day 15 Atelier: Bring in most recent draft of your paper to share in small
groups and get suggestions for improvement. Make at least 3 copies for others.
Actualités: Find a major story in at least 2 different newspapers and see how they are different in point of view, etc
Day 16 Review of any material students need to write term papers. Final
discussion topic TBA.
Day 17 Writing day-- no class.
Day 18 Term papers due at 9:00 sans faute! We will meet at my house
for coffee and pastries! You should be prepared to tell us about your term paper
in French. Evaluations
Last updated: 10/9/07