Angers: Past and Present

EL Course, August 2003

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Assignments and Grading

 

Your grade will be based on participation and a portfolio that you will work on during the course and submit two weeks after your return to the U.S. (Friday, September 5^th).   The final edited version of your portfolio should make evident the quality of your writing and your reflections on your experiences. 

 

Grading System:    Portfolio in English (Parts I.and III.) ……………………..40%

                               Portfolio in French  (Part II)………………………………20%

                               Participation ………………  ……………………………..40%

 

Participation

In this experiential learning course, attendance, participation and cooperation are extremely important.  We expect you to work together to enhance each other’s experience.  Any absence from a class or activity will result in an automatic lowering of your grade.

 

Portfolio

This portfolio will consist of the three parts:  short daily assignments written in English, French language assignments, and three longer essays to be written at or near the end of the course.  Plan to write at least a paragraph in French each day as well as a page or more in English.  On days where you do not have a specific assignment (week-ends for example) , you may choose your own topic.  Although you might like a bound journal for keeping notes about your experiences, we recommend loose-leaf paper so that you can turn in assignments or re-arrange materials in your final version. 

 

I. Art, Literature and Culture (written in English)

 

You will be asked to write at least a page daily, usually on a specific topic relating to your reading or to a site visit.  This may consist of notes and reflections on your readings in preparation for class discussions or may relate to your reactions to or impressions of works of art or architecture or other sites we have seen.  You may be asked to read and discuss these short essays in class.

 

Initial assignment – to be written before departure:  What are your expectations for this course? Specifically, explain what you expect to be most rewarding about this experience and what is your primary concern?

II. French Language Assignments

 

The following is a tentative list of assignments to give you an idea of  the kind of work you will be doing.  We may add or modify assignments as we go along to take into account unexpected experiences or your specific interests.   For the French language part of the course, you will build a portfolio of short assignments.  We will ask you to hand them in regularly so that they can be corrected.  At the end of the course, you will submit the entire portfolio with your corrections.  It is not necessary to type these assignments, but they should be written neatly and legibly.  I would suggest you use loose leaf paper so that you can put them in a binder when you return.

 

 

The assignments listed as A are for Sarah and James.  The assignments listed as B are for

Hillary, Kelsey, Stacey, and Shonte.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

En classe chaque jour, nous ferons des exercices et aurons des conversations pour renforcer les structures et le vocabulaire que vous avez étudiés.  Chaque jour vous écrirez au moins un paragraphe en français, soit sur un sujet précis, soit sur un sujet de votre choix.

 

 

                                     A.                                                                   B

lundi   4 août	exercices oraux; à écrire: un paragraphe sur le voyage . ………………………	acheter une carte pour le telephone; téléphoner; presenter votre famille à la classe.  à écrire: une description de votre chambre
mardi  5 août	Oral: description de votre famille; à écrire: la description d’un member de la famille	commander une boisson dans un café; écrire un paragraphe sur les passants. à écrire: un paragraphe sur la cathédrale
mercredi 6 août	Description de la cathédrale	raconter un dîner en famiille; à écrire: une description de la maison.
jeudi  7 août	Oral: vocabulaire de la maison; à écrire: une description de votre chambre	À écrire: un paragraphe sur le château d’Angers
vendredi 8 août	Excursion (facultative)
lundi 11 août	Commander une boisson au café;  oral: discussion sur l’expérience; à écrire: la description des passants.	A écrire: une page sur le role d’Anjou dans les poèmes de Du Bellay
mardi 12 août	Excursion
mercredi 13 août	Aller au supermarché; acheter quelque chose.  Oral: réponses à des questions précises sur les produits; à écrire: un paragraphe sur l’alimentation.	Discussion en classe sur un sujet précis où vous exprimerai vos opinions. A écrire: une page sur la mairie et le gouvernement local.
jeudi 14 août	exercices oraux sur les repas; à écrire: un paragraphe sur un dîner en famille.	Discussion et paragraphe à écrire sur les transports et vos experiences en prenant le bus.
vendredi 15 août	Exercices oraux sur les vêtements; à écrire: un paragraphe sur les vêtements	à écrire: une page sur Rabelais et la Devinière
lundi    18 août	Faire du shopping dans quelques boutiques; essayer des vêtements; poser des questions; à écrire: un paragraphe sur les boutiques	le shopping:  aller dans quelques boutiques; demander des renseignements; essayer des vêtements;  à écrire: un devoir sur Eugénie Grandet et Saumur.
Mardi 19 août	devoir final (à préciser)	devoir final (à préciser)

 

 

III. Final essays (written in English)

 

For your longer essays, you will choose  three of  five possible topics.  For the present, we have left the topics quite general to give you the opportunity to focus on the areas of most interest to you.  In class we can talk about ways to find a focus for your essay. 

 

Your essays should draw on all of your resources and experiences from the course, including information collected in the short assignments, your reading, and online resources.  We will have some reference works available for your use during the class, and a few more (the big heavy ones) at Allegheny when we return, to help you with historical and cultural context.  Here you want to show us your command of  vocabulary, your understanding of the information you have gathered, your ability to synthesize and show connections, and finally your depth of reflection on your experiences.  Although we will not restrict the length of your essay, we will expect something around 3-5 pages for each one. 

 

Topics:

1. The presence of the past in Angers life. 
2. Description of a place or site that epitomizes Angers or Anjou in your mind.
3. The  religious art and architecture in Anjou.  (If you are taking the course for art history credit, you must answer this question.) 
4. The influence of Rabelais’ worldview in present day Angers.
5. The French Revolution in Anjou (including its manifestations in the works of Balzac, David d’Angers and in the châteaux of Saché and Brissac).