French 428: Castles, Cathedrals, and Common People: The Foundations of French Culture U/G Spring 2016, Monday/Wednesday 2-3:15 p.m.

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1 French 428: Castles, Cathedrals, and Common People: The Foundations of French Culture U/G Spring 2016, Monday/Wednesday 2-3:15 p.m., Curtin 103 Instructor: Prof. Nicolas Russell ~ Office: Curtin 788 ~ russelnc@uwm.edu Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 1-1:50 p.m. and by appointment Required texts J. Bédier ed., Tristan et Iseut, Paris: Union Générale d Éditions, 1981 ISBN: L. Harf-Lancner trad., Lais de Marie de France, Paris, Librairie Générale Française, 1990 ISBN: X François Rabelais, Gargantua, G. Demerson éd., Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1996 ISBN: X Chrétien de Troyes, Le Chevalier au Lion ou le roman d Yvain, Ed. and Trans. By David Hult Paris : Librairie Générale Française, 1994 ISBN : Course Reader available at Clark Graphics: 2915 North Oakland Ave Milwaukee, WI Other assigned readings will be available on our course website (D2L): Prerequisites Any two 300-level French literature or culture/civilization courses or consent of instructor. This course is the first part of a three-course sequence (428, 429, 430) on French culture. French majors must complete two out of the three courses in this sequence. If you are a French major who wants to complete the research requirement in this course, please inform the instructor at the beginning of the semester. Work Load In this course, you can expect to spend 2.5 hours per week in class (participating in lecture and discussion, as well as leading class discussion) and between 6-9 hours per week at home preparing for class (reading, preparing various homework assignments), writing essays, studying for quizzes. Over the course of the semester you will spend 37.5 hours in class and approximately 50 hours doing reading assignments, 20 hours doing homework, 12 hours studying for quizzes, and 30 hours researching and writing the various drafts of the final paper. Total time required for this course is approximately hours. Course Overview Continue to improve your reading, listening, speaking, and writing proficiency in French and learn about the foundations of French culture and society. We will follow the evolution of art, ideas, literature, politics, and society during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and study the different relationships between these aspects of the country s history.

2 Attendance and Participation A high level of participation is expected of all students in class. Please come prepared to discuss the material for each day and to answer study questions in class. You should participate actively in class discussion every day we have class. Participation will be graded on a daily basis. You will receive a running participation grade at a couple of points during the semester. Regular attendance is required. After the second absence, any unexcused absence will lower the final participation/attendance grade by 5%. Any use of laptops, cell phones or other handheld devices during class (unless we have a class emergency or need to call technology services) is not permitted and will negatively affect your participation grade. No texting or tapping - even to look up a word in a dictionary app. You will be expected to check your daily and access the course D2L site on a regular basis to stay informed about the work for each week and any potential changes to the program. Readings and Study Questions The schedule below gives a general sense of what we will be covering each week. The specific reading assignment for each class session, along with study questions, will be posted on our D2L website. Review the study questions before you start the reading. You will be asked to answer some of the study questions in writing (see below). The study questions will also be the starting point for class discussion. Being prepared to discuss and give answers to all or most of the study questions in class is central to class participation. This is part of being prepared for class and is part of the participation grade. Homework assignments Homework will take the form of written responses to our study questions (as mentioned above). You will write a word response to one question about once a week, either for the Monday class or the Wednesday class, and you will post it on our D2L discussion board. In order to count, responses must be submitted to the discussion board by 12pm on the day of the class for which they were assigned. The board will no longer accept posts after 12pm. If other students have posted a response to the same question before you, you must read their responses before you write yours. You can respond to a classmate s submission or go in a different direction, but in either case you should add something new to the discussion. You should not repeat what others have already said. The goal of the homework assignment is to have you practice your written French throughout the semester in preparation for the paper you will write and hand in at the end of the semester. With this in mind, your homework assignments will be graded on both language and content (as will be the case for your final paper). Your posts should be based on your attentive reading and analysis of the assigned reading. I encourage you to quote the text to illustrate your argument. This serves to demonstrate how your analysis and answers are grounded in the text. Quizzes There will be two in class exams covering material from the lectures and readings. The exams serve as a gauge of your listening and reading comprehension as well as your engagement with the readings and short lectures. Be sure to take notes during the classroom lectures. Research Paper The paper will be written in French and must be on a topic concerning Medieval and/or Renaissance French culture (literature, the arts, society, etc). The core focus of the paper will be the

3 analysis of a specific primary document or several primary documents related to the topic. Topic suggestions and format will be provided separately and you will be able to meet with the instructor or exchange s to help you choose a topic. Standard paper requirements for undergraduates: Three secondary print sources (in addition to the primary document the paper will be analyzing) should be consulted. At least two of the secondary sources must be in French. The minimal length of the paper is 1500 words (at least 5 pages double spaced); Paper requirements for graduate students and students who wish to complete the L&S research requirement in this class: five secondary print sources (in addition to the primary document the paper will be analyzing) should be consulted. At least three of the secondary sources must be in French. The minimal length for the paper is 3000 words (10 pages double spaced). The paper will be done in several stages including (1) topic proposal, (2) thesis and abstract proposal, (3) first draft, (4) final draft. More information on the format of the paper and due dates will be distributed in class and on D2L soon. Most of the dates are on the syllabus (see below). Extra Credit You will have the opportunity to complete up to three extra credit assignments related to the Festival of Films in French (12-21 February): one to three film reviews in French of films in the festival ( words for each review). I will accept these extra credit assignments until February 29 th. Learning Objectives Through critical investigation of course content, students will: engage in unrehearsed and substantive conversations about the cultural (literary, historical, linguistic, esthetic) content of the course using connected sentences that display mastery of past, present, and future time frames (interpersonal communication standard). demonstrate comprehension of extended speech on course content through a variety of media, including course lectures, video, class discussion (interpretive listening communication standard). demonstrate comprehension of original texts of varying length and complexity and recognize perspectives expressed in literary and non literary texts (interpretive reading communication standard) express ideas on course content in clear, well-organized, polished texts and adjust their writing for specific purposes (presentational writing communication standard) Grading Breakdown* U G Attendance & Participation 25% 15% Weekly Homework Assignments (lowest grade dropped) 25% 15% In Class Exams (two in all) 15% 10% Final Paper (thesis and abstract/outline, due March 9th) 5% 10% Final Paper (first draft, due April 13th) 10% 20% Final Paper (final draft, due May 9th) 20% 30% *Students are expected to comply fully with UWM s policies on academic honesty (for guidelines see

4 University Policies Please see the following link for other UWM course policies: Distribution of grades: A B D A C D B C D B C F 0-59

5 Calendrier Les modifications au programme, si nécessaires, seront annoncées en classe, par courrier électronique et sur notre site D2L. 25 janvier Présentation du cours 27 janvier Tristan et Iseut, chapitres 1-3 ; La France, connaissez-vous? p. 3-8 CP 1 février Tristan et Iseut, chapitres 4-6 ; La France, connaissez-vous? p CP 3 février Tristan et Iseut, chapitres 7-10 ; Zink, «Latin et langue vulgaire» CP 8 février Tristan et Iseut, chapitres ; La France, connaissez-vous? p CP 10 février Tristan et Iseut, chapitres février Visite de «Special Collections» avec Max Yela (Golda Meir Library 4th floor) Zink, «Manuscrits» CP 17 février Marie de France, Prologue et Lanval ; Balard, «Croisades» CP ; Morrisson, «Croisades» CP 22 février Marie de France, Guigemar et Fresne ; La France, connaissez-vous? p CP 24 février Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain, ; La France, connaissez-vous? p CP 29 février Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain, mars Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain, ; Régnier-Bohler, «Amour courtois» CP 7 mars Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain, mars Visite de «Special Collections» avec Max Yela (Golda Meir Library 4th floor) Ménager, «Un moyen de culture et d action : le livre» CP ; Arlette Jouanna, «Imprimerie» D2L Sujet et plan de la dissertation de fin de semestre à rendre (Thesis and abstract/outline due) Vacances (13-20 mars) 21 mars Poésie du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance CP 23 mars Poésie du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance CP ; Jouanna, «Réforme et Réformation» CP 28 mars Poésie du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance CP ; La France, connaissez-vous? p CP 30 mars Interrogation 1 (société féodale, art et littérature, l église au Moyen Âge) 4 avril Rabelais, Gargantua, prologue, chapitres 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13 Arlette Jouanna, «Humanisme» (p ) D2L 6 avril Rabelais, Gargantua, chapitres 14-15, avril Rabelais, Gargantua, chapitres 25, 26, 27, 28, 46, avril La Reine Margot (film Netflix Streaming & à la réserve de la bibliothèque) La France, connaissez-vous? p CP ; Jouanna, «Saint Barthélemy» CP Première version de la dissertation à rendre (first draft of paper due) 18 avril Marguerite de Valois, Mémoires et Discours (sélections) CP 20 avril Marguerite de Navarre, L Heptaméron, nouvelles 4, 25 CP 25 avril Marguerite de Navarre, L Heptaméron, nouvelles 11, 21 CP 27 avril Montaigne, Essais (Au lecteur et De l oisiveté) 2 mai Montaigne, Essais (sélections) 4 mai Examen 2 (humanisme, manuscrits et livres imprimés, la Réforme) 9 mai Présentations et Version finale de la dissertation à rendre (final draft of paper due)