Roxane Petit-Rasselle
Office: 208 Mitchell Hall
Office hours : M 3 :25-5 :25
Phone : 831-3070
Email address : Roxy@udel.edu
Why are the French so proud of their history and their culture ? How may art reflect or result from France's historical evolution ? How were political ideals carried from one era to another ? In this course we will study French history through textbooks, articles, slides, films and literary extracts.
Materials :
- Pour connaître la France : Histoire (PCF)
de Nembrini, Bordes et Polivka
- Histoire de France (H) de Labrune et Toutain*
- Supplementary articles will be handed in class.
Students will be expected to read them.
* Please note : Histoire de France is above all
a reference text. Although there will be occasional assignements
from this text, students are strongly encouraged to read the unassigned
sections on their own. Pages 58-113 correspond approximately to the
period covered in class.
- Four feature films will be scheduled for viewing outside
of class ; you may see these with the class or on your own, but you will
be held responsible for their content.
Course requirements :
- Participation and preparation (15%)
- 2 hourly exams (15% each)
- In-class oral presentation (10%)
- 6-8 pp research paper (15%)
- Final exam (20%)
- Quizzes (10%)
Participation and preparation will be graded approximately every three weeks, based on willingness to volunteer, quality of participation and contribution to the class. Participation, preparation and attendance are essential. Since this course is your primary opportunity to interact in French, you should speak French at all times in class, as will your instructor. You are expected to arrive on time. Do not hesitate to ask questions or share your point of view with the rest of the class. In order to be as prepared as possible for class discussions, it is imperative that you have read and taken notes on the day's readings and that you have done the requested assignments before coming to class.
Exams will consist of short answer, identification, and essay questions. Questions will be drawn from the readings, class lectures and discussions, and audio-visual materials. Make-up exams are permitted ONLY with a written and verifiable excuse (generally medical). Contact the instructor on the day of the missed exam at the latest.
The research paper will be written in French and should be from 6 to 8 typed and double-spaced pages in length. Please indicate to me your choice of topic no later than October 12. (I strongly recommend that you come to see me outside class before this date so that we might discuss it.) Your paper will be due at the beginning of class on Dec 5. Failure to turn in your paper in the day it is due will result in the lowering of your grade. However, if you are having exceptional difficulties completing a paper, please notify me by email or by phone.
The oral presentation may be done individually or in pairs. Please choose a topic no later than September 5. An outline of your presentation will be due one week prior to the date of your presentation. Your grade will be based both on the quality of your outline (20%) and the quality of your oral presentation to the class (80%). You may use brief flash card-type notes, but simply reading a prepared text will substantially decrease your grade.
Quizzes will cover readings as well as class discussions. They will last no more than 10 minutes and will not always be announced. Of all your quizzes, your 2 lowest grades will be dropped. Make-up quizzes will not be given.
Note regarding attendance: Attendance is directly related to good absorption of material, and thus to good exam results. Notes taken by anyone other than yourself are generally insufficient: the very act of note-taking is part of the learning process. In addition, class lectures, discussions, and visuals contain materials not otherwise available outside of class. Because attendance is crucial to successful learning, you are allowed only two unexcused absences. Each unexcused absence beyond two (2) will reduce your final overall grade by two percentage points. Excused absences include religious holidays (with advance notification), participation in University-sponsored events, a death in the family or family emergency, sickness or injury with documentation of treatment. Student-athletes should make arrangements with the instructor well in advance of planned absences.
Academic dishonesty : in accordance with University and
deparmental policy, academic dishonesty including plagiarism will result
in an F for the course. Please read the University policy on cheating
or plagiarism or see the instructor.
Week of :
August 27:
Introduction au cours ; L'Ancien Régime : Les Lumières.
(PCF : 80-85 ; H : 58-64)
September 3: Révolution (PCF : 86-87 : H : 64-69) Diapos : le néo-classicisme. FILM : La nuit de Varennes
September 10: La Première République et la Terreur (PCF : 88-91 ; H : 70-71). FILM : Danton
September 17: Napoléon et le Premier Empire (PCF : 92-95 ; H : 72-73) Diapos : le romantisme
September 24: La Restauration et le Second Empire (PCF : 104-07 ; H : 76-84). EXAMEN I.
October 1: La Restauration et le Second Empire (suite) et la Guerre de 1870 (PCF : 117 ; H : 85) Diapos : le réalisme, le pré-impressionisme.
October 8: La Guerre de 1870 et la Commune. Diapos : La condition f?minine
October 15: La Révolution industrielle (PCF : 108-115) et les Paysans au 19ème siècle (PCF : 122-123)
October 22: La Troisième République (PCF : 116-125 ; H : 86-94) EXAMEN II. Fall Break.
October 29: La Troisième République (suite) ; Diapos : le néo-impressionisme
November 5: La Première Guerre Mondiale (PCF : 130-31 ; H :95-99) FILM : La grande illusion
November 12: L'Entre-guerre (PCF : 132-37 ; H : 100-07) Diapos : le cubisme
November 19: La Seconde Guerre Mondiale (PCF : 138-41 ; H : 108-113).
Thanksgiving
November 26: La Seconde Guerre Mondiale (suite).
December 3: Révisions.
FILM : Au revoir les enfants. Research paper due on Dec 5.