Instructor: Nathalie Ettzevoglou
Email: nathalie.ettzevoglou@uconn.edu, nettzevo@gmail.com
Time & Location: Tues/Thurs 2-3:15 ARJ Darpa Lab Office hrs: TBA

Texts we are reading:
- Candide by Voltaire
- The Stranger by Albert Camus
- The Oxford Book of French Short Stories ed. Elizabeth Fallaize
- Monsieur Ibrahim and The Flowers of The Koran by Eric Emmanuel Schmitt
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- The Little Girl and the Cigarette by Benoit Duteurtre
- Ordinary Victories by Manu Larcenet

Course description: This course is designed to familiarize you with a few French texts that have been translated into English. No prior knowledge in the French language or literature is required. We will be exploring a variety of topics from 18th century ideals of optimism to the 21st century view on reality TV. This is also a "W" course where writing will be greatly emphasized. According to the University policy, you must successfully pass the "W" component of the course.

Student Expectations and Requirements:

• All academic misconduct will be dealt with as outlined in the University of Connecticut handbook. This includes plagiarism. I strongly discourage the internet as your source of research to cite in papers.
• I expect you to come to each class prepared to discuss the book we are currently reading. More than 2 absences will result in your grade dropping. Please come to class on time, if you have a class before and are coming from the other side of campus, let me know!
• I do not have a late policy - papers are to be handed in class, they are due with no exceptions unless you have a dean's excuse or some kind of valid explanation with proof. If you turn in a late paper even after class, that is an automatic full letter grade reduction. All papers are to be typed (font 12), double spaced, and stapled.
• Please inform me of any accommodations I must make for you ASAP if need be (for example, if I need to make the font in handouts bigger than 12, etc).
• Participation is vital for you to succeed in this class, if you do not participate (this does not include being physically present in class) then your participation grade will suffer.

Grading:

• 5 papers = 60% (no less than 3pgs) due dates TBA
• In class participation = 25%
• Class wiki = 15 %

Week 1
Jan 22: Introduction to course
Jan 24: Candide Chpt 1-15

Week 2
an 29: Candide Chpt 16-25
Jan 31: Candide Chpt 26-30

Week 3
Feb 5: The Stranger Chpt 1-3 Part I
Feb 7: The Stranger Chpt 4-6 Part I (1st paper due)

Week 4
Feb 12: The Stranger Chpt 1-3 Part II
Feb 14: The Stranger Chpt 4-5 Part II

Week 5
Feb 19: Short Stories
Feb 21: Short Stories

Week 6
Feb 26: Short Stories
Feb 28: Short Stories (2nd paper due)

Week 7
Mar 4: Short film
Mar 6: Short film vs short stories conclusions

Week 8
NO CLASSES
Mar 11: spring break
Mar 13: spring break

Week 9
Mar 18: The Little Prince Chpt 1-17
Mar 20: The Little Prince Chpt 18-27 (3rd paper due)

Week 10
Mar 25: Forbidden Games (film by Rene Clement)
Mar 27: Little Girl & Cigarette Chpt 1-3

Week 11
Apr 1: Little Girl & Cigarette Chpt 4-7
Apr 3: Little Girl & Cigarette Chpt 8-10

Week 12
Apr 8: Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran
Apr 10: Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran film

Week 13
Apr 15: Monsieur Ibrahim conclusion (4th paper due)
Apr 17: Ordinary Victories Chpt 1 (p 1-50)

Week 14
Apr 22: Ordinary Victories Chpt 2 (p 1-30)
Apr 24:Ordinary Victories Chpt 2 (p 31-60)

Week 15
Apr 29: TBA (5th paper due)
May 1: TBA

* This is not a finalized syllabus and may be subject to changes based upon our progress.


WIKI WORK
This semester we will be reading French literature from the 16th century to the present day. With each century, new authors are born who bring forth innovative ideas, stories, and narrative novelties never seen before. However, narrative texts are not just stories created by an artist's imagination. Stories can be influenced by history, art, culture, gastronomy, war, philosophies, revolution and evolution. Through our various books and selected films, we will discover what French literature is all about.
We will be working collaboratively on a project as a class via internet. This is a tool that allows us to create a sort of portfolio not only about the books we will be reading but also a way for us to weave French literature together with the history of the country.
In each wiki entry, you must have (at the very least): - a bibliography of the author - a short historical background situating the text
Extra features can include you tube clips, pictures, articles, links to official sites, etc...be creative! The more creative we get, the cooler our wiki will look! However, we need to reference our findings correctly which we will learn together. And we must use copyright free sources such as: stock.xchng , creative commons and Zoomr. For pictures, Andrew Ferguson's blog post: How To Find Great Photos for Your Blog is great! How will you be graded? I'm looking at the overall organization, clarity, effectiveness, and presentation of your wiki. This includes spelling and grammar. The great thing about wikis is that as registers users, we can log-in, work together, add/change/correct each other anytime!
Your wiki work counts for 15% of your final grade.