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nle2007 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:10:02 CDT

Bonjour and Welcome!

Welcome to FREN270W! This is a course that fulfills a general education requirement at UCONN. Students come from all sorts of majors and minors which is perhaps one of the greatest features. The goal of this class is to expose students to some French literature texts that have been translated into English with the emphasis on student writing.

Our wiki will take you on a journey through French literature, culture, and civilization. We hope to share with you various information about certain authors who have shaped the French literary world from the 16th century to the modern day.

Short Stories

nle2007 — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:15:18 CDT

The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814)

The Marquis de Sade was born Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade on June 2, 1740. His father, Jean Baptiste, was the Comte de Sade, and his mother was Marie-Elonore de Maille de Carman, the Comtesse de Sade. At the age of four, he was sent to live with his grandmother, whose five daughters visited frequently and doted on the young Donatien. The Comte, who was forced to travel, wished to infuse his son’s upbringing with the masculine presence and influence that he himself was not able to provide, as opposed to the sensual affection of his aunts. Thus, after only a year, Donatien was sent to live with the Comte’s brother, Abbe Jacques-Francois de Sade, a noted scholar and author of his time. Abbe de Sade was a good friend of Voltaire and very open minded. And so, Donatien found himself placed, at an age where his mind was still very malleable, in yet another setting where adults treated sex and sexuality as recreational means to a pleasurable end. The Abbe spent only three months out in the real world and so the rest of his time was spent in his library, reading selections from his voluminous collection of varying titles. Donatien was free to read any of the books in the Abbe’s library, and, in the absence of other playmates his age and following his uncle’s example, he more often than not found recreational refuge within the pages of most of the texts kept in his uncle’s library, including those which were of less than classical origin.

The Marquis grew up with an extreme view of sex. He was jailed several times for abusing the local whores of France, but the worst offense was his fetish for children. He kept six girls living in his house for six weeks, writing accounts of their sexual interactions on a daily basis. He was able to evade the police for three years, until in 1777 he was finally found in his home by a policeman carrying an arrest warrant signed by King Louis XVI himself. He remained in prison for 13 years, finally freed during the French Revolution.

The majority of his works were pornographic and written during his long imprisonment. However, some of his short stories, such as the story we read for class entitled The Husband Who Said Mass, were much less graphic while still exhibiting the same pornographic themes. He also wrote several plays, political pamphlets, and regularly exchanged correspondence while in prison. However, none of these gained as much notoriety posthumously as his novels, including The Crimes of Love and Incest.

An analysis of the short story The Husband Who Said Mass reveals many of his typical sexual references as well as references to his early life. He refers to the monastery called Saint-Hilaire as the "dumping-ground for all the Carmelite communities in the area, for to it each consigns those Brothers who have brought dishonor to their calling", no doubt referring to his uncle who he would have seen as bringing dishonor on his calling. However, he continues to call the "womanizers [and] sodomites" in the company "far from wholesome" even though he would have fallen into that category in his own life. When describing the main woman in his story, it is said that she has "everything required of a dish to set before a monk", showing that in his mind, women are physically sexual objects and do nothing more than bring pleasure to men. He also speaks of "desires which seemed to her much too ardent to be resisted any longer", presumably referring to the many desires he had experienced in his life. The entire story reflects the intertwining of religion and sexual desires in the Marquis' life.

However, the main theme of the story seems to be that the secular community will always be taken advantage of by the religious community because of the stigma attached to being irreligious or especially sinful. The main character, Father Gabriel, is a religious man who is in love with a neighborhood woman and uses his religious affiliations to get her husband out of the way long enough for them to have an affair. Based on the Marquis' view of all religious personnel in relation to his uncle, he makes Father Gabriel seem like a perverted soul despite the fact that his description makes him out to be otherwise a perfect gentleman. Perhaps the Marquis is really describing himself when he calls Father Gabriel a "stallion" who was "as well endowed as the province's finest mules", both a desirable and slightly pornographic inclusion to his story. But it is not enough for the Marquis de Sade's story to be about the perverted passions of a friar and the deceiving of a loving husband, he must also touch on the notion that favors are done with other intentions such as committing adultery. This may stem from the Marquis' unsuccessful marriage, but perhaps it is simply the fact that we all trust too much and in a world of self-centered people we cannot do too much to protect what little we have in the world. ~ by Katie

Honore De Balzac (1799 -1850)

Honore De Balzac was born May 20, 1799 in Tours, France. He was the son of Bernard-Francois Balssa, and Anne-Charlotte-Laure Sallambie, the daughter of a Parisian superior. Balzac was a French writer and a journalist, who studied at the College de Vendome and the Sorbonne, where he also worked in law offices. He moved to Paris where and attempted to pursue a career and literature, and also worked for a publishing company. He failed at these commercial activities and decided he wanted to pursue his passion as a writer, and wrote his first work called "The Cromwell". He proceeded to publish as many as 30 published works before he married Ewelina Hanksa. They wed on March 14, 1850 in Berdychiv, Russia, but soon after his health was in major decline and he started to suffer from major cardiac problems. Five months after his wedding Balzac died August 18, 1850 and was buried at the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in Paris.

Many of his works have helped him earn the ranks among the great masters of the novel. Many of his greatest works have been combined in the book La Comédie Humaine. Other notable works include:
Clotilde de Lusignan (1822)
Le Centenaire (1822)
Le Vicaire des Ardennes (1822)
La Dernière Fée (1823)

The Message, is a short story about a tragedy en route from Paris to Moulins that delivers many meaningful messages about trust, love, and pursuing happiness. He makes a companion on the trip to Moulins, in which they exchange stories of love and romance, during the course of the trip the coach overturns and kills the man. Through the bond that Balzac forms with the stranger he promises to fulfill this dying man's wishes of going to see his mistress and delivering letters she had written him and news of his death. Balzac goes to the man's home, retrieves the letters of the mistress, and to travels to her home. Balzac fulfills his promise and while at the mansion of the mistress, he informs her of the unfortunate event that has happened. She suffers for her loss, but also is aware of the fragility of love and happiness, and sends Balzac back to Paris wishing him to always be happy and to never lose his love. This story comes into perspective of how delicate love is and the happiness that is attached to it, and is the reason why Balzac dedicates this story to young lovers who are willing to take refuge into each other's hearts. ~ by Joe

Émile Zola (1840-1902)

Émile Zola was born in Paris and spent his childhood in Aix-en-Provence which is in the southeast of France before returning back to Paris after his father had died. In his youth he became friends with the painter Paul Cézanne and started to write under the influence of the romantics. During his formative years Zola wrote several short stories and essays, 4 plays and 3 novels. As a French novelist and critic and the founder of the Naturalist movement in literature, Zola redefined Naturalism as "Nature seen through a temperament”. Which can be best described as the rejection of the supernatural and more emphasis on scientific reasoning. Zola died on September 28, in 1902, under mysterious circumstances, overcome by carbon monoxide fumes in his sleep. It was speculated that some of Zola’s enemies covered his chimney thus suffocating him as he slept. Naturalism as a literary movement fell out of favor after Zola's death, but his integrity had a profound influence on such writers as Theodore Dreiser, August Strindberg and Emilia Pardo-Bazan.

The short story we read was the Story of a Madman. It begins with Isidore-Jean-Louis Maurin as a worthy middle-class citizen and who had married an eighteen year old blond. She was cheating on him with another tenant who lived upstairs. The wife convinces him that he is a madman to get out of the marriage. Henriette soon leaves her lover and goes to the mental institution to confess to Maurin that she had caused him to become insane. In fact, he replicated what she had done to him to make himself go insane and was thus fully insane when she visited him. Zola, in the story of a Madman, is seeking to show the reader that madness is all relative, in that, one may think that he is mad and another might believe that he is not insane. The wife in the story fakes being unstable but does not become mad, while the husband is made to believe that he has become mad. The doctors at the mental institution believed they had found a new form of illness, which strikingly sounds as though they were looking for a new madness. Since Zola is a naturalist it is not believable to the reader that he simply became mad, this would be quite unexplainable. Instead a more likely conclusion might be that he was mad all along, hording himself in his apartment and barely going out. In addition, it could have been that the husband was not mad at all but rather he did not want to return to his apartments with his wife, who had cheated and lied to him. ~by Michelle

Some of his other works include:
Thérèse Raquin (1867)
Les Rougon-Macquart(various dates)
Germinal (1885)
Contes á Ninon, (1864)
La Confession de Claude (1865)
Madeleine Férat (1868)
Le Roman Experimental (1880)

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897)

Alphonse Daudet, author of the short story The Last Lesson we read for class, was born in Nimes in 1840. After the collapse of his father's business, his family moved to Lyons, where Daudet showed very little interest in school. Besides his lack of interest in a formal education, Daudet wrote his first novel by the age of 14. He had become a schoolteacher soon after the move, but in 1857, at the age of 17, Daudet abandoned teaching altogether. He took refuge with his brother Ernest, who was a struggling journalist in France. Daudet, too, furthered his interest in writing and published Les Amoureuses in 1858. The work didn't attract much attention. Daudet began to write plays and this is when his work began to be recognized. His work showed much promise, and he was appointed one of the secretaries of Napoleon III's ministers.

In 1872, Daudet published Les Aventures Prodigieuses De Tartarin De Tarascon, or The Wonderful Adventures of Tartain de Tarascon and the three-act play L'Arlesienne. This is when Daudet's career really began to take off. In 1874, Daudet's literary career seemed to reach its peak with his publication of Fromont Jeune et Risler Aine or Fromont and Risler. The short story became a hit in the French literary world, with its creativity and truthfulness behind its characters. Daudet went on to publish a number of short stories and plays (listed below). Throughout his career, Daudet was charged with imitating the work of Charles Dickens. Daudet claimed while his work was similar to that of Dicken's, he had never done such a thing and his writing was truly his own. Daudet used his own life experiences in his works, as well as the people he met and the places he visited. Daudet died in 1897, but his work lives on today.

The short story our class read, The Last Lesson, begins with a small boy from Alsace rushing to get to Monsieur Hamel's class on time. The setting is an unnamed town in Alsace, and the story takes place near the beginning of the Prussian occupation of Alsace and Lorraine, about 1873. When he gets to class rather than Monsieur Hamel getting angry with him for being late, the young boy is told just to take his seat. The boy notices his teacher is dressed rather oddly, with his best green coat and academic cap. The young boy notices the classroom is full today, which is unusual, as all the village people sat quietly and somber. Monsieur Hamel proceeds to the front of the classroom where he announces, "Children, this is the last time I shall take this class. Orders have come from Berlin that only German is to be taught in schools in Alsace and Lorraine... Today is your last French lesson" (p. 79). After hearing this, the young boy panics. He regrets all the times he skipped classes and all the times he didn't pay attention in class. He worries he will never learn to write and the thought of never seeing Monsieur Hamel again greatly bothers him. After forty years of teaching, Monsieur Hamel was told he could no longer do what he loved to do. The teacher explains to the students in his classroom that the problem with people in Alsace is that they put education off until tomorrow. He explains they all share the guilt, including the parents of these children who would rather have their child work in the fields than get an education. Monsieur Hamel proceeds to go on to teach his last lesson, a lesson that the young boy, Frantz, says he'll never forget. Monsieur Hamel took in for one last time the classroom he had taught in for the past forty years, before ending the lesson saying, "Viva la France" (p. 81). ~ by Shawn

Selected works:

LES AMOUREUSES, 1858 - Women in Love
LA DERNIÉRE IDOLE, 1862
CHAPATIN LE TUEUR DE LIONS, 1863 - Chapatin the Lion Killer
LE FRÈRE AÎNÉ, 1865
LE PETIT CHOSE, 1868 - The Little Good-For-Nothing
LISE TAVERNIER, 1869
LETTRES DE MON MOULIN, 1869 - Letters from My Mill
LES AVENTURES PRODIGIEUSES DE TARTARIN DE TARASCON, 1872 - The New Don Quixote or the Woderful Adventures of Tartarin de Tarascon
L'ARLÉSIENNE, 1872 - The Woman of Arles - Arlesitar
LES CONTES DU LUNDI, 1873 - Monday Tales
FROMONT JEUNE ET RISLER AÎNÉ, 1874 - Fromont the Younger and Risler the Elder / Fromont and Risler
LES FEMMES D’ARTISTES, 1874 - Artist’s Wives

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)

Maupassant is widely renown as the greatest writer of French short stories. According to an article about the author on Suite101.com, he was born in 1850 in Northern France. He was expelled from his school and decided to travel to Paris to study law, but with the start of the Franco-Prussian war, he signed up to join the army. When the war ended, he began writing short stories under the mentorship of Gustave Flaubert, a friend of his mother’s and another well-known French short story writer. Another article (found here) describes Maupassant as having a photographic memory which allowed him to write vividly and with haunting imagery. Maupassant was widely known as a womanizer; he hated working and “spent much of his free time in pursuit of women.” A short story entitled Boule de Suif, or Ball of Fat, is widely considered to be his greatest work and was written in 1850. The Necklace, another well known story, is just another of the more than 300 he had written during the1880’s. Maupassant contracted syphilis sometime during his 20s. The disease ultimately led to his madness and in 1892, he unsuccessfully tried to kill himself by slitting his own throat. He was committed to a mental institution and dies about a year later.

In The Necklace, Maupassant comments on the social classes of French society. Madame Loisel is terribly unhappy to be a lower class citizen, much to the dismay of her husband who does what he can to please her to no avail. When she is invited to a ball, she becomes distraught over the fact that she has no jewelry, but is able to borrow a diamond necklace from a friend. Upon realizing that she has lost the jewelry, her husband buys a replica to return to her friend and spend years of their lives living like paupers in order to repay their debt - only to find out in the dramatic conclusion that the original was a fake. Maupassant seems to be acknowledging that people like Madame Loisel will never be happy with their situation in life; they will always want to appear to be more sophisticated and worldly in order to impress superior social classes. The irony lies in that Madame Loisel spent years of her life living miserably just to have been "happy" for one night from feeling like a rich socialite. ~ by Holly

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905- April 15,1980), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. He was a leading figure in 20th century French philosophy. Sartre was born in Paris, and as a teenager in the 1920’s while mountaineering in Canada he became attracted to philosophy when reading Henri Bergson’s Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness. He studied in Paris at the elite Ecole Normale Superieure but was also influenced by Western philosophy. He absorbed ideas from Immanuel Kant, Georg Willhelm Friedrich Hegel and Martin Heidegger. In 1929, he met Simone de Beauvoir, noted thinker, writer, and feminist. The two became inseparable and life mates, creating a romantic relationship that wasn’t monogamous. Sartre also challenged the cultural and social assumption and expectations of his society.

In "The Wall," the protagonist in the story is about to face death (execution). The moment when he knows that his death is inevitable his whole perspective about life changes. Chasing girls, having fun, and fighting for liberty no longer matter to him. But he still is not going to sacrifice another man's life to save his own. Sartre shows in this story that even when a man is about to face death, he doesn't lose all of the principles he found important. The narrator still had some honor left, but he realized how discouraging death can be, a person can feel how fragile he is and how precious time can be when death is knocking at the door . Death has a way of "disenchanting" everything (p.214). Regrets rush to a person's mind, and he wishes that he had appreciated more the special moments and opportunities of his life. As death approaches, Sartre shows how death can be seen everywhere in the narrator's cell and that the only thing to do is cope with the thought he is inevitably going to die. Sartre suggests that people live with the illusion of being eternal, but losing that illusion, like the narrator did can mean you're just as good as dead. Even when the narrator realized he was going to be spared; it was too late, the illusion he once had will never be attained again. ~ by Yovanny

Selected works:

-L'Imagination (Imagination: A Psychological Critique), 1936

-La Transcendance de l'égo (The Transcendence of the Ego), 1937

-La Nausée (Nausea), 1938

-Le Mur (The Wall), 1939

-Esquisse d'une théorie des émotions (Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions), 1939

-L'Imaginaire (The Imaginary), 1940, lit. "The Unconscious"

-Les Mouches (The Flies), 1943

-L'Être et le néant (Being and Nothingness), 1943

-Huis-clos (No Exit), 1944

-L'Existentialisme est un humanisme (Existentialism is a Humanism), 1946

-La Putaine respectueuse (The Respectful Whore) 1946

-Qu'est ce que la littérature? (What is literature?), 1947

-Baudelaire, 1947

-Situations, 1947

Simone De Beauvoir (1908-1986)

Simone De Beauvoir was born on January 9, 1908 in Paris. Her father Georges was a lawyer and a one time actor. Georges was known for always wanting to have a son, instead he had two daughters. He would constantly tell Simone that she had the brain of a man. Simone was a great student. She was educated in good schools and at the age of 15 decided she wanted to become a writer. She attended the University of Paris and studied philosophy. At school she met Jean-Paul Sartre and they ended up dating. In 1929, at the age of 21 she became the youngest student to ever receive the aggregation in philosophy. She wrote novels, essays, and monographs on politics, philosophy, and social issues. She is best known for her novels The Second Sex, The Mandarins, and She Came To Stay. She died April 14, 1986 in Paris from pneumonia. She is seen as the mother of post 1968 feminism.

One of her works that we studied in class was the short story Monologue. In this story a rich, spoiled woman is alone on New Year's eve and is bitter about it. She hates the fact that she does not have a companion to share her life with and tells us about it. She envies every woman she sees that has children that wait on her and a mate. One minute she blames everyone and the next herself for the situation she is in. Her daughter has committed suicide and her son was taken away from her in her divorce settlement. She examines her whole life. She basically shares with us a lifetime of anger and frustration in about twenty pages. The moral of the story is that even though this woman has lots of material things that others would want, she does not have the things that money can't buy, such as love and happiness. She lives her life in regret second guessing every decision she has made. She finds herself wishing that she would have done some things different. If only we could turn back the hands of time. ~ by Joel

Stendhal (1783-1842)
by Yovanny Henao

Stendhal, also known by his birth name Marie-Henri Beyle was born on Jan. 23, 1783 in Grenoble, France. After going through a rough childhood Stendhal joined the army during the Napoleonic era. Marie served the army for several year then retired to become a French Consul, it was around this time that he began his writing. His first novel was "The Charterhouse of Parma;" set in Italy, it shows how sincere and passionate Marie was of Italy compared to his troubled home country that was going through a restoration period. Marie began taking up the name Stendhal after writing his first novel. Scholars aren't certain where he got the name from, either from the German city Stendhal or from a novel he had read. Through Stendhal's novels he shows empathy to women, but also showed an obsesssion with sex. During the romantic period, Stendhal wrote in a realistic style and his work wasn't appreciated till the 20th century. Often thought of as a romantic realist, thanks to his work "On Love," he fused tension with unrequited love. Overall as a writer he can be put in the category of realist and his work was appreciated for its' irony, psychological, and historical aspects.

Selected works:

Armance (1827)

Le Rouge et le Noir (variously translated as Scarlet and Black, Red and Black, The Red and the Black, 1830)

La Chartreuse de Parme (1839) (The Charterhouse of Parma)

Lucien Leuwen (1835, unfinished, published 1894)

Lamiel (1839-42, unfinished, published 1889)

Theophile Gautier (1811-1872)

Pierre Jules Theophile Gautier was a writer, a poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist and literary critic. Born in the city of Tarbes, Gautier was well educated and as a young man was introduced to Victor Hugo, who became an important influence for him. It was Hugo that turned Gautier's attention towards literature. In 1826, Gautier began to write poetry and for most of his life contributed to "La Presse" with his articles. His contribution to journals helped him meet people in high places in the world of art. Gautier's literature had a certain personal style to it and showed his tastes in art and culture. He was regarded highly for his works in the 19th century and it opened up a great opportunity to work for royalty as a librarian and be a part of the court.

selected works:

Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835)

Le Roman de La Momie (1858)

Le Capitaine Fracasse (1863)

Prosper Merimee (1803-1870)

Born in Paris, Merimee was educated in law as well as three other languages. He was the first interpreter of Russian literature in France. Influenced by Charles Nodier, Prosper showed interest in mysticism, history, and the supernatural. Best known for his novel "Carmen," Prosper got the inspiration to write from his friend the Countess of Montijo in 1830. The countess later on became Napoleon's wife and Empress of France, and awarded Prosper with a seat in the senate.

Selected Works:

Cromwell (1822) -
Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul (1825)
La Guzla (1827)
La Jacquerie (1828)
La Chronique du temps de Charles IX (1829)
"Mateo Falcone" (1829)
Mosaïque (1833)
Les âmes du Purgatoire (1834)
La Vénus d'Ille (1837)
Notes de voyages (1835-40)
Colomba (1840)
Carmen (1845)

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

Considered to be among the greatest of Western novelists, Flaubert's first work was the "The Temptation of Saint Anthony," the novel didn't impress those that were close to him and advised him to focus on life taking it a day at a time. In 1850, Flaubert wrote "Madame Bovary" and this novel took five years to write. At first it wasn't appreciated because the government took action against the publisher and the author. They were charged with immorality, but later on were acquitted. When the novel finally came out in book form, it received a warm reception from the public. In 1858, Flaubert wrote his next novel "Salammbo", which took him four years to write. It didn't do as well as his first novel, but the public enjoyed the references to Carthage. Flaubert showed a lot of vigor in his work, he was seen equally as a romantic, realist, and pure stylist. Seen as one of the greatest writers who lived in France, many realists and formalists traced their origin to his works.

selected works:

Mémoires d’un fou (1838) (tr. Memoirs of a Madman)
Madame Bovary (1857)
Salammbô (1862)
L'Éducation sentimentale (1869) (tr. Sentimental Education)
La Tentation de Saint Antoine (1874) (tr. The Temptation of Saint Anthony)
Trois contes (1877) (tr. Three Tales) (More short stories published in "Early Writings": ISBN 0-8032-1982-2)
Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881, posthumously published)
Dictionnaire des idées reçues (1911, posthumously published, tr. Dictionary of Received Ideas)
November (written, 1842)

Birago Diop

Born December 11, 1906 in Senegal in Africa as the youngest of three brothers to his mother Sokhna and mason father who left the family before he was born. When he was fifteen he attended Lycée Faidherbe, a French-language school on scholarship. He also served in the military for a while as a nurse and then attendedveterinary college after that.

In France, Diop studied at the École Nationale Vétérinaire in the city of Toulouse, and completed further studies in exotic veterinary medicine in Paris. He met other black writers and began writing during this time and some of his earlier poems were also published starting his appearance in the public eye. It was after he returned to Africa that he began writing his collection of short stories. These were based off stories told to him by tribal elders during his travels as a veterinarian. He established his own veterinary practice in Dakar after 1964, and continued to write folktales and dramas as well as continuing his work.
Diop died at the age of 83 in Dakar leaving his wifeMarie-Louise Pradére, who was an accountant, and his two childrenRenee and Andree. Some of his works include Les Contes d'Amadou Koumba,Les Nouveaux Contes d'Amadou Koumbaand his last workMother Crocodile: MamanCaimanwhich came out in 1981.
-Jamie

Question of the Week!

JLP87 — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:01:00 CDT

Here's where you can answer it!

- Why is it that short films are so much more popular in Europe than in the USA?

Until we watched a series of short films in our class, I had never really been exposed to this type of entertainment before. While I had heard of short films before (though I couldn't tell you the names of any), America as a whole has never really seemed to take a great interest in them. I believe one of the reasons is because the price of a movie theater ticket is so expensive in the United States. When people go to see a movie, they want to get what their paying for. In the United States, going to a movie is associated with taking a family night out or going on a date. People aren't going to sit down for a short film and then leave 15 minutes later. Movies serve as a form of entertainment in the United States and I believe many Americans like sitting through a long movie (IF it's good). While I haven't seen many short films, just from the ones I saw in class I realized that many of these types of films really make you think. American films on the other hand are typically about love or making the viewer laugh, not so much thinking. I believe Americans have just grown accustomed to these longer types of movies and it's going to be hard to change what is considered the norm here. Movie producers know what the people here want, so I don't see an increase in the short film industry happening anytime soon, though websites like Youtube are helping its cause. -Shawn Mirmina

There are many reasons why short films are not as prominent in the United States, but I believe the most significant reason is that the United States does not demand short films. When Americans buy movies or attend the theatre they want the most bang for their buck and watching a short film is not worth it to them. In order for short films to sell they must be bundled with others and Americans don't want to be bombarded with many different stories and would rather watch one long story. In addition, Americans are bombarded by short films in commercials, and television in general can be viewed as a collection of short films. The fact is that Americans go to the movies for something different and movies are something that you have to set time aside for, Americans want to enjoy one movie to relaxingly watch and to talk about afterwords.-Michelle Jones

I agree with Michelle that America is truly bombarded by short films in commercials. It's crazy to see how many commercials take up an hour slot of TV, but as I started to think about it many commercials can come across as a type of short film. While some simply advertise a product, others tell a story and have a message behind them. I came across a commercial on Youtube the other day that was banned from television (I believe somewhere in Europe). While it's only a minute or so in length, it's message is clear (and pretty funny). -Shawn Mirmina

Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran by Eric Emmanuel-Schmitt

nle2007 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:17:50 CDT

Some of his other works:

Don Juan on Trial (La nuit de Valognes)
Enigma Variations (Variations Énigmatiques)
The Libertine (Le Libertin)
Frederick or the Crime Boulevard (Frédérick ou Le Boulevard du Crime)
Oscar and the Lady in Pink (Oscar et la dame rose)
The Gospel according to Pilate (L'Évangile selon Pilate)
The Alternative Hypothesis (La Part de l'Autre)
Noah's Child (L'enfant de Noé)
My life with Mozart (Ma vie avec Mozart)

Did M. Ibrahim commit suicide?

by Michelle Jones

Monsieur Ibrahim did not commit suicide, but he knew he was going to die. The reasons for this are found in the text. First why did he go on the trip with Momo? He left because he wanted to return to his birthplace in order to die. He had not reached his birthplace when he did die, which suggests that he did not plan to die there. He also wanted to visit his friend Abdullah. Why would he want to die before seeing him once more? The fact that Momo is surprised to find him and that he is still alive to talk to Momo suggests that he did not plan to commit suicide because if he did he would have died, not been hurt to the point of no return. If one can hurt himself just enough so that he has just enough time to talk to loved ones but still will inevitably die is a plan that is not really rational to believe. Instead it is more likely that his accident was circumstantial and he just was hurt badly enough. Indeed this is often the magic of novel and cinema.

Of course sometimes suicides go wrong, but suicide does not seem as though it is a possible answer because of M. Ibrahim’s strong belief in his faith. The moral presented in the book such as overcoming fear and sadness, broadening one’s perspective on life, and living by listening to oneself, is contradictory if M. Ibrahim killed himself. What strikes the reader is that he knew he would die on the trip, but it was that he knew that his life would end on the trip, not that, he was going to end his life on the trip. Thus the claims that Monsieur Ibrahim's death was a suicide does not fit in relation to the morals of the book, the death occurred at a place that was not exactly where Monsieur Ibrahim would have liked to die, and he was hurt very badly by the accident but was not killed instantly like the many people who commit suicide.

But then again...maybe he did commit suicide--Addler Pluviose
Suicide has many faces, one for each of the different methods of doing so. Monsieur Ibrahim committed suicide, but not before teaching to Momo everything he learned about life. M. Ibrahim had felt that he lived a complete life. He did not seek monetary gains nor push forward towards any more life accomplishments apart from teaching a young boy about the beauties of life. M. Ibrahim was a man who lived by what he knew to be true, which gave him a peace that allowed him to fear nothing. When M. Ibrahim and Momo are at the car dealership with the intention of buying a vehicle he expresses to the dealer that two weeks is too late to wait for a vehicle. In addition M. Ibrahim goes through extensive lengths to make sure that Momo is left with all that he needs to survive on his own. In considering M. Ibrahim's suicide it is important to understand that his passing was not a somber one. He felt that he was going home to rejoin his wife, who had already died in previous years.

The circumstances following M. Ibrahim's death was one of mystery. When leaving Momo in the village, he did not expect to return. The excuse he gave was he must see the land first, but the subliminal message was that it was the end of their journey together. There comes a time when the traveler must venture out on his own without the guide, who has made his last journey. For M. Ibrahim he knew that no longer was he to stay alive, having reached the pinnacle of tranquility in his life. He desired and successfully transcended the everyday struggles and occurring misfortunes which were present in the background.

What do the flowers inside the Koran mean?

The two flowers inside the Koran represent Momo and Ibrahim. The relationship they had was a special one and can be compared to the beauty of the life of a flower. Like many flowers, at the end of their cycle seeds are produced from a dying flower, replacing that old flower in that very same spot and the cycle starts all over again. Mr.Ibrahim can be seen as the first flower planting a seed inside Moses who would eventually become the ideal son of Ibrahim, Momo. Mose’s beliefs and perspective about life would change dramatically while his friendship with Ibrahim progressed. As Moses became more optimistic and happy about his life, the seed inside Moses grew showing the beauty that was developing inside him. Moses began transforming into an identity similar to Mr.Ibrahim. Moses in becoming the person Momo is actually replacing the old flower (Mr.Ibrahim).

Even though there wasn’t much said specifically about the religion of Islam, Momo became a flower of Mr.Ibrahim’s version of the Koran. Ibrahim had his own opinions and read the Koran differently than others who shared his religion. A person can say that Ibrahim created his own religion or philosophy about life. He influenced Momo with these ideas and beliefs transforming him into a different person; into a better person, into a beautiful person, and finally into a beautiful flower that reflects the image of Mr.Ibrahim.- Yovanny Henao

A Comparison of Monsieur Ibrahim and the Little Prince in their Role as Givers of Wise Advice
By Katie Silva

Monsieur Ibrahim is a wise old man giving his sage, seemingly-religious advice to Momo. His advice is believable because of his age. Monsieur Ibrahim is a stereotypical old man who has seen many things and grown wise through his own pains and trials. His advice comes from his experiences and also from his interpretation of the Koran and his religious beliefs. He has traveled far, from the Golden Crescent to France, so he also has knowledge of other cultures, which he passes on to Momo. Monsieur Ibrahim teaches Momo from his own knowledge, from what he has experienced himself in the many years he has lived. This is how people expect advice to be passed down, from the older generation to the younger generation.

On the other hand, the Little Prince gives his advice from the point of view of a young, innocent boy. He has not experienced many things himself, but he has gained wisdom from the other people he encountered on his voyage to Earth. Just like Monsieur Ibrahim, he learned about other cultures from his travels and passed that knowledge on to the narrator. He absorbed everything he heard from other people and interpreted it in his own innocent way. He was then able to pass this information on despite the expectation that he would be the one learning instead of teaching.

Both of these novels had some sort of teacher, but only one conformed to the expectation that wisdom would be passed down from the older generation to the younger generation. Despite this nonconformity, both teachers were successful in passing their knowledge to their students, teaching them about life, relationships, and the ability to truly believe in something.

THE ROLE OF RELIGION

IN MONSIEUR IBRAHIM AND THE FLOWERS OF THE KORAN

Shawn Mirmina

I do not believe Emmanuel Schmitt intended his book, Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran, to preach religion. While Ibrahim is a deeply religious man, he doesn't bombard Momo with the history and the meaning behind the Koran, but rather he teaches religion as if it is something inside oneself. Monsieur Ibrahim's will reads: "This is my will and testament. I, Ibrahim Demirdji, hereby leave all my goods to Moses Schmitt, my son Momo because he chose me as his father and because I've given him everything I've learned in this life. Now you too will know what's in my Koran, Momo. It's all there is to know." I believe when Monsieur Ibrahim refers to "what's inside his Koran" he is referring to what is inside his heart. He is saying that as long as you know yourself, than that is all you really need to know. He has passed on his wisdom and his love of life to Momo, who was in desperate need of a father-figure, a role-model, and a friend - all and more in which he found in Monsieur Ibrahim.

I came across an interesting interview with Emmanuel Schmitt that I wanted to share with everyone. Schmitt talks about the role religion played in his story. I found my analysis of the role of religion in his book very similar to his own reasoning and analysis behind his characters.
Cineaste: Did the director ever talk about the religious aspects of the film? There seems to be so much going on: your character's name is Ibrahim.

Sharif: There's no religious subject. If this film had not been made during this time, when there is strife in the Middle East, it would be irrelevant that the boy is Jewish. The boy doesn't even know what it means to be Jewish. His mother left him when he was a kid, and his father is a nonbeliever and does not talk to him. So the boy grows up and his 'Jewishness' ... well, he doesn't even know what it is. When Monsieur Ibrahim asks him, "What is it for you, to be Jewish?," Momo doesn't know!

The fact that the boy is Jewish and the man Muslim is really irrelevant to the film itself. It doesn't matter that the boy is Jewish. Although it doesn't make any difference to the film, in the circumstances in which we're living today, it's totally relevant to say, "We can live with each other and we can love each other." So, being a respected and loved person in the Middle East and in the Arab countries, I have to express my opinion once about this whole matter. [laughs] But this won't change anything; films don't change what is in the hearts of people, really.

Religious importance of Whirling Dervishes
by Joe and Joel

At the end of the book, whenever Momo is feeling down, or not having a good day, he practices the dance of whirling as the dervishes had done. The religious importance of whirling dervishes (also known as Sufi whirling and Sufi spinning) is a religious form of dancing that is practiced by Sufi's Islam. The history of Sufi spinning was established in the Mevlevi order. It is a ritual through which dervishes aim to reach the "perfect", by dismissing the presence of bad spirits and instead trying to uphold a focus on the positive aspects of life, while keeping God as the most important entity.
The meaning of the whirl is to resemble the rotation of other beings such as electrons and planets. This is to promote the fundamental characters of the inner being on esoteric, mystical, aspects. The white robes represent the symbol of death (ego's shrouds), the black hat represents the tombstones (their ego's tombstones), and a wide cloak that is symbolic of the grave

Whirling Dervishes are sacred rituals that are also known as the Mevlevi Order. It was founded by Mevlana Rumi in the 13th century. It focuses on tolerance, forgiveness, and enlightenment. The ritual is usually performed by Muslim priests while they are in a prayer trance, They prey to Allah in a serious manner and another name for this is the sema. Mevlevi believed that during the sema the soul was released from the earthly ties, and able to freely and jubilantly commune with the divine. Source: http://www.bazaarturkey.com/night_of_the_whirling_dervishes.htm Also according to this site, Dervish literally means “doorway” and is thought to be an entrance from this material world to the spiritual, heavenly world. These ceremonies played an important role in the evolution of the Ottoman culture. From the fourteenth through twentieth centuries Ottoman culture had a large impact on poetry, calligraphy, and visual arts. Rumi involved music into the rituals because he believed that music uplifts our spirits to realms above and that we hear the tunes of the gates of paradise. Music also represented faith.

The Little Girl and the Cigarette by Benoit Duteurtre

nle2007 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:17:01 CDT

(b. 1960)

A young writer mesmerized by music, Benoit Duteurtre studied musicology in Rouen and in Paris. He is the author of short stories, essays and novels which include:

(1985) Sommeil Perdu
(1987) Les vaches
(1989) L'amoureux malgré lui
(1992) Tout doit disparaître
(1996) Gaieté parisienne
(1997) Drôle de temps
(1999) Les malentendus
(2000) À propos des vaches
(2000) Les belles lettres
(2001) Le voyage en France
(2003) Service Clientèle
(2004) La Rebelle
(2005) La petite fille et la cigarette
(2006) Chemin de fer
(2007) Ma belle époque

He is also a member of the committee of readers of the Editions Denoel. On the music side, he is the author of a work called "L’opérette en France" (le Seuil edition) which has been transmitted on television stations France 3 and 5. His musical comedy "Viva L'Opera-Comique" was quite successful in March 2004. He also did an adaptation of "Veronique" starring French actress Fanny Ardant at Chatelet in December 2007. Mr. Duteurtre writes regularly for several newspapers such as Marianne, Le Figaro Litteraire and Le Monde de la musique. He serves as the director of the association of Musique Nouvelle en Liberté. Between 1996 and 1999, he had his own radio show on France Music called "Les beaux dimanches" (Beautiful Sundays) and since 1999 another show , "Etonnez-moi, Benoit" (Shock me, Benoit). He shares his time between New York, Paris and Normandy.

In The Little Girl and the Cigarette, Duteurtre takes a swing at our over legislated world. A death row inmate, Desire Johnson, becomes everyone hero when he asks for his right to smoke his final cigarette in a smoke free prison. A little girl accuses an "Average Joe", who happens to hate children, of pedophilia when she catches him secretly smoking in the bathroom of a smoke-free building. Contrary to Johnson, his cigarette will take him on a adventure to "Martyr Idol". Duteurtre creates a world where children have the final word, where the tobacco giants and the media sway the public, and finally the 21st century reliability reality TV shows.

The Effects of Reality Television on its Viewers

SHAWN, JOEL, and KATIE

Many people don't realize the harmful effects in watching television. Besides the fact that sitting on a couch for hours upon hours is unhealthy, it's the images and ideas people, especially children, take in that are becoming more and more apparent as television and reality shows grow more popular. In Lawrence Kelemen's "What They Don't Want You to Know About Television and Videos", he states that alcohol is the most consumed beverage on prime-time television shows, and is drank twice as much as tea or coffee, and fourteen times as much as soda and other soft drinks. Kelemen says that alcohol is implicated in more than 40% of all academic problems, 28% of all dropouts and on a typical weekend one teenager dies every two hours from a car crash involving alcohol. If a teenager sees his or her favorite contestant on The Real World chugging down beers with his friends and having a great time, what's to stop them from doing the same?

Kelemen went on to write in his piece that in 1997, the average U.S. child watched television 25 hours a week. In this year alone, the average child spent 260 full hours JUST watching commercials. In 1964, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, now known as the Department of Health and Human Services, asked 650,000 students in 4,000 U.S. schools a number of questions about television viewing patterns. Government officials were surprised to find that the more television students watched, the lower their achievement scores were. Yet, here we are more than 40 years later and children are watching more TV than ever before.

Television stations put reality shows on their networks to provide people with entertainment, not to set an example for children and young adults. However, the flow of information in schools and within groups of school-aged children allows ideas to spread rapidly, including what may have been on the latest episode of a favorite TV show. When a character on their favorite reality show does something, they are not going to think about whether or not it is right or wrong, but simply whether or not their friends will think it is “cool”. While some cable networks, such as The Learning Channel, entertain their audiences with self-help programs, others, such as MTV and Bravo, put anything on television that they think will boost their viewership. Shows such as TLC’s What Not to Wear try to set good examples for people, encouraging self-reflection and individuality. Other shows are not as helpful, pitting Adults and even young children against each other as they fight to win. VH1 is currently running a series called I Know My Kid’s a Star where mother-daughter teams are fighting against each other to prove that they are the best bet to survive in Hollywood. Meanwhile, even Animal Planet is sinking to new lows, starting its own reality series entitled Groomer Has It where contestants vie for audience votes based on their skills as dog groomers. This type of show produces competitive tendencies in the children who watch them. While their teachers are trying to teach them about cooperation and teamwork, they are being brainwashed by their new role models on television who are teaching them that life in the real world is all about being on top and doing crazy things to make people like you. The days when Sesame Street and Barney were all kids watched are long gone, but who will take their place in children’s lives? The most likely contenders are the competitors on reality shows.

Along this same line, more and more shows are becoming based on winning money. Shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, where contestants answer increasingly difficult questions on all different topics ranging from sports to Greek mythology to politics to mathematics, set a good example by teaching children that it pays to learn and do well in school. New shows like Deal or No Deal, where contestants attempt to guess which suitcase from the group of thirty contains a million dollars, teach children that it pays to gamble. Children are also learning from such shows that you do not need to be educated to win, only risk-takers.

As more and more children are exposed to this kind of television programming, they are losing the values that their parents are trying to instill in them. After watching these programs, children will not be able to tell the difference between reality and television. By calling reality television “reality” today’s society is lying. If people acted out in this manner at their real jobs, they would immediately be fired. When shows were advertised as fiction, this did not create a problem. Now that the audience is being told that these shows are “reality” (even if, as in most cases, this is not true), they believe that the actions of the contestants are acceptable. Sending this message to children whose minds are still extremely malleable is the horrible effect reality television has on children.

Interesting Court Cases by Michelle

In the Little Girl and the Cigarette, the man who is sentenced to death would like a cigarette as his final wish. The only problem is that the jail is non-smoking, and a frenzy of laws come into play, leading to the complete cancellation of the man’s execution. But is this true today? Are cases out of hand and are people really “sue happy” or are the only cases that actually go to trial the important ones? Here is a list of a few cases that I compiled as evidence to this question:

On FOXnews.com a woman is reportedly seeking damages after chewing on Starburst candies. She reasons her claim that the candies say they are chews but she has dentures and now contracted temporal mandibular joint dysfunction, she is seeking $25,000 for damages. Source:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286855,00.html

Ever wonder why coffee cups are produced with warning labels on them? The reason is to avoid frivolous lawsuits like the one a McDonald’s customer filed after being “severely burned” by the scalding coffee. She was to settle for $10,000 but McDonald’s appealed the decision. Apparently, thermodynamics were involved in the decision to award Ms. Stella Liebeck to $480,000. Source: http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

One casino faces a difficult lawsuit by a compulsive gambler. The woman was once a lawyer but gambled away all her money, was soon disbarred for taking money from clients and using it to gamble. She lost her house and owes the IRS $58,000. “They knew I was going for days without eating and sleeping,” Taveras said. “I would pass out at the tables. They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five straight days without sleeping.” She has filed a $20 million racketeering lawsuit against notable casinos such as the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. The casino representatives claim it was her responsibility. Source: http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/legal_issues/legal_updates/jesters_courtroom/tales.html

These cases make the headlines because of their outrageousness, but it begs the question of what have we all become. No one takes responsibility for their own actions and needs someone else to blame and receive money from them. The whole of the issue is that too many of these cases are real and are a waste of time. Some groups against frivolous lawsuits are Center for Individual Freedom and most states have a frivolous lawsuit committee to combat these types of cases if they arise. Still I argue that more work needs to be done to allow people to be responsible for their own actions.

Reality Television is one of the biggest fads in America. It is put on our screens because it is a form of entertainment. Americans can’t get enough of the torture, emvarrassment, temptation, drama of other regular, everyday people being placed in unrealistic and manipulated settings for the world to see. MTV’s The Real World has become the darling of reality television and the inspiration for the average American’s fifteen minutes of fame, which continues to fuel the fire of volunteer based reality programming today. Source: http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/409.asp It seems every reality television show I have ever watched has the gay man, the manly man, the guy who hates homosexuals, the attractive blond with large breasts, the large black man, and the drama queen. And its funny how the roommates can hate each other the whole season but once the time comes around for them to leave its like they were best friends all their life. Also I don’t think its coincidence that two of the roommates almost always are attracted to each other, hookup, and then despise one another.

There is a reason television networks give such a push for reality programming. It costs a lot less to put together a reality show than a scripted drama. According Laurie Hibberd,, Reality shows cost an average of $400,000 per hour to produce versus $2 million per hour for a dramatic series. She also says that with this vastly less expensive option and the ratings for reality programming going through the roof, every network that wants to continue doing business feels the need to market new reality shows and somehow keep America begging for more. Source: http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/409.asp This formula is clearly working and networks won’t stop until it doesn’t succeed anymore. Reality television is about money and the networks are laughing straight to the bank with it.

Children caught in polygamy by Joe

As the narrator in the “Little girl and the cigarette” had been convicted for a crime against children, the reality of these violations are existent in our present-day society and the people who engage in them have no inclination to stop in doings so. Chlidren caught in Polygamy The issue of protecting children is something that is being questioned in recent headlines. Shows such as “To catch a predator” on NBC, have created an exposure to the people who commit the acts against children. A recent headline that has stirred up publicity of child protection, has been from an investigation that Texas authorities focused into the religious sect named the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints located in El Dorado, Texas The case of the FLD had stemmed pertaining from a polygamy case of a 16 year old girl who was forced to marry, have sex, and become impregnated by a 50 year old man named Dave Barlow who has had a previous criminal record of committing sex crimes against minors.

“Barlow, 50, is a son of former Colorado City, Ariz., mayor Dan Barlow; he also was one of eight Colorado City men accused by Arizona prosecutors in 2005 of marrying underage girls and committing sex crimes.”

After the raid began, investigators had found that a number of teenage girls were found pregnant at the compound. A more thorough investigation had found that the FLDS were marrying off underage girls to older men. The FLDS also required that immediately thereafter it was required that they were to immediately engage in sexual activities after the marriages. Due to the separation of church and state, authorities were fearful of intervening within the boundaries of the church. If religious cults such as the FLDS, can stay protected behind these boundaries, then people such as Barlow can manage to go around the rules of the law that mandate the rights of children and their freedoms, even though there is no right for a religious organization to be able to express child or spousal abuse or polygamy. The harsh imprisonment that the narrator had faced could be consider adequate, because this case emphasizes what the resultant could be if the protection of children is not monitored. Harsh imprisonment such as a death sentence would discourage the would-be sex offenders to re-evaluate the risks and the consequences associated with committing a crime against a child, and could therefore lead to less instances of children being violated.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/11/yfz.search.ap/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marci-hamilton/prosecuting-polygamy-in-e_b_95674.html
http://messengerandadvocate.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/overkill-in-el-dorado-texas/

Our Future
by Yovanny

After reading this book it's hard to be optimistic about the future of humanity. With the way things are now with the climate and how we affect it, it seems only a matter of time before we can't live here. We have had many advancements in technology and as a civilization. Most nations around the world believe in freedom and promote civil rights, as a society we try to give power to everyone. But now things have change, society seems overprotective of itself and believes in only the greater good. Freedoms have been taken away to protect the general public from themselves. Smoking is ban in many public places, the FCC is regulating TV and Radio programs, and our taste for drama in reality shows seems to be degrading our image as a society. Benoit paints a picture of a society similar to ours only exaggerated. After finishing the book I felt that everything in the book could play out in reality, and this bothered me. It made me think that if society could regulate smoking like it is now, it could ban smoking all together just for the safety of children and the general pubic. If the society in Benoit's book could take this step forward, what's to stop them from banning alcohol or other vices. What's to stop us? If the government in Benoit's book cared so much about the well being of children, wouldn't they start regulating what's on TV or radio? It seems possible that they would go further and take away more rights from the people. Songs that would pose a bad influence to children and promote violence, could be banned. Video games with a lot of action would be off the market as well. It seems we're on that path. If we as a society care so much about maintaining a moral and healthy environment, couldn't that lead us to a world where the government regulates everything we do?

Like in "V for Vendetta" this movie is also an exageration of our society and as well a exageration of the society presented in Benoit's Book. The movie is about a anarchist who leads the people of a totalitarian government to rise up and rebel. In the movie, this government is shown to have control over every matter and regulates the lives of everyone day to day. People must obey the curfew times set for them and yield to authority. The government has no toleration for those who break the law. The civilians obey the laws out of fear of being punished by the government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta

With all the restrictions we have as a society today it seems we may be on the course to living in a society like the one presented in Benoit's book or the movie "V for Vendetta." If we start caring more about the physical health of children it could move on to caring about their mental health; then move on to caring about the mental health of the general public, and finally caring about the physical health of the general public, where the government would impose curfews just to create a more peaceful society. It's a scary possiblity, but the more power we give to the government the more freedoms we could lose.

Duteurtre's Society and Ours
by Holly

In The Little Girl and the Cigarette, Duteurtre’s intentions are to mock the many aspects of modern society that he views as being absurd. Though Dutteurtre’s story takes place in a fictional setting, it is clear that many of the faults he works into his plot are derived from problems that we experience in the world today. First, he mocks the media and the way they over dramatize situations to lure in viewers. This is especially clear in the chapter describing the media attention that Desire Johnson’s last cigarette receives. It is reminiscent of the night-and-day coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial, and the abundance of court shows on television. In addition to court television, he comments on reality television. In the novel, the narrator becomes a contestant on the terrorist-run game show, Martyr Idol, where the hostages are made to perform stupid tasks in order to gain votes and save themselves from execution. The representation of the different cultures among the contestants is ironic; one would assume that this is to be sensitive to all cultures who will be watching the show, as producers do for reality television today. However, the irony lies in the fact that the show is run by terrorists, which seems to be a comparison Duteurtre makes between terrorists and television producers today. Governmental corruption also plays a large role in Duteurtre’s society. The narrator works in a government building where children have free reign because of the Governor’s efforts to create a society where youth is a driving force behind legislation. The Governor won’t listen to any negative criticism; when the narrator has clear evidence of the “cleaner air” policies actually polluting air more, he is disregarded. This is similar to our government in that we constantly hear of government cover-ups, specifically in relation to the war in Iraq. Government officials take great precautions to ensure that negativity is kept away from their issues.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

nle2007 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:09:07 CDT

Biography of Albert Camusby Katie and Michelle

1913-1960

Albert Camus was born in Modovi, Algeria on November 7, 1913. His mother, Catherine Hélène Sintés, an illiterate cleaning woman, was half-deaf and his father, Lucien Auguste Camus, an itinerant agricultural laborer, died in 1914 in the First World War. Camus grew up in poor conditions in Algiers, but was still accepted into the lycee, where he studied from 1924 to 1932, and later at the University of Algiers where he received his diploma in philosophy in 1936. In 1930 and again in 1949 he battled tuberculosis.

The University of Algiers

He was married in 1939 to a morphine addict, Simone Hié, but the two were both unfaithful and later divorced. In 1940, he had twins with Francine Faure, a pianist and mathematician, but never married her.

In Paris when the German Whermacht took over he witnessed the execution of Gabriel Peri. He maintained his pacifism and resistance to capital punishment anywhere in the world. One of his most significant contributions to the movement against capital punishment was an essay collaboration with Arthur Koestler, the writer, intellectual, and founder of the League Against Capital Punishment.

Camus was closely linked to his fellow existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre in the 1940s, but he broke with him over Sartre's support to Stalinist politics. With Sartre he founded the left-wing Resistance newspaper Combat, serving as its editor.

In the 1950’s he turned his efforts to human rights, and he was the fundamental creator of the European Union along with George Orwell, which opposed totalitarianism, fascist, and Stalinist reign.

Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

At the time of his death, Camus was planning to direct a theater company of his own and to write a major novel about growing up in Algeria. On January 4, 1960, Camus was killed in a car accident on his way back to Paris with his friend (and publisher) Michel Gallimard. Adding to the tragedy was the fact that Camus disliked cars and had planned to go to Paris by train until Gallimard convinced him to change his mind. The return half of a railway ticket was ironically found in his pocket.

Selected Bibliography (in the order they were written):

Révolte dans les Asturies, 1936 (with others)
L'Étranger, 1942 - The Stranger
Le Mythe de Sisyphe, 1942 - The Myth of Sisyphos
Le malentendu, 1944 - Cross Purposes
La Peste, 1947 - The Plague
L'Homme révolté, 1951 - The Rebel
L'été, 1954 - Summer
Requiem pour une nonne, 1956
La Chute, 1956 - The Fall
L'éxil et le royaume, 1957 - Exile and the Kingdom
Discours de Suède, 1958
Les possédés, 1959 - The Possessed
Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, 1961
Carnets, mai 1935-fevrier 1942, 1962 - Notebooks 1935-1951
Carnets, janvier 1942-mars 1951, 1964 - Notebooks 1935-1951
Caligula and Three Other Plays, 1958
Essais, 1965
Lyrical and Critical Essays, 1968 (ed. by Philip Thody, trans. by Ellen Kennedy)
Summer, 1968
Selected Essays and Notebooks, 1970
La Mort heureuse, 1970 - A Happy Death
Youthful Writings of Albert Camus, 1976
Oeuvres complètes, 1983 (9 vols.)
American Journals, 1987
Le Premier Homme, 1994 - The First Man

MAIN CHARACTERS by Joel, Jaime

Meursault

joel, jaime
The main character in the novel who tells us his story. He is an atheist and a very detached person. He shows no emotion to anyone in his life. His girlfriend Marie asks him if he loves her and he tells her it doesn't matter and that he will if she wants him to. Marie loves him and Meursault could care less. His mother passes away and while this would normally be a catastrophic event in someones life, it isn't in his. He doesn't cry at the funeral or even care that she is dead. Meursault kills an Arab and is put on trial. During the trial he is perceived as a cold blooded person who is a danger to others because he didn't properly mourn after his mother died. Meursault is in fact a stranger because he is so morally different than everybody else.

Marie

Meursault's gal pal. She is a very attractive woman who loves Meursault even though the feeling is not mutual. She is intrigued by his unusual ways and that is what attracts her to him. She wants to get married but Meursault doesn't really want to. Marie and Meursault's fling began the day after Meursault's mother passed away. Marie stays loyal to Meursault by supporting him through his trial.

Raymond

Meursault's "pal" and next door neighbor. He makes his living being a pimp. He basically uses Meursault to aid him in his activities. He is a violent person and after beating one of his girls asks Meursault to be a witness for him and say that the girl cheated on him. Meursault agrees. Raymond gets Meursault in trouble throughout the story and is the reason Meursault kills the Arab.

Salamano

Another one of Meursault's neighbors. Salamano has an old dog that keeps him company. They have a love hate relationship. The two of them go through the same routine day in and day out, and that ends with Salamano beating him. One day Salamano loses his dog and doesn't know what to do. He ends up going back to his room and crying hoping his dog will come back.

Existentialism and Absurdism in The Stranger by Holly, Addler

Existentialism has been interpreted in a number of different ways by numerous philosophers, authors, and thinkers since it first emerged in the early 20th century. Thus, the term has come to represents a broad spectrum world views. One website, called The Cry, describes existentialism as the belief that man undeniably exists, but through his choices and decisions,man defines his own life. In other words, "we choose, and in choosing... we define ourselves." Whether one's decisions are positive or negative is irrelevant, but the actual act of making a decision allows one to interact with the world. Another website that gives a slightly different twist on existentialism, The Existential Primer, describes the philosophy as attempting to "describe our desire to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe." Each individual knows that he or she is only mortal, and that we are only existing for a dot in the time line of the universe. However, as Camus says, existentialism is "philosophical suicide" if used to ponder life. When one tries to improve his position the world, he or she is ultimately making their life the best it can be. However, a true existentialist knows that perfection is out of reach or man. The Existential Primer quotes Camus as saying, "The existentialists… mock the notion of a complete and fully satisfying life. The life of every man, whether he explicitly recognizes it or not, is marked by irreparable losses. Man cannot help aspiring toward the goods of this world, nor can he help aspiring toward the serene detachment from the things of this world which the traditional philosopher sought; but it is not within his power to achieve either of these ambitions, or having achieved them to find therein the satisfaction he had anticipated."

Absurdism stems from 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Absurdism being related to existentialism and nihilism is a philosophy that asserts that humanity will ultimately fail in its effort to find a meaning to the universe (thus being absurd) because for humanity there exists no such meaning. In this sense absurd refers not to the “logically impossible,” but rather the “humanly impossible.” This traditionally leads to two paths: the conclusion that life is meaningless, therefore all we have is the here and now; or looking for a purpose set by a higher power (usually a god). Kierkegaard believed that faith in God was absurd because as humans his purpose is incomprehensible.

In his own journal Kierkegaard writes:
“What is the Absurd? It is, as may quite easily be seen, that I, a rational being, must act in a case where my reason, my powers of reflection, tell me: you can just as well do the one thing as the other, that is to say where my reason and reflection say: you cannot act and yet here is where I have to act... The Absurd, or to act by virtue of the absurd, is to act upon faith ... I must act, but reflection has closed the road so I take one of the possibilities and say: This is what I do, I cannot do otherwise because I am brought to a standstill by my powers of reflection.” Kierkegaard, Søren. Journals, 1849.

To illustrate this, consider one of Kierkegaard’s famous works “Fear and Trembling.” In the Book of Genesis, God commanded Abraham to lead his beloved son Isaac to a mountaintop to sacrifice him. As Abraham was about to kill Isaac with the dagger, an angel appeared before him to stop him from doing so. Kierkegaard’s analysis asserts that through absurdism, Abraham, “defying all reason and ethical duties (‘you cannot act’), got back his son and reaffirmed his faith (‘where I have to act’).

The Absurd Man
Kierkegaard describes the absurd man as one who embodies the following three traits:
“A rejection of escaping existence” (suicide)
“A rejection of help from a higher power”
“Acceptance of his absurd (and despairing) condition”

"Existentialism on Prom Night" by Straylight Run by Holly

A modern-day take on existentialism through the eyes of a younger generation

MUSIC AND FILM

RECREATED SCENE IN ENGLISH

The first scene of the film Breathless by Godard in 1960
This scene made decades after the Stranger was written has a strong connection to the absurdism that is proposed in the Stranger. The main character in this film kills a cop and then decides to go to Paris to find his American girlfriend. While you watch the film think about the differences and similarities between Meursualt and Godard's character. by Michelle

ACTUAL SCENE IN FRENCH

THE CURE - KILLING AN ARAB by Shawn

The Cure's "Killing an Arab" was released in December 1978 and immediately became the cause of much controversy. The song is based on Albert Camus' "The Stranger". The lyrics outline the moment when Meursault unexpectedly shoots an Arab man on the beach. Camus uses names to refer to every character in his story except the man who he simply referred to as "the Arab". The killing of the Arab allows Meursault to reflect back on the life he has lived. The song (as seen below) is a perfect fit for Meursault's dispassionate demeanor.

The Cure defended their song against the critics, claiming that it did not advocate violence against the Arabs. Though, through time, The Cure has often changed the lyrics of their song to "kissing the Arab" or to "killing another" to avoid any accusations of ill-feelings toward the Arab community.

The other day while driving home, I heard this song on the radio and for once, I was paying attention to the lyrics. I couldn't help but connect it with the character of Meursault, for he is one who embraces the shadow of the day and envelops his world in gray. The only natural element that affects him is the sun which in a way he allows to rise and set. At his trial, his friends want him to stay around, but for him, it's so much easier to say goodbye and embrace a color-less world; metaphorically lock the windows of his life and be enclosed by gray cement. Instead of a new beginning as a prisoner for eternity, he lets Death into his soul and accepts that the guillotine will take his head and spill his fiery blood....much like the glorious sun setting in the sky. by Nathalie

Candide by Voltaire

nle2007 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:59:24 CDT

Francois-Marie Arouet

THE ENLIGHTENMENT By Addler

“Enlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority. Minority is the incapacity of using one’s understanding without the direction of another. This state of minority is self-caused when its source lies not in a lack of understanding but in a lack of determination to use it without the assistance of another.” -Immanuel Kant, German philosopher

Europe as a whole was plagued with religious wars in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and into the early seventeenth century. After stability was reimplemented, mysticism and divine revelation were accepted as the new standards of explanation. The Age of Reason concentrated on the opposite aiming to promote philosophy as self-evident based on principles from Baruch Spinoza’s “Ethics,” which analyzed in depth the nature of “knowledge.”

The Enlightenment unofficially began with Sir Isaac Newton’s introduction of systematic methods to thinking logically. His work bred fresh minds eager to see how systems could be applied to all facets of life, particularly in government. The political systems moved away from old caste systems and serfdom, towards more representation as demanded by the populace. People tired of traditional mysticism, religion, and superstition of the Middle Ages looked to new schools of thought that encouraged open societies promoting happiness and self liberty. This in turn led to a decline in influence from absolute authorities such as the Church or the noble class. The French Enlightenment (French: Siècle des Lumières) began in the early 18th century with the death of King Luis XIV, ending in 1799 with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte in power. Although strongly rooted in France, Britain, and Germany, the Enlightenment spread throughout most of Europe to include Russia, Scandinavia, and the Americas.

Among the schools of thought, Rene Descartes promoted dualism, the idea that God (mind), and man (nature) was distinct separate entities. Baruch Spinoza introduced pantheism, which asserts that God and the universe are one and that, "God was a substance consisting of infinite attributes." This new wave of religion encouraged logic and clarity continued the push for renewed intellect. In addition, George Berkeley contributed to the focus of belief by attempting to prove the existence of a supreme being. Optimism, introduced by Gottfried Leibniz, asserted that our universe is “The best of all possible worlds,” as created by God. His philosophy was adopted rapidly as one of the three great rationales of the time, along with pantheism and dualism. The theory of optimism is famously mocked in Voltaire’s “Candide." Other prominent Enlightenment thinkers include Thomas Paine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and David Hume, all of whom along with Voltaire constantly wrote against the Church and State.

VOLTAIRE by Jaime

Born Francois Marie Arouet November 21, 1694 in Paris, France, Voltaire was schooled at a Jesuit college in Paris called Louis-le-Grand. He left school at the age of 17 and joined a group of Parisian aristocrats. His writings made him popular in these types of circles but in 1717 the wit that made him popular in society also got him in trouble with the authorities. He was imprisoned in the Bastille for 11 months for a satire about the French government. While he was imprisoned he wrote “Oedipe” and soon after adopted his pen name Voltaire.

Later, in 1726 he insulted a powerful nobleman, Chevalier De Rohan and was given the choice of imprisonment or exile. Voltaire chose
to live in exile from 1726 to 1729 in England. While there he studied the philosophy of John Locke and the ideas of Sir Isaac Newton. He studied the Constitutional Monarchy as well as its religious tolerances and the philosophical rationalism of that time.He returned to Paris and wrote a book that praised English customs and institutions. It was taken as criticism of the French government and Voltaire was again forced to leave Paris.

He moved to the home of his friend the Marquise du Chatelet, the Chateau de Cirey near Luneville in eastern France. He studied natural science with her for several years then in 1746 he was voted into the Academie Francaise. In 1749 after the death of the Marquise du Chatelet he moved to Potsdam by invitation of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia. Voltaire returned to France from Potsdam in 1753.

In 1759 he purchased an estate called Ferney near the French-Swiss border where he lived until a little before his death. Ferney was soon regarded as the intellectual capital of Europe and Voltaire worked continuously through his years there writing books, plays and other publications as well as many letters to his friends. He was a voice of reason and was an outspoken critic of religious intolerance and persecution.

Ferney

He had a hero’s welcome when he returned to Paris at the age of 83. Sadly the excitement of the trip was too much for Voltaire and he died in Paris. He was denied burial on church grounds due to his criticism of the church but he was buried at an abbey in Champagne. His remains were later moved to the Pantheon in Paris.

In 1814 a religious group stole Voltaire’s remains and dumped them into a garbage heap. No one noticed the body was missing for around 50 years until his sarcophagus was checked and the remains were found to be gone. His heart had been removed from the body and was already in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. His brain had also been removed but after being passed around for over 100 years that had also disappeared after an auction.

MAIN CHARACTERS by Joel, Michelle, Katie

Candide

The Latin word for Candide means “white” and follows Candide’s character highlighted by the fact that he is generally good-natured throughout the book and does not intentionally mean to harm others. After being thrown out of the castle in Westphalia, he becomes entrenched in everyday life fighting to stay alive all the while in search of Cunegonde, his love interest. Candide’s adventures really contradict his belief system which is total optimism and that “there is no effect without a cause”(according to his tutor Pangloss). Throughout his journeys Candide is faced with many oppositions to this belief and thus he begins to question optimism openly saying, “Oh Pangloss you never imagined such an abomination could exist. That’s it; in the end I have no choice but to give up your optimism” after seeing slavery by the Dutch in Surinam. In the end Candide does not rely on optimism but instead still has his new philosophy given to him by an old farmer: that one must cultivate his own garden. It seems as though if all is lost Candide can still move on but cannot formulate his own beliefs.

Cunegonde

Cunegonde’s story is very tragic but the depth of her character is very thin. Thus her impact on the story mainly as Candide’s love interest shows that Candide himself is a very one-dimensional character. At first when life was in the Westphalia castle she has a “genuine interest in the science”. But as the world began to slip from her so did her character. She was first raped by Bulgar captain, then sold as a slave to Don Issacher. The story from this point onward puts her into a dominated position usually as a slave for some other man, with Candide trying to buy her or help her escape from her captives. Her character seems to be forcasted by the old woman in the story and thus the future for Cunegonde seems very bleak. Indeed these premonitions come true and she is ugly and old at the end of the story. She does marry Candide but only out of the loyalty of Candide. She settles for ordinary by becoming a pastry chef and following Candide’s new philosophy of working hard in order to stay alive.

Pangloss

Pangloss was the tutor to the children of the Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh, teaching metaphysico-theologico-cosmology. He also taught his own philosophy: optimism. He believed that “things could not be other than they are: for everything has been made to serve a purpose, and so nothing is susceptible to improvement.” Pangloss starts out as a well-to-do character, but is punished for his intimate relations with the servant girl, Paquette, who gives him syphilis. During the process of being treated for syphilis, Pangloss loses an eye and an ear. This is the beginning of his downward spiral, from gentleman to misfit. Upon returning to Candide’s company, having tutored him as a child, Pangloss survives a shipwreck and the Lisbon earthquake. However, this is seemingly where his luck runs out. Following the earthquake, the citizens decide to hold an impromptu “auto-da-fe” to prevent further earthquakes. Pangloss is hanged in the ceremony, but miraculously survives due to rain dampening the rope. By the end of the story, Pangloss has survived syphilis, shipwreck, earthquakes, and even being hanged. He is rowing in the galley when Candide finally finds him and pays for his freedom. Pangloss is now in Candide’s debt, which is an ironic turnaround from the earlier position of Pangloss as Candide’s tutor. While Pangloss believes that the world is at it’s best and nothing can be better, he ends up a veritable misfit by the end of his travels, living off the land and severely handicapped.

The Old Woman

The old woman, who remains nameless throughout the book, is the servant to Cunegonde. She saves Candide from dying after he has been whipped at the “auto-da-fe” in Lisbon, and brings him to see his precious Cunegonde. However, she did not start out in this pitiful state. In her earlier years, the old woman had been young and very beautiful. The daughter of Pope Urban X, she was the Princess of Palestrina and engaged to a Prince. The old woman was captured by pirates, endured a massacre in Morocco, and was saved by a young man who had sung in a choir in her mother’s chapel. She survived the plague in Algeria, was sold as a slave to a merchant from Tunis, had one of her buttocks cut off and eaten by Janizaries, and survived all of that to become the servant of Cunegonde. Having survived several ordeals, she endures even longer to meet up with Candide and live with him and his companions, working the land. While she had begun as a beautiful princess, she ended up as a servant.

Martin

A Manichean from Amsterdam, Candide meets him in Bordeaux and Martin follows him until the end of his voyage. Martin is a pessimist. He has been through a lot in his life and always expects the worst in any situation. In the book he represents a rival to Pangloss, who happens to be an optimist and whose philosophy is instilled in Candide.

Cacambo

Cacambo is a manservant to Candide who sticks with him for the entire journey. He is a very honest and intelligent person. He gets Candide out of trouble numerous times and ultimately reunites him with his love Cunegonde. Cacambo is the complete opposite of Martin and Pangloss. Despite the optimism Cacambo inspires, he is not really an optimist himself. His wide experience of the world has led him to conclude that "the law of nature teaches us to kill our neighbor."

THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE by Holly, Joe, Shawn

During the 18th century, Lisbon, Portugal was one of the largest cities in Europe with a population of about 275,000 – ten percent of Portugal’s entire population. Lisbon played a critical role in world trade at the time because of the Portuguese colony in Brazil from which diamonds and gold were extracted. This trade made the city one of the biggest ports in the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, Lisbon was home to a number of historical buildings, including Catholic churches and monuments. The Lisbon earthquake occurred on November 1st, 1755 (All-Saints day). The quake lasted for about 10 minutes, with three distinct jolts. Modern-day technology has allowed for the estimation of the quake’s intensity, said to be about a 9 on the Richter Scale. While the earthquake itself caused mass destruction throughout Lisbon, the subsequent tsunami and city-wide fires also contributed to the ruin. The death toll was estimated to be between 60,000 and 100,000 in Portugal, with 15,000 deaths in Lisbon alone. The fires burned for five days after the earthquake, destroying the Royal Palace, the Opera House, and the Patriarchal.

All of Europe felt the effects of the Lisbon tragedy. On a social scale, a number of artists portrayed the earthquake and its wrath. Many “accurate” descriptions were exaggerated and fanciful. Additionally, preachers circulated pamphlets that attributed the earthquake to an act of God or as proof that God was punishing mankind. Voltaire experienced the earthquake first-hand and was greatly effected. As an article in the European Review entitled “Focus: Lisbon Earthquake: Part 2 – European Public Opinion and the Lisbon Earthquake” by Ana Cristina Araujo states, “Voltaire… alludes to the ‘sad but ancient truth, recognized by all men, that evil does exist on earth’, insisting that ‘the expression “all is well” (tout est bien), taken in its absolute sense with no hope in the future, is merely an insult to the pains of our lives,’" concerning Voltaire's opinion on the state of the world after the disaster.

Syllabus

nle2007 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:33:25 CDT

French Literature and Civilization in Translation
FRENCH 270W Spring 2008 Course Syllabus

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.

Short Films

nle2007 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:30:57 CDT

who are we?

nle2007 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:26:12 CDT

Nathalie Ettzevoglou
I'm the course instructor! I'm currently a PhD student at UCONN working on my dissertation about the evolution of medicine from magic in XII-XV narrative texts. I received my BA from the University of Richmond and my MA from UNC at Chapel Hill. After a successful past semester with my class blog, I wanted to try a class wiki and so I hope that you will find this project useful and enlightening. Please feel free to ask me questions by emailing me at: nathalie.ettzevoglou@uconn.edu.

Joel Altiery

I am a junior here at the University of Connecticut majoring in Sociology. I'm a very easy going guy who loves to laugh, sports, and having a good time.

Shawn Mirmina

Hi everyone. I'm a sophomore at the University of Connecticut majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. I'm currently interning with Mansfield Youth Services and hope to become a high school guidance counselor after I graduate. I enjoy watching sports, especially football and baseball.

Michelle Jones

Hello everyone! I am a junior at Uconn and I just came back from Paris, therefore I am very excited to learn more about French culture and literature. Hopefully it will remind me of the places and people I visited while I was there. I enjoy all sports, shopping, and just hanging out with my friends. This is my first time creating a Wiki but hopefully not the last.

Kathleen Silva

Hi! I'm a junior here at Uconn majoring in history with a focus on pre-civil war United States. I love board games, sunshine, and traveling. I studied french literature through high school and can't wait to further my education with this class and this wiki!

Jamie Pryor

Hi I'm a junior at UCONN working on a major in English. I am working towards becoming a high school English teacher after I graduate and finish my certification. I am a bookworm and love to write which is one of the reasons I took this class (other than the fact it works towards my major). I love a lot of things but definitely near the top is just hanging out with my friends.

Holly Elliott

Hello! I'm currently a 6th semester accounting major at UConn, but I like to think that I rise above all of the nerdy accountant stereotypes. I love to do grandmother-ly things like quilting, antiquing, and crosswords - this is a source of many jokes among my friends. So maybe I don't rise above the nerdy stereotypes. I love anything that's older than me and I shop at thrift stores on a regular basis. I also really love music and bands that most people have never heard of. I kind of took this class on a whim on a friend's recommendation, but I think it will probably be my most enjoyable class this semester.

Yovanny Henao

what's up everyone! I'm a Junior at the University of Connecticut and I'm majoring in Economics. I took four years of French in High School and managed to get by. Hopefully there won't be too many French words I don't know.

Joe Pena

Hi I'm joe, a senior at Uconn, I'm from norwalk, CT (a.k.a. Norwack!) I am majoring in Bio and minoring in MCB, and would like to go to med school to be a reconstructive plastic surgeon. My favorite sport is UFC, but i never have time to watch it cause I'm always out on the run doing something.... well...someone has to save the world right? ha... not me... o yea... i am very sarcastic... o yea.. Nathalie i got the e-mail this time.. no Viagra spam!!!!! Thank you huskymail :)

Addler Pluviose

Sak-pase! I am a native New Yorker of Haitian descent working towards an Economics degree at the University of Connecticut. I enjoy trying new foods, music, poetry, reading, and basketball to name a few. I visited France and found it to be a worthwhile experience.(though the Mona Lisa is pretty small).p.s. I’m on my 4th semester at UConn- this is the most interactive class by far-sad you are not here to join us.