SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS

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FREN 305L 111: French Film (in English)                                                  Claire Keith

Note: For credit in the French Major or Minor,                                                                     Fall 2009

selected readings and papers will be assigned in French                                                       LB 304

                                                                                                                       

Monday:     6:30PM – 9:15PM                                                             

 

OFFICE HOURS:    Monday:  3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

   (Fontaine 229)          Wednesday: 4:00 PM – 5:00PM

                                  Thursday:   1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

                                    Other days: by appointment only

 

TELEPHONE:                        Office: ext. 2267

Home: (845) 679 71 40

E-MAIL:                     claire.keith@marist.edu

 

COURSE WEBPAGE: first two weeks:  mlc.la.marist.edu (scroll for desired course) after instructor confirmation: iLearn

                                                Note:   Small adjustments to our readings or paper assignments may occasionally take place in the semester.  Therefore, please consult our Workplan regularly. 

Changes on short notice, especially of a logistical nature, will be posted in the Announcement page and reinforced with a direct message to your Marist email.

 

COMMUNICATIONS: Students must use their Marist Foxmail account (http://www.marist.edu/it/resnet/foxmail.html) for exchanges with the instructor, and check it once a day.  Personalized email addresses cannot be accommodated, given their poor identification.  Please do not forget always to write a precise title for your messages.

 

Texts:

-          Austin, Guy: Contemporary French Cinema. Manchester U. Press, 1996

-          Folder of selected texts, to be distributed by instructor.

-          Course links as posted on the course Webpage

-          (For French major or minor credit):

 An English-French / French-English dictionary.  The online dictionary www.wordreference.com is also accepted.

 A small French reference Grammar. The online grammar http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/ is also accepted.

 

- On Reserve at the Library:

-    Ardagh, John. France Today.

-    Armes, Roy: French Cinema. Oxford U. Press, 1985

-    Bernstein, Richard. Fragile Glory. Knopf, New York, 1990 (Language Center reserve)

-    Ezra, Elizabeth (ed.) France in Focus, Berg, 2000

-    Hayward, S & Vincendeau, G. French Film: texts and Context, Routledge, 1990

-    Hayward, Susan. French National Cinema. Routledge, 1993

-    Reid Paris, James. Three Great French Films. Citadel Press, 1983.

 

 

Objectives of the course:

French Film is not a course on film theory. Rather, it is designed to give a comprehensive perspective of a medium that France considers essential to its culture and its art. The films selected for viewing will certainly highlight the familiar comparison made between American Hollywood products and European cinema, and challenge their respective merits for entertainment and artistic expression. Beyond this argument, however, French films have their own specificity within the realm of European film and have much to contribute to an understanding of what France wants to believe still to be its distinctive culture in a time of globalization.

 Historical films, film noir, comedies, psychological studies, action films will all be represented, to allow us to reflect on the French social landscape, esthetic preferences, cultural identity and, ultimately, collective sensibility.

 

 

IMPORTANT!   This course meets once instead of twice a week to make it possible to screen long films.  Our readings, which are the central part of the course and of our work, must therefore be done extremely thoroughly and on time. The required readings notes (See instructions below) will count for 1/3 of the final grade. 

 

Outcomes Assessments

Our specific objectives, over which we will measure and grade your progress are:

- Evidence that you have become literate about the classic body of French cinema in the XXth century, going into to the XXIst. We will test your knowledge of some major authors and films, and your ability to associate them without hesitation with a comprehensive set of esthetic, social, and literary references.

- Evidence that you can analyze the issues raised in France by the overwhelming commercial power of the American film industry, and recognize in turn how the United States absorbs and recycles some of the French high view of cinema as an art.

-  (for French minor and major students): Evidence that you have learned the vocabulary encountered in our reading and our class discussions, and assimilated the grammar and syntax corrections in your papers.

 

We will test and grade these as follows:

-          Class participation, supported by organized notes on the required readings (30%)

-          four papers (40%)

-          one take-home final examination comprising identifications, short questions and an essay on the general conclusions of the semester (30%) .

 

Course Format:

Course is open to non-speakers of French. Core readings and class discussions are in English. However, students taking the course for credit in the French program (minor or major) must do selected readings in French and write their reaction papers in French, except when indicated.

• To insure adequate preparation for the class discussions, notes must be taken on all assigned readings. The notes should list the main arguments (for essays) or narrative points (for literary excerpts), and for students doing readings in French, include the vocabulary which you needed to look up. Please keep these reading notes in a stand-alone notebook, with dated entries (no looseleaf), separate from other class notes, as they will be collected at mid-term and at the end of the semester for an overview of your work. The notebook format will insure the timeliness of the reading notes by documenting the sequence of the entries and your ability to cross-reference your analyses.  The instructor reserves the right to collect a few notebooks at random at any time during the semester to monitor a student’s progress.

• Readings and notes must be done on the week-end PRECEDING the showing of the film.
• Our weekly session will begin with a brief presentation of the film, based on assigned readings.  Viewing of the film selection will follow.  Most films are short enough to permit a follow-up discussion afterwards to survey salient points and offer suggestions on how to approach the related assignment..   Very long films will be followed by an online discussion when necessary.   Note that a few sessions will be devoted entirely to an in-depth discussion of recent readings and film. 

 

Class policies:

 

Attendance: Please attend all classes unless you are seriously ill or have a justified emergency.  The instructor must be notified before the class in question by E.mail or phonemail.  Should a student miss a class, it is his/her responsibility to get the notes they missed, as well as the assignments for next class. More than one unexcused absence in the semester, save for exceptional cases, will affect permanently the final grade and may result in a failing grade.

 

Make-up screening:   if a student missed a screening for a legitimate, documented reason (medical or family emergency), the instructor will arrange an alternate screening in the Language Center or, in rare cases, through a loan.  Note that some of our films are also available through Netflix or can be found at local rental stores.

 

Plagiarism: Please see the Marist College Handbook for the College’s policy on plagiarism, which this instructor takes very seriously.  

Note on the use of computer translation (for papers in French): Students writing some of their papers in French are expected to perform all work on their own and not to use computer translation services such as Google’s Systran unless specifically assigned by the instructor. It is easily apparent to any instructor that a student has relied on machine translation to write the bulk of a composition. In such a case, the assigned grade will regrettably be an F. 

On the other hand, the use of the excellent online dictionary www.wordreference.com  is not only permitted but highly recommended.

 

Writing: All assignments, in French or in English, should be edited at least to the point of readability. Work that is difficult to read because of unverified spelling, basic grammar or syntax errors or poor handwriting will have to be rewritten within 24 hours after being returned by the instructor.

 

Extra points: An extra half letter point can be earned by exceptional class participation (depth of comments, evidence of close analysis of our readings.)

 

Snow Policy/Class Cancellation Procedure: The college’s decision to cancel day classes because of inclement weather will be made by 7 AM. In addition to calling Marist’s “weather hot-line” at 575-5500 for class cancellations, please consult your email  and the course Announcements, where I will inform you of any delay that I may personally have encountered, as I live far away from campus.