FRNCH 139
Paris: Study of French Capital
Description: Lecture, three hours. Enforced requisite: course 5. Taught in French. Textual and visual exploration of historical and imaginary (re)constructions of Paris, beginning with its earliest history and gradual formation of this great urban complex in maps from Renaissance to 20th century. Study of city's streets and quarters, traffic and transportation, multiple layers of past, present, and future, and flâneurs and insurrectionists through wide range of literary and critical texts. Readings cover mainly 19th and 20th centuries--Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire, Emile Zola, Marcel Proust, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, and others. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Professor Murat very clearly expects a proficient level of French throughout the class, from readings to lectures to the final presentation. That being said, her lecture slides are very straightforward, and ordered by topic (sometimes chronological and sometimes not). She also takes time to let students know they're allowed to ask questions even without being confident in French (this is a Paris class, not a French class, it's okay to ask her for help translating questions into French during class). Attendance is nearly mandatory, and she does grade on participation and attendance. The midterm is 10 easy questions based on lectures and assigned readings discussed in class. She's very lenient with midterm answers, and as long as you show sufficient knowledge and effort, she calls it satisfactory. The final paper is six pages double spaced, on any topic of the student's choice, that involves Paris. Choice of either a research or an argumentative paper. This paper is accompanied by a 4-5 minute oral presentation about your topic. Given that there's a lot of topics both discussed in class and outside (a lot of people discussed the Paris catacombs), there's quite a lot to write about. As a hard STEM major, it was challenging, but not nearly as impossible as I thought it would be. Grade Breakdown: Participation (includes presentation): 30% Midterm: 30% Final Paper: 40%
Fall 2021 - Professor Murat very clearly expects a proficient level of French throughout the class, from readings to lectures to the final presentation. That being said, her lecture slides are very straightforward, and ordered by topic (sometimes chronological and sometimes not). She also takes time to let students know they're allowed to ask questions even without being confident in French (this is a Paris class, not a French class, it's okay to ask her for help translating questions into French during class). Attendance is nearly mandatory, and she does grade on participation and attendance. The midterm is 10 easy questions based on lectures and assigned readings discussed in class. She's very lenient with midterm answers, and as long as you show sufficient knowledge and effort, she calls it satisfactory. The final paper is six pages double spaced, on any topic of the student's choice, that involves Paris. Choice of either a research or an argumentative paper. This paper is accompanied by a 4-5 minute oral presentation about your topic. Given that there's a lot of topics both discussed in class and outside (a lot of people discussed the Paris catacombs), there's quite a lot to write about. As a hard STEM major, it was challenging, but not nearly as impossible as I thought it would be. Grade Breakdown: Participation (includes presentation): 30% Midterm: 30% Final Paper: 40%
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