Reflecting on FREN 379 Francophone Literature and Cinema spring 2019

5/8/2019 and 2/4/2021 

I had grand aspirations for this upper level course that mixed literature and film. I really wanted to focus on an input/output model like I'd been working on for our ACTFL presentation, but it didn't work out AT ALL as expected. 

Here was the course map:

FREN 379 Francophone Literatures and Cinemas

Start of the course:

1.intro to basic literary terms/techniques (see analyse d'un passage and the 310 text for ideas)

• at the start give an ungraded quiz to assess where they're at
• ask them to apply them to texts they've already read
• give them a quiz
• mid-semester quiz again

2.Quick review passé simple

3.Provide links to Tex's French Grammar for p.c. vs imp, conditional and subjunctive

Une si longue lettre first since it’s a little easier structurally

For the first text

• INPUT: historical/cultural context: me provide basic info and ask basic comprehension questions (T/F, multiple choice) based on them. Do as homework and turn in directly in Canvas.
• preview/predicting activity
• INPUT literary techniques me provide examples and ask them basic questions using the lit terms myself "is this passive voice or active voice"? Is this 1st person or 3rd person?
• INPUT to OUTPUT build on examples from previous activity and ask them to generate theories about deeper meanings. Ex: why use the passive voice? What impression does the 1st person narrative give you?
• OUTPUT small groups they have to produce the literary vocab and examples in the text that illustrate them
• OUTPUT small groups each create list of T/F statements, exchange with another group and answer the questions
• OUTPUT individual students identify more examples themselves-they have to produce the literary vocab and examples in the text that illustrate them
• OUTPUT reading portfolio 
• OUTPUT summative assessment (choice from a list, see below)

Each text:

• INPUT: historical/cultural context: me provide basic info and ask basic comprehension questions (T/F, multiple choice) based on them. Do as homework and turn in directly in Canvas.
• preview/predicting activity
• OUTPUT they identify lit technique examples-they have to produce the literary vocab and examples in the text that illustrate them
• pause/post like Anne ACTFL 2018
• COERLL collaborative reading. Or do something similar in Canvas or Padlet?: me post an excerpt and ask each to react to it then ask them to discuss their reactions with each other online
• reading portfolio 
• summative assessment (choice from a list, see below)

Summative assessment ideas:

• rewrite a scene: ex different gender, time period, genre, country, etc then present it and lead a discussion how the text and language changed
• create a trailer for the book (see Goodreads and YouTube for examples)-what would you choose to highlight and why?
• adapt a scene for the movie version and film it: add costumes, background music, makeup, props, etc and explain how you chose to represent the text
• write an analysis of a theme in one or more texts and what literary techniques are used to represent the theme

Final Project idea:

Turn one of the books/short stories into a film.

Part 1 write:

• ·      Who will you cast?
• ·      Where will you film? What historical, political, economic, social variables will you have to account for?
• ·      Target audience? How will you market to them?
• ·      Who will help fund it? (See target audience)
• ·      What 2 key issues in the book will you focus on?
• ·      What film techniques will you use to show them?
• ·      What 2 scenes will you have to leave out?
• ·      What 2 thinks will you have to adapt to make the film cohere? (think Hunger Games book vs film. In book Katniss’s perspective dominates. She doesn’t know there is a game designer watching the game unfold and unleashing new challenges. In the film the audience sees Katniss and the players AND we see the control booth where the game designer is manipulating everything).

Part 2 present (day of final exam) an overview of your proposal:

1. ·        Each student is a possible producer with $10,000 to spend.
2. ·        You need at least $20,000 to make your film
3. ·        As you listen to each pitch decide how much money you will spend on the film
4. ·        At the end, do you have enough to make your film?

_____________________

• propose award categories for the texts we studied this semester (each student propose 1 or 2 categories?)
• solicit nominees for each category from your peers
• lead a discussion to persuade your classmates to vote for your nominees
• vote: how persuasive were you?

How it turned out:

There were only 4 students. One was a native speaker. One had only one semester of accelerated first year French. There was often at least 1 person absent and at least 1 person who hadn't done the homework so they couldn't interact effectively with each other. 

The steps from input to output hinged on them working consistently every day, but most couldn't. Those that did were overwhelmed by the workload. 

Like many things I tried after reading extensively about them in ACTFL publications and from other experts, it proved impossible to do with the students at that institution with the limited resources and support it offered.